DOE Announces $11M in High Voltage Direct Current Transmission Projects

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) today announced selections for four groundbreaking high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission research and development projects that will help affordably integrate more renewable energy generation onto the grid via HVDC lines. The approximately $11 million program, called the Innovative DEsigns for high-performAnce Low-cost HVDC Converters (IDEAL HVDC) will also reduce transmission system costs by 35 percent by 2035, and promote widespread technology adoption. OE is providing $8.1 million in funding and $3 million is coming from EERE's Wind Energy Technologies Office. 

The IDEAL projects are primed to help reinvent our power grid, which serves as an interstate highway for high-voltage electricity. HVDC transmission systems are more efficient than traditional alternating current (AC) transmission systems to deliver electricity at a lower cost while minimizing power losses. In addition, many renewable generation resources are in remote locations on land or planned far from shore (e.g. offshore wind), and HVDC transmission provides a cost-effective solution for renewable integration onto the grid. And high-voltage transmission can more capably transfer power between different regions of the country without disrupting the frequency of either system, also helping to reduce delivery costs. 

"This represents another step forward in our mission to modernize the nation's electric grid," said Gene Rodrigues, Assistant Secretary for Electricity. "By investing $11 million in innovative HVDC transmission projects, we're accelerating adoption of an innovative technology that can create pathways to integrate more low- cost renewable energy onto the power grid. This ensures that reliable, resilient, secure and affordable clean energy is available and accessible to all Americans." 

Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, agreed. He said, "A modern grid requires a transmission network that can offer access to a diverse range of clean energy resources across geographic regions. These investments will help our efforts to improve energy reliability for consumers by better integrating both land and offshore power sources like wind onto the grid." 

Selected IDEAL HVDC Projects: 

• GE Vernova Advanced Research: $3.3 million to develop a low-cost HVDC transmission access point substation to reduce HVDC life cycle costs by >30%. TAPS aims to provide access to affordable renewable energy to underserved and underrepresented communities.  
• Sandia National Laboratories: $1.8 million to increase the power density and reduce cost of HVDC converter stations by 10% by developing a technology of smaller 1.7 kilovolt (kV) switches that can be operated as a single 10 kV switch in a converter.  
• University of Pittsburgh: $3 million to use artificial intelligence to optimize an HVDC converter design for increased power density and decreased cost.  
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: $3 million to investigate promising circuit technologies to upgrade the existing HVDC converter design. This approach aims to reduce direct material technology costs by 15-20%.  

These selections are the first actions taken to support DOE's HVDC COst REduction (CORE) Initiative, to improve grid resilience, security, and operation flexibility.  

Learn more about DOE's HVDC activities. Learn more about OE and EERE.