The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) has published a roadmap aimed at accelerating timelines and achieving better outcomes for integrating clean energy resources into distribution and sub-transmission grids. The Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Interconnection Roadmap outlines targets to streamline interconnection processes while maintaining grid reliability.
DOE also announced $16 million in upcoming funding to support stakeholder collaboration and technical assistance for grid interconnection, alongside $2.1 million for pilot software solutions at select utilities. To foster knowledge-sharing, DOE launched i2X Connect, an online platform for interconnection stakeholders.
DERs generate electricity on a small scale, providing power to local consumers. Examples include residential and community solar systems, distributed wind systems, battery energy storage, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The roadmap outlines 39 solutions across four key goals:
- Enhancing data access, transparency, and security
- Improving interconnection processes and timelines
- Increasing economic efficiency in interconnection
- Maintaining grid reliability, resilience, and security
It sets measurable 2030 targets, including reduced interconnection times, improved completion rates for new systems, and making interconnection queue data publicly available in all 50 states and territories. Grid resilience targets include eliminating DER-related grid disturbances and reducing outage restoration times by 25%.
