Avangrid, Inc. subsidiary Central Maine Power has secured a $30 million grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. Established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the grant funding will position CMP to accelerate the deployment of smart grid technologies that reduce the frequency and impact of power outages.
The new technology will include advanced grid restoration (AGR) and sequential reclosing (SR). These innovative, “self-healing” technologies are designed to reduce the frequency and impact of outages. The grant will also allow deployment of the distribution supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) switch program to help prevent system faults, particularly to disadvantaged communities.
“As our customers continue to change the way they use electricity, we are committed to strengthening our electrical system so it can handle increased threats from climate change. At the same time, we are transforming our grid to continue supporting Maine’s significant economic growth, new distributed resources like solar power, and electrification,” said Pedro Azagra, CEO of Avangrid. “This work to build a strong, modern, and clean electric grid is for our customers. I want to thank the Biden Administration for their climate action leadership and the Department of Energy for selecting our talented team for this grant award.”
This grant will increase the flexibility, efficiency, reliability, and resilience of Central Maine Power’s electric grid while ensuring a variety of community-level benefits, especially for disadvantaged communities. Specifically, it will:
- Increase system reliability
- Enhance ability to identify faults and minimize outages
- Mitigate impacts of extreme weather or natural disasters
- Aggregate and integrate energy resources like solar
- Create up to 100 jobs across a variety of sectors during the project’s duration
Avangrid said it is appreciative of the support from the Maine Development Foundation, the Governor’s Energy Office, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Central Maine Growth Council, Kennebec Valley Community College, and the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce during the grant application process.
