The US Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Electricity has announced a $1.9 billion funding package for 31 grid-improvement projects across 26 states to improve speed to power for data centers and other large loads seeking grid connections.

The projects are part of the DOE’s Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (SPARK) initiative. In total, the projects will receive $5.25bn, comprising $1.9bn from the DOE and a further $3.35bn in recipient cost-share funding.

The DOE claims that through these projects it will unlock more than 23GW of additional capacity on the grid. Prioritized projects included reconductoring with advanced conductors, Advanced Transmission Technologies (ATT) that can increase the usable capacity of existing assets in real time, and large-scale, cross-regional transmission upgrades and coordinated planning. In total, the projects are expected to reconductor or rebuild more than 1,500 miles (2,412km) of transmission lines and deploy grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) across nearly 21,000 miles (3,379km).

“Today’s announcement reinforces the Trump Administration’s commitment to commonsense energy addition policies that lower electricity prices and strengthen our grid,” said US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “These investments will get more out of the infrastructure we already have, move more electricity across the grid, and help deliver affordable, reliable, and secure power that will fuel American prosperity for decades to come.”

“These selected SPARK projects put advanced transmission technologies to work, modernizing critical infrastructure, maximizing the capacity of existing lines, and unlocking more than 20GW of additional grid capacity,” said OE Assistant Secretary Catherine Jereza. “DOE is moving with urgency to strengthen our grid, lower costs, and ensure America has the energy infrastructure needed to power the next generation of economic growth.”

Notable projects with direct implications for the data center sector include the Northeast Alabama Smart Grid Deployment, which Alabama Power is developing. The project, which received $50 million in funding, will upgrade transmission lines and deploy ATT’s to support data center growth in the region.

Another project of note is Entergy Mississippi’s three-state, transmission-level smart-grid ATT deployment designed to unlock significant transmission system capacity across Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi for the data center sector and other industrial sectors.

A full list of the funding recipients can be found here.