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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating the climate crisis is requiring communities around the world to rethink how they generate their electricity. Of course, this is the great energy transition, and it involves moving away from traditional fossil fuel-based generation and toward renewable sources of energy. And, it is happening across the US. From offshore wind farms in the Northeast to solar developments in California as well as new hydrogen hubs popping up throughout the country, the onboarding of new renewable energy projects is encouraging to see.

However, generating renewable energy is only half the battle. These kinds of projects also require a significant amount of grid infrastructure, as utilities must be able to deliver the energy. Many sources of renewable energy can only be produced in certain geographic locations. Generating solar power requires plentiful sunlight. Hydropower relies on bountiful water resources. And wind power needs, well, a lot of wind. But what about the regions that do not have those characteristics? They need renewable energy sources, too.

That is why T&D infrastructure is so important and why more grid modernization projects are happening around the country. Case in point: The purpose of the SunZia transmission project is to deliver renewable energy from wind farms in New Mexico to communities in Arizona followed by California. It is part of the largest clean energy infrastructure initiative in US history and can serve as an example for future grid modernization projects.

Stantec¡¯s Ralph Kurth and Pattern Energy¡¯s Vajira Pathirana explore the historic SunZia Transmission Project and how it can help drive the clean energy transition forward.

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