With increased demand from customers, regional transmission organizations around the country are facing pressure to get more generation online faster.

PJM Interconnection, which serves all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia, announced its choice of 51 projects to accelerate interconnection and help meet demand growth. The 39 upgrades and 12 new construction projects are estimated to deliver more than 9,300 megawatts of capacity through the Reliability Resource Initiative (RRI).

The RRI “is a one-time opportunity for shovel-ready resources that have short lead times to construction and operation and can most effectively contribute to reliability,” according to PJM.

Projects were chosen based on their unenforced capacity total, date of coming online, reliability and areas of greatest need. Of the 51 projects, 90% are anticipated to be online by 2030, the rest by 2031.

Virginia had the largest number of projects selected at 22, with Ohio at nine and Pennsylvania at seven. A full list of the projects and their locations is available on PJM’s website.

Half of the new projects are gas, five are batteries and one is nuclear. There were 94 applications; while PJM decided to cap the number at 50, there was a tie for one spot, bringing the total to 51.

After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval in 2022, PJM moved from a “first-come, first-served” mindset for evaluating new projects, to “first-ready, first-served.”

This method also includes milestones and progress payments designed to weed out speculative projects.

Because the 51 projects are included in the Reliability Resource Initiative, they will be studied as part of PJM’s interconnection process reform.