There is a renewed interest in construction of high-voltage direct-current transmission lines as they are viewed as an ideal solution to deliver far away wind and solar energy, and to stabilize intermittent renewable power, concepts backed by a recent report prepared for the Energy Information Administration. Although there are few HVDC projects in the United States, Burns & McDonnell is bullish on the technology. “We think the outlook is now more favorable for HVDC as there is no doubt we will see more renewables integrated into our generation portfolio,” says Ken Gerling, the company’s vice president for transmission and distribution.
There was about 106,000 MW of solar and wind in the United States in 2016 and the capacity is expected to grow to about 190,000 MW by 2020, making up about 15% of all installed capacity, according to the EIA report, prepared by ICF International. The share of wind and solar will be even higher in areas such as California, Texas and the Great Plains states, according to the report.