The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the DOE and Smart Wire Grid Inc. deployed an array of 99 SWG distributed series reactance units on one of TVA’s 161-kV transmission lines.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that the real price of electricity has dropped by a factor of 45 over the last 120 years in the United States. Ongoing innovation is required to continue delivering low-cost and reliable electricity. Recent initiatives to increase the intelligence and control of the power system have transformed planning, operations, and maintenance.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ─ The Tennessee Valley Authority is testing a promising “smart grid” technology that may help utilities enhance reliability, efficiency and the ability to keep power flowing.

Ninety-nine devices designed to reroute electricity, automatically or by remote control, from potentially congested transmission lines onto underused lines have been installed on a 161-kilovolt transmission corridor […]

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a strong advocate of finding new and innovative ways to modernize the grid. Through the Smart Wire Focused Initiative (SWFI), spon- sored by the National Electric Energy Testing, Research and Applications Center (NEETRAC), TVA has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency–Electric (ARPA-E) and Smart Wire Grid Inc. (SWG) to deploy an array of distributed series reactance (DSR) units.

At the ARPA-E Energy Summit in Washington, D.C. last month, Smart Wire Grid had something of a coming-out party. The company has been around for a few years after growing out of Georgia Tech, but it was at the annual summit that Smart Wire Grid, a power flow controls company, was showcased as one of the successes of the Department of Energy’s research program.

Smart Wire Grid sells a device that clamps onto transmission lines to control the flow of power. Originally developed at Georgia Tech, the technology can monitor and even help redirect power flow. Once a problem has been studied at one location, the devices can be moved to other lines.

Power flow control hardware has been a particular focus of the GENI program — Smart Wire Grid, a startup that’s deploying distributed power flow control devices on transmission lines in a project with the federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), was one company highlighted at the conference.

By Benji Jerew

Smart grid technology, on the other hand, doesn’t require extensive replacement, but only add-on information systems. Implementation of smart grid technology can speed up repairs and isolate damaged sections while keeping intact sections powered up. Smart Wire Grid, a startup out of Oakland, CA, has been installing its information devices, Distributed Series […]

Out of the hundreds of energy innovations on display this week at the annual ARPA-E Summit just outside of Washington D.C., it’s been rare to find a group actually selling and shipping products. But a startup out of Oakland, Calif. called Smart Wire Grid has quietly begun delivering devices that clamp onto transmission lines and control the flow of power.