Skylark Energy Solutions aims to unlock more capacity from power grid

As utilities across the country face growing electricity demands, Madison-based Skylark Energy Solutions is developing technology designed to help them get more capacity from existing power grid infrastructure.

Founded in 2024, Skylark has developed a product called FORM, which stands for Fiber Optics for Rating and Measurement. The technology provides utilities with real-time information about electricity transmission line conditions. FORM helps utilities determine how much electricity can safely flow through existing power lines based on current conditions, rather than relying on fixed limits established decades ago.

“We’re truly at an inflection point with needing to meet the demands of our grid,” founder David Skrovanek said.

According to Skrovanek, pilot projects have shown that FORM can unlock up to 30% more capacity from existing transmission infrastructure.

“That’d almost be like taking the whole power grid, just taking a third of it and having it built in a matter of months rather than decades,” Skrovanek said.

Skrovanek’s interest in the electric grid began long before he launched the company.

“As a kid growing up, I was always interested in energy, how the electric grid worked, and energy transition,” he said.

That interest led him to study electrical engineering and eventually earn a Fulbright scholarship that took him to Germany. While there, he was introduced to dynamic line rating technologies that monitor weather conditions along transmission lines to determine how much electricity can safely flow through them at any given moment.

The concept addresses a challenge utility operators have faced since the early days of the electric grid.

“When the grid was being developed 100 years ago, everyone knew that the maximum power you could safely transmit would vary with the weather,” Skrovanek said. “But of course, we didn’t have the means to actually forecast the weather or calculate things in real time.”

He compares the concept to a highway speed limit.

Transmission lines are assigned ratings that determine how much electricity they can safely carry. Historically, utilities have relied on conservative ratings designed to account for a wide range of weather conditions. On cooler or windier days, however, those same lines may be capable of carrying significantly more power.

FORM helps utilities identify that available capacity in real time.

“We know that there is this latent capacity that’s not being utilized simply because utility companies have no monitoring technologies to determine how hot the power lines are getting,” Skrovanek said.

One feature that differentiates Skylark’s approach is its use of fiber optic cables already embedded in many transmission line ground wires. In some cases, utilities can deploy the technology using existing infrastructure and equipment installed within substations, reducing the need for additional hardware on the transmission lines themselves.

Skrovanek said the company also differentiates itself through its reliance on physics-based models rather than artificial intelligence.

“For something that goes on critical infrastructure like the power grid, it’s imperative that we have transparent, physics-based models,” he said.

Skylark has tested the technology through pilot projects with Germany’s 50Hertz Transmission and the Electric Power Research Institute in Massachusetts. The company is also awaiting the results of a commercial tender in Europe that could lead to one of the first large-scale commercial deployments of the technology.

To support commercialization efforts, Skylark partners with German company Lancier Monitoring, which manufactures the company’s dynamic line rating products.

While increasing transmission capacity is the primary goal of FORM, Skrovanek said the technology can also improve grid visibility and safety. The system monitors line temperatures and weather conditions that may help utilities identify wildfire risks and other potential disruptions.

Installation can be completed without shutting down power lines, allowing utilities to deploy the technology without interrupting service for customers.

Although FORM is Skylark’s flagship offering, it is not the company’s only product. Skylark also offers monitoring technologies for pipeline leak detection and physical security systems designed to protect critical utility infrastructure.

Skrovanek credits Christian Grosser, co-inventor of FORM and an advisor to Skylark, with helping develop the technology that became the foundation of the company.

As utilities search for ways to meet growing electricity demand, Skrovanek sees technologies like dynamic line rating as one tool that can help bridge the gap while larger infrastructure projects move forward.

“If we can squeeze a little bit more out of what we already have, that’s huge,” he said.

To learn more about Skylark and FORM technology, click here.