Here’s something that might surprise you: we have little insight into our transmission lines.
“Almost all lines today are not monitored,” explains Hudson Gilmer, CEO and co-founder of LineVision. “It’s kind of a crazy situation that in an age of sensors and IoT we don’t monitor the backbone of the electric grid. LineVision is working to change that with a mission to monitor, optimize, and protect the world’s critical energy delivery infrastructure.”
One of the main benefits of monitoring is increased safety. LineVision’s sensors can detect problems with the lines, such as if they’re hanging too low, suffered storm damage, or are dangerously blowing in the wind. This ability has huge impact potential, Gilmer explains, referencing the PG&E blackouts in California.
“If PG&E’s lines were equipped with our systems, they would be able to be much more surgical about saying, ‘OK, we don’t need to shut half the state down; these are the lines that are at risk,’” he says.
Through monitoring, utilities can also safely increase the utilization of their lines. Without real-time monitoring data, they set line ratings based on worst-case weather assumptions—resulting in congestion, which cost U.S. ratepayers an estimated $8 billion last year. This congestion disproportionately hurts clean energy projects through curtailments and lower revenues.
LineVision’s sensor-based monitoring calculates a dynamic line rating, which allows utilities to accurately understand how much energy they can safely transmit and take advantage of the wind’s cooling effect on lines, increasing capacity on existing lines by 15 to 40 percent.
LineVision’s third main application is asset health monitoring, which is crucial given that most transmission lines in the United States were built more than 40 years ago.
The 15-person company has done a number of projects with large utilities, and is moving toward broader deployments, according to Gilmer. The core team has worked together for over five years developing its sensor and cloud analytics technology. LineVision has customers on three continents, including five top U.S. utilities, and has set its sights on widespread installation.
“Our business plan we call the ‘METL Plan,’ which stands for ‘monitor every transmission line,’” Gilmer explains. “We believe passionately that adding monitoring makes the grid more efficient, safer, and cleaner. Our business plan has us continually reducing the cost and footprint of our systems so that we can roll it out across our clients’ grids and establish this as the best practice for operating transmission lines.”
LineVision joined Greentown Labs in October 2018, and Gilmer says he’s found immense value in sharing tools, approaches, and best practices with his fellow members.
Greentown Labs is a community of bold, passionate entrepreneurs creating solutions for today’s biggest climate and environmental challenges. Located in Somerville, Mass., the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is the largest cleantech incubator in North America, operating a 100,000 sq. ft. campus comprised of prototyping and wet lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, electronics lab, and a curated suite of programs and resources. Greentown Labs is home to more than 90 startups and has supported more than 210 since its inception.