On Thursday, LineVision Inc., a venture capital-funded infrastructure startup that has developed a LiDAR (light detection and ranging) application to monitor high-voltage transmission lines, announced that its technology will be piloted by California’s Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the sixth-largest community owned, not-for-profit electricity provider in the United States.
The pilot project will see LineVision’s V3 monitoring system installed on power lines originating from the Upper American River Project hydropower stations in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe, which generates nearly 700 MW of clean energy and accounts for nearly one-fifth of SMUD’s customer demand in an average water year.
LineVision’s sensors collect real-time data on critical parameters of overhead power lines, such as line temperature, sag, horizontal motion, and anomalous motion. The data is collected utilizing a LiDAR sensor system, which can be installed without having to de-energize a transmission line or use live-line working techniques.
In the Sacramento pilot project, LineVision’s sensors will monitor transmission assets to identify if additional power capacity is available at certain times of the year, allowing SMUD to relieve renewable energy bottlenecks proactively.
An $8bn problem
Data provided by LineVision estimates the impact of congestion on U.S. power lines at $8 billion in annual losses across the nation’s electric grid. In addition to mitigating those losses, a recent study by the economic consultancy The Brattle Group found that Dynamic Line Ratings–the ratings ascribed to transmission assets as a result of data from its sensors–could help double the integration of renewables on existing U.S. utility infrastructure.
“Record-setting demand for energy and changing system dynamics are tasking utilities with the challenge of how to best maintain system reliability while simultaneously transitioning how we deliver power,” said Jonathan Marmillo, Vice President of Product and co-founder of LineVision. “SMUD is at the forefront of innovative thinking on how to solve these issues and we are delighted to work with its team on this important initiative.”
“This has the potential to help unlock additional capacity on SMUD’s existing transmission lines, allowing more renewable generation assets to be added to the grid,” said SMUD Chief Operating Officer Frankie McDermott. “We need innovative solutions to help us reach our zero carbon goals and we’re excited to see if this technology can help us get there.”
In April, LineVision received $12.5 million in a Series B venture capital round, led by UP.Partners, a Los Angeles-based electrification and mobility fund, along with the corporate venture capital arm of energy provider National Grid, and ZOMA Capital, a Colorado family office specializing in grid modernization technologies. National Grid first deployed LineVision’s V3 monitors on its own transmission lines in Massachusetts back in 2018, and in New York in 2020.
In just over two years since its founding, LineVision has secured deals with National Grid, Dominion Energy, Xcel Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, and several other North American utilities yet to be announced. The company also works with multiple European utilities through the Farcross Project, which aims to improve cross-border interconnections by utilizing Dynamic Line Ratings.
