Transmission Planning for Wind Energy in the USA: Status and Prospects

Wind integration: experience, issues, and challenges

“…Wind power is normally not the only driving force for grid investments but it is a major factor (Ireland, Germany, Europe, and the United States,) . The cost of grid reinforcements due to wind power is very dependent on where the wind power plants are located relative to load and grid infrastructure.…”

“…The cost of grid reinforcements due to wind power is very dependent on where the wind power plants are located relative to load and grid infrastructure. Portugal reported million 145 € (70 €/kW) increase in grid infrastructure investments in the period 2004–2009 for increasing wind penetration from 3% (1400 MW) to 13% wind energy penetration (3500 MW) . In several studies grid reinforcement costs roughly vary from 0 €/kW to 270 €/kW reflecting different systems, countries, grid infrastructure, and calculation methodologies …”

International requirements for large integration of renewable energy sources

“…In [87], Transmission congestion is usually related to the development timescales of variable generation power plants. They can generally evolve much more quickly than the new required transmission projects, leading to a timing mismatch in construction between wind development and new transmission [88]. It may take 5-10 years to plan (or more, depending on the country), permit, and construct a transmission line, whereas a wind or solar project can be planned, permitted, and constructed in 1-3 years [88], [89], [90].…”

“…They can generally evolve much more quickly than the new required transmission projects, leading to a timing mismatch in construction between wind development and new transmission [88]. It may take 5-10 years to plan (or more, depending on the country), permit, and construct a transmission line, whereas a wind or solar project can be planned, permitted, and constructed in 1-3 years [88], [89], [90]. System balancing issues typically occur with high wind generation at night, when loads are low and thermal units are pushed down against their minimum operating constraints, and the generation excess cannot be exported to other balancing areas due to transmission constraints [91].…”

“…This phenomenon has occurred several times in Spain, although not as severe, due to the explosive cyclogenesis and heavy rainfall combined with high wind production; therefore, increasing the flexibility of the system is the best way to reduce curtailments. The methods of increasing system flexibility depend on the power system, with different possibilities taking into account the proportions of each method[97],[98],[99]. The main ones are grid capacity, physical additions to the system (such as storage or new transmission lines[100],[90]), power system operational changes (such as economic dispatch or improved forecasting [102]), and institutional changes (such as access to new markets [102]).…”