Detect capacity, identify locations, calculate costs

Software application: Grid Connection Navigator

Easily calculate capacity and interconnection costs – all in one tool.

envelio grid connection navigator

Companies that plan charging infrastructure or the integration of renewables face many uncertainties during the interconnection process. What they often lack are easy-to-use tools for evaluating technical feasibility. As a result, they have to deal with poor cost transparency and lengthy decision-making processes. 

At the same time, utilities are confronted with a flood of requests – often of low quality or with little chance of implementation. These "speculative" projects in early planning stages tie up valuable resources that shouldn’t be needed at that point. 

This is exactly where our Grid Connection Navigator comes into play, supporting you, the utility, in two ways: It gives your customers an overview of the available capacity and instantly provides information on suitable locations, including a calculation of the interconnection costs for their projects. All this while reducing your internal workload by filtering out unqualified requests before a detailed evaluation.

The Grid Connection Navigator in your day-to-day operations:

The GCN app provides transparency in the planning process. With its interactive hosting capacity map, suitable locations can be identified instantly – simplifying the interconnection process and supporting well-founded investment decisions.

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Interactive map with address search

The interactive map enables searches for specific addresses and direct comparisons between different locations.

Thanks to the visual representation, capacity is displayed at a glance: Areas on the map are color-coded according to availability. This provides maximum clarity and simplifies the selection of a suitable location. 

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Hosting capacity map – segmented for clarity

The areas on the hosting capacity map are clearly segmented through practical visualizations, enabling a detailed evaluation of potential locations.

With just one click, additional details, such as capacities of close-by lines and primary substations, can be assessed. This way, you give your customers the tool to carry out a reliable location evaluation down to the property level, while sensitive information on critical infrastructure remains protected.

 

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Filter and visualization options for precise search results

The Grid Connection Navigator offers a variety of filter options to search for available grid capacity at specific voltage levels and refine the results by selecting headroom or hosting capacity. Additionally, filtering by capacity and lot size allows a direct view of suitable parcels.

On top of that, there are different map layers available to clearly and effectively visualize relevant data, considerably simplifying location analysis. Also map layers include environmental, wetlands, brownfields, conversation areas and many more. CIP fees areas can also be shown with just one click.

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Seasonal and time series views to enable smarter siting decisions

To better calculate depending on how the seasons vary, the Grid Connection Navigator offers hourly values representing a typical day, for each season and each capacity type (generators and loads).

Values can be received for each feeder, distribution substation and bulk substation – depending on which one is available. This way the site’s capacity profile can be matched over the entire year to make informed investment decisions. 

 

Here's how the Grid Connection Navigator supports you in your work

 

Evaluate hosting capacity, analyze suitable locations, estimate interconnection costs, and manage requests – all in one place for efficient system planning.

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Improved service for end customers who are planning an interconnection, thanks to a high level of transparency on available capacity 

 

 

 

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Accelerated timelines for new interconnections thanks to a fully digital interconnection process 

 

 

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Reduced workload for your planning department thanks to the useful self-service, reducing the number of binding requests that cannot be realized.

 

See the Grid Connection Navigator live at Eversource

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Live-example of the Grid Connection Navigator

FAQ

What is the Grid Connection Navigator?

The Grid Connection Navigator is a planning tool for utilities that supports project developers and energy consultants with larger, more complex interconnections – for example in the planning of solar or wind farms, battery energy storage systems, data centers, or other large power consumers.

With an interactive map, the Grid Connection Navigator displays available hosting capacity at medium and high voltage levels. That way, suitable locations can be identified early in the process and projects can be planned efficiently – even before requests are submitted. The Grid Connection Navigator was developed specifically to support both DERs and loads interconnection analyses.

 

What is the difference between the Grid Connection Navigator (GCN) and the Online Connection Check (OCC)?

The Grid Connection Navigator and the Online Connection Check are two related products for utilities, supporting customers in the preliminary evaluation of interconnections. 

The GCN is intended for professional project developers and energy consultants with a medium or high level of technical know-how who plan large and complex projects in primary and high voltage grids – such as solar farms, wind farms, or data centers. With an interactive map, the Grid Connection Navigator visualizes available hosting capacity and helps users identify suitable locations early in the process – even before submitting a formal request. 

The OCC is a simple, web-based tool developed especially for private individuals and small businesses – that is, users without in-depth technical knowledge who want to check whether small-scale assets such as PV systems or wall-mounted EV chargers can be interconnected to the secondary distribution network. The focus is less on comparing different locations and more on a detailed assessment of a specific location based on a concrete technical evaluation. The OCC provides instant feedback on the technical feasibility and gives a first cost estimate. 

While the Grid Connection Navigator helps answer the questions: "Where can I carry out my project and how much will it cost?", the OCC guides the decision: "Can I connect my site at this exact address?". 

 

What calculation logic is behind the Grid Connection Navigator?

The Grid Connection Navigator uses the available hosting capacity. The available capacity value indicates how much additional power can be integrated into the grid at a specific location without exceeding predefined limits. For the Grid Connection Navigator, available capacity for load and generation is calculated separately using an iterative approach.

In simple terms, the load or the power fed into the grid is increased incrementally, and a power-flow calculation is performed to check for any limit violations. The maximum possible power increase that does not violate any limits corresponds to the available capacity.

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