Not to play favorites, but HV has range.

At FastGrid, we love all disciplines. Civil. Structural. Electrical. If it helps accelerate the clean energy transition, we’re in.

But if we’re being honest? We have a soft spot for high-voltage.

Not just because it’s complex or precise or because it makes a one-line diagram look like modern art. But because when HV is done right, everything else works better.

The Connector of Dreams to Reality

Substations, gen-tie lines, protection schemes—HV doesn’t just support a project. It connects it to reality. It’s where renewable ambitions meet the physics of the grid.

And it’s often where delays stack up fastest. The U.S. will need more than 47,000 miles of new transmission lines by 2035 to meet clean energy targets. HV infrastructure is the backbone of that buildout, especially for interregional transfers and gigawatt-scale projects.

The Silent Risk Manager

These are the headaches you know too well:

• Utility comments that trigger late-stage redesigns
• Transformer specs that don’t match site conditions or timelines
• Permitting friction from placeholder substation designs

HV isn’t always the root of these problems, but it’s often the way to avoid them.

Substation permitting delays and HV design gaps are now among the top causes of project cancellations. And when HV rework hits late, it’s not just inconvenient—it’s costly. Early HV integration doesn’t just reduce scope creep. It protects margins, milestones, and momentum.

What makes HV unique as a risk management tool is its position at the nexus of multiple critical project dependencies. While developers focus on site control, equipment procurement, and financing, HV engineering quietly identifies and mitigates risks that could otherwise remain hidden until they become expensive emergencies. A proper protection coordination study can identify reliability risks months before they appear in testing. A thoughtful transformer specification can sidestep supply chain bottlenecks. A grid impact analysis might uncover stability issues that would otherwise trigger last-minute utility demands.

Early HV integration doesn’t just reduce scope creep. It protects margins, milestones, and momentum.

The Strategic Enabler

HV is where you get to design for optionality. Want to co-locate storage in phase two? HV makes that easier. Want to future-proof your POI or reduce upgrade exposure? HV is how.

And in a market defined by constraints, those decisions matter. The U.S. energy sector is facing a $578 billion transmission investment gap by 2033,  with federal funding in play. That means you’re not just designing around the grid. You’re designing into it. And the best HV strategies don’t just connect your project. They de-risk it.

That’s especially true for hybridization. With 53% of solar capacity in interconnection queues now proposed as hybrid plants (rising to 98% in California!), HV design is what enables inverter loading, dispatchability, and future BESS expansion, from both a technical and economic perspective.

But here’s what happens when that forward thinking is missing: We recently worked on a solar site built just last year that needed BESS integration. The original substation design? Zero consideration for expansion. No space for additional feeders. No routing pathways. No coordination with surrounding infrastructure. While we engineered a creative solution, it was like solving a puzzle with missing pieces—doable, but unnecessarily complex and costly. Had the original HV design included simple expansion provisions—modular bus arrangements, reserved conduit paths, strategic equipment spacing—that BESS addition would have been plug-and-play instead of an engineering gymnastics routine. In today’s market, building a substation without expansion capability isn’t just shortsighted. It’s leaving value stranded.  

Why HV Makes (or Breaks) Projects

This isn’t just about preference. It’s about project viability and financial performance. We’re in an unprecedented energy transition colliding with grid realities that can’t be wished away or solved through sheer willpower.

• Over 70% of interconnection requests are ultimately withdrawn
• Only 19% of projects (representing 14% of capacity) that requested interconnection between 2000 and 2018 reached commercial operations by the end of 2023
• Completion rates are particularly lower for solar (13%) and battery (11%) projects
• Transformer prices have risen 60-80% on average since January 2020, with lead times stretching beyond 24 months
• 53% of solar capacity in interconnection queues is proposed as hybrid plants, creating intricate interconnection challenges

The hard reality? Interconnection challenges kill promising projects daily. When developments fail, it’s rarely the flashy generation tech at fault—it’s the unglamorous grid connection. Your ability to deliver power matters as much as making it, yet it gets far less attention.

That’s why, in our books, HV has transformed from a technical specialty to a strategic linchpin. Ignore it, and you’re building hope. Prioritize it, and you’re building infrastructure.

In Praise of the Voltage Vigilantes

We’re not afraid to admit it: HV folks are a special breed. Some substation specs still call for hard landlines and rotary phones because "you never lose the line." But that’s exactly why we love them.

They’re not chasing buzzwords. They’re making sure electrons flow. They sweat grounding grids, triple-check clearances, and track SF₆ emissions by state. (It’s 23,500x more potent than CO₂, and yes—they’re already planning for the day it’s banned in California.)

They don’t just move fast and break things. They move deliberately and rapidly, breaking barriers while keeping the lights on. That’s our kind of energy.

Want to fall in love with HV too? Let’s design something that actually gets energized.