The digital revolution is well underway and has brought to light greater urgency for critical event resilience and new approaches to integrating distributed energy into the mix. But with grid modernization comes greater performance demands than in years prior. The issues of aging infrastructure, coupled with more intermittent and dispersed renewable energy, present new challenges to grid reliability and resiliency. To effectively keep pace with customer demands and operational requirements, utilities must strategically focus on construction management. With substations at the center of the grid, planning for future upgrades of these vital components is a core responsibility.

Zpryme surveyed more than 100 utilities to better understand substation-related planning, construction, and deployment challenges, as well as opportunities for the grid, including the importance of substations for upcoming DER and EV initiatives.

Key Findings included:

• The top challenges for grid modernization were budget concerns, uncertain ROI, and the accompanying workload for implementing these changes.
• Substation construction planning is important for many utilities for Integrated Resource Planning, DER / EVs, and overall digital transformation.
• Almost half of respondents agree that substation construction takes too long.