New Jersey juices New York with GE smart grid technology

Amid the roar of trucks and cars and in the shadow of the New Jersey Turnpike, GE engineers recently lowered the last of three giant 100-ton rotors into what is one of the most innovative ways to feed the electric power needs of New York City. The so-called “variable frequency transformers” at the Linden, N.J., cogeneration plant – which is owned by GE’s energy investment arm, GE Energy Financial Services — will allow power from the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland transmission system to flow into the Big Apple.

Each of the three variable frequency transformers, a GE smart grid technology, will facilitate the transmission of up to 100 megawatts of power — for a total of 300 megawatts — enough for a small city. This electricity will help stabilize New York City’s power grid and will provide unparalleled flexibility for utilities.

The variable frequency transformers precisely control the flow of power from one grid to another even in the smallest increments, helping utilities manage their operations more effectively in an ever-changing energy market with fluctuating electricity prices. These VFT units will increase system reliability, provide New Yorkers with access to more diversified and lower-cost power sources, and will reduce the need for new power plants within the city, where finding sites is difficult and construction costs are high. It’s something only GE can do – provide both the technology and capital for such a large, innovative project.

The transformers are essential when moving power from one grid to another, as the “peaks and troughs” making up the voltage must “match” — which means the peaks must be synchronized in time.

As The New York Times recently wrote in its story on the unique technology: “The power delivered by the electric grid in the United States — the kind that comes out of the socket on the wall — has electrons that dance back and forth 60 times a second, giving it the name “alternating current” or A.C. Electric motors, fluorescent lights and lots of other equipment depend on that regular back-and-forth, and within a single grid, the current alternates on a single standard. GE’s variable frequency transformers alter that rhythm slightly. That’s useful when linking two different power grids with alternating currents that aren’t in sync, like Mexico’s and Texas’s, or Quebec’s and the one in the rest of eastern North America. But it can also be used within a single grid, giving operators something like a valve on the system, so flow can be controlled in much more subtle ways than older methods allow. If the alternating current is ever so slightly out of sync, it reduces the power flow. And in a system where electricity usually follows the path of least resistance, a tool that limits flow can be very helpful.”

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* Read The New York Times’ story, “A new valve for controlling flows of electricity”
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