Grid Enhancing Tech

Local Project

Grid enhancing technologies are designed to increase the capacity, efficiency, or reliability of our electrical grids. Electrical grids are the web of wires and pylons that connect electric generators such as nuclear plants and solar farms to such as towns and factories, bringing electricity right down to the street level. Like highways, electrical grids are prone to congestion, which can make it hard to deliver the right amount of electricity to the right amount of load. One solution is to build more wires (like you can build more roads), but another is to increase the efficiency of the existing wires. Grid enhancing technologies can modify the amount of electricity that can flow on a wire depending on external conditions, direct electricity through the network in more efficient ways, store energy across the system at times of abundance, or encourage the use of electricity in a way that better fits the availability of renewable power. Digital technologies can also give grid operators information about what is going on across the network, and help model complex scenarios.

In short, grid enhancing technologies are vital for getting renewable energy onto the system quickly and cheaply. Yet, being a much less visible aspect of a clean energy system than wind and solar farms, for example, they receive far less attention than they should. Many governments and system operators have been late to realize the importance of developing and rolling out grid technologies, especially with regards to their role in a green energy transition.

Gameplay Notes

Discard 1 card from your hand, then remove 1 Industry Emissions token from your player board.
You may take this action once per Grid tag in this card's stack each round.