Sargent & Lundy Senior Manager Manish Jain and Vice President Matt Braet will present “Planning for Large Load Interconnections: From Datacenter Grid Studies to Interconnection Design Execution” at the Data Center Energy Infrastructure Forum in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14-15.
As data center development and AI workloads increase demand for power, utilities, developers, and technology companies are working to connect large loads and secure the capacity needed for growth. The forum brings these stakeholders together to explore approaches such as grid interconnection, on-site generation, and energy storage.
On Oct. 14 at 9:35 a.m. EDT, Jain and Braet will trace the interconnection life cycle for large-load projects, from grid studies that assess feasibility, system constraints, and upgrade needs to the engineering and design required for implementation. They will cover study factors such as load-modeling assumptions, contingency performance, thermal and voltage limits, protection impacts, reactive-power needs, subsynchronous torsional interaction, and phased load additions.
They will also discuss key implementation steps, including substation configuration, equipment selection, relay and protection coordination, line routing and interconnection topology, outage planning, and constructability.
Additionally, Braet will join the panel discussion “Delivering Time-to-Power at Scale Through Aligned Design, Construction, and Energy Integration in Data Center Projects” at 2:15 p.m. EDT Oct. 15. The panel will examine where delays arise across design, permitting, procurement, and energization; how modular and prefabricated approaches affect construction and schedule risk; and the challenges of coordinating grid supply, on-site generation, and storage.
By connecting grid-study findings with design and constructability planning, the presentation will show how project teams can address interconnection constraints early and prepare large-load projects for implementation.