The SmartValves were deployed at a substation in southern Alberta to reduce network congestion by actively balancing power flows across the surrounding circuits. This unlocked increased capacity on the existing network for generation, resolving a short-term network need in the area.

Smart Wires partners with customers across the world to transform the grid and sees huge potential for digital power flow control to support the huge growth in new generation connecting to the grid and increasing electrification of society across Canada.

“This is the first of what we expect to be many projects for Smart Wires in Canada, where electric transmission system owners are working hard to connect consumers with affordable, renewable energy,” said Jessica Joyce, Smart Wires Chief Sales Officer. “We are proud to collaborate with companies who are embracing the potential of technologies like ours to create a digital, secure and accessible grid.”

SmartValve is a modular Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) that quickly unlocks network capacity by pushing power off overloaded lines or pulling power onto underutilized lines. Its modular design enables flexible and scalable deployments that provide long-term network planning solutions to integrate renewables and demand, increase interregional power transfer, lower costs, improve grid resiliency and multiple other applications. It can also be used to address urgent or short-term needs and support outage management due to its easily movable design. SmartValve also provides dynamic services such as improving transient stability and voltage stability.

The mobile deployment option enables companies to install and commission SmartValves within days, and without the need for costly substation site modifications. This project was commissioned in September 2022.

Smart Wires will launch the new commercial offering at CIGRE Session 2022 in Paris. Leaders from both Smart Wires and Operato, a subsidiary of the Slovenian Transmission System Operator ELES that developed SUMO, will be on hand for the announcement.

The addition of SUMO complements and strengthens Smart Wires’ existing offering to help grid operators meet the demands of renewable energy adoption and demand-side electrification with advanced data analytics, system modeling and power flow optimization.

“Operato is recognized as an industry leader in the Dynamic Ratings space in Europe and adding its software to our toolbox strengthens our commercial offerings,” said Peter Wells, Smart Wires CEO. “With the addition of SUMO, we can combine the power of modelling, analytics and power flow control with dynamic ratings, allowing us to realize our vision of reimagining the grid for a net zero world.”

There is growing industry agreement on the importance and criticality of leveraging dynamic ratings for lines and other electric system equipment to improve system safety and efficiency. Earlier this year, FERC (the national regulator for electric utilities in the US) opened a notice of inquiry on dynamic line ratings which seeks guidance on a threshold for transmission lines to qualify for a dynamic line rating requirement.

Andrej Souvent, Operato CEO, commented, “SUMO has a 10-year track record of supporting the power system operation. We have used it extensively for real-time operation and operational planning over this period and we have observed that it offers higher transmission capacities 95% of the time, with a median increase of 20% of the nominal capacities.”

In addition to SUMO, Smart Wires offers hardware and analytics services that advance the delivery of affordable, clean energy. SmartValve™, a modular power flow control device, intelligently controls the flow of power across the network. It pushes power off overloaded lines and pulls power onto underutilized lines, balancing power flows evenly across multiple circuits. SmartValve and SUMO complement each other, but the two technologies can also work alone or with other systems to support the fast, reliable delivery of electricity.

Powerful synergies exist between Smart Wires’ technologies. SmartValve maximizes the use of grid capacity by redirecting power flows to underutilized lines. SUMO uses weather data to find and quantify situations where even more additional capacity might be available. The combined application of these two technologies creates a multiplier effect which enables much more renewable energy to flow on the existing grid infrastructure.

The Department of Energy will receive $100 million to study the development of interregional electric transmission infrastructure and the integration of offshore wind energy. This study will explicitly include Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) — such as power flow control and dynamic line rating — as solutions to alleviate constraints that result as more renewables are incorporated onto the grid. This investment builds on years of federal research and support for GETs. These technologies have long been recognized by government, private industry and academia as indispensable for optimizing the grid.

“Signing the Inflation Reduction Act into law is a significant step forward for the future of our planet; we commend and support this significant step,” said Smart Wires CEO Peter Wells. “While not a direct investment in the grid, and the infrastructure needed to support the energy transition, this unprecedented investment into the deployment of renewable generation and the electrification of demand is very positive. Ultimately, we also need to invest in and develop a digital edge-to-edge grid… a global energy network that creates a platform capable of connecting more renewable energy, faster, and enabling demand-side electrification. This platform would empower the consumer, connect the producer, and enable a new paradigm of flexible, adaptive grid operations. The backbone of the energy transition is a digital grid — it needs to be front-and-center as we build our net zero future.”

Smart Wires offers hardware, software and analytics services that advance the delivery of affordable, clean energy. SmartValve™, a modular power flow control device, intelligently controls the flow of power across the network. It pushes power off overloaded lines and pulls power onto underutilized lines, balancing power flows evenly across multiple circuits. SUMO™ is a state-of-the-art Dynamic Rating software that provides system-wide visibility of lines, transformers and other network equipment in real-time and for future forecasts.