Led by U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X™) convenes diverse stakeholders involved in the interconnection of solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage resources to facilitate peer-learning and knowledge exchange and inspire new interconnection ideas and capabilities. i2X is supported by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Interconnecting solar energy, wind energy, and energy storage resources to the grid requires navigating complex regulatory structures and technical impact assessments, which vary by jurisdictional authorities of the distribution or transmission grid systems. Current interconnection procedures are not designed to accommodate the deployment of hundreds of gigawatts of solar and wind energy resources needed each year to meet clean energy goals.
i2X Program Components
Stakeholder Engagement Center – The first-of-its-kind national interconnection stakeholder engagement center brings together stakeholders—like utilities, grid operators, state and local governments, energy justice groups, non-profits, industry, and others—to identify interconnection barriers, share best practices and lessons learned, and test innovative solutions to address specific interconnection challenges. Learn more about the i2X Solution e-Xchanges and the i2X Forum for the Implementation of Reliability Standards for Transmission (FIRST). Join i2X Connect to engage with stakeholders on key interconnection topics.
Data Collection and Analysis – Data on interconnection queues, timelines, costs, disapprovals, and other factors help to identify where and how interconnection barriers can be addressed. i2X leads data collection efforts and in-depth analyses to provide the baseline information to set interconnection metrics, track progress, and identify successful strategies.
Interconnection Process Roadmaps – Leveraging input from stakeholders, i2X has developed two interconnection roadmaps to identify solutions to address current challenges in transmission system interconnection and distribution and sub-transmission grid interconnection.
Interconnection Technical Assistance – After identifying major technical and process challenges, stakeholders can receive direct support from interconnection experts to implement interconnection solutions.
Collaborative thinking amongst stakeholders will enable the broader energy community to better understand the interconnection landscape, map out challenges, and find creative and implementable solutions. Similar collaboration efforts at the state level have led to major successes; DOE is bringing this collaborative approach to stakeholders across the country with i2X. Join i2X today.