The PJM Interconnection’s Reliability Resource Initiative has attracted 94 applications totaling 26.6 GW of nameplate capacity, the grid operator said on March 21.
Of these projects, 47 involve uprates, in which existing resources are modified to generate more electricity, and 47 propose building new generation.
The proposed projects represent new build and uprates of nuclear and natural gas, as well as new battery storage.
The RRI is a one-time opportunity for shovel-ready resources that can come online quickly and most effectively contribute to reliability, it said.
PJM will now use a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved rating process to select up to 50 projects. "This will provide an influx of reliable generation needed to help meet demand growth, in tandem with those resources that are already in our generation interconnection queue," it said.
The RRI projects will be studied in Transition Cycle #2 (TC2) of the new interconnection process along with about 550 other projects totaling about 50 GW in nameplate capacity. Final agreements for TC2 projects are scheduled to be completed in late 2026.
Adding RRI projects to TC2 is key to bringing additional capacity to the PJM markets before 2030, when PJM anticipates resource adequacy concerns.
The RRI proposal was approved by FERC Feb. 11, 2025, with a March 14 filing deadline. Projects will be scored and weighted according to market impact criteria and commercial operation date viability.
PJM will work through the applications to weight and select projects over approximately the next month. More specific details on the fuel/technology type of the resources will be provided at that time.
Uprates and certain types of generation would be able to come online by 2030. "Even for those that can’t, it still benefits the PJM markets to have projects with an overall high score get a head start toward construction and commercial operation through participation in the RRI process," PJM said.
