Large-Scale Wind Integration Studies in the United States: Preliminary Results

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2009

OSTI ID:1043792

Milligan, Michael; Lew, Debra; Corbus, Dave; Piwko, Richard; Miller, Nicolas; Clark, Kara; Jordan, Gary; Freeman, Lavelle; Zavadil, Bob; Schuerger, Matt

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy, is managing two large-scale wind integration studies. The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (WWSIS) covers the footprint of WestConnect, a group of transmission owners that covers most of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Wyoming. The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS) covers a large part of the Eastern Interconnection, and leverages a large-scale transmission study known as the Joint Coordinated System Plan (JCSP). Both studies analyze the impact of 20-30% wind energy penetration within the study footprint based on energy. This paper discusses key results that have emerged so far from each study, focusing primarily on simulation results based on hourly production simulations. Results from both studies show that high wind penetrations can be successfully integrated into the power system, but depend on sufficient transmission and significant changes in operations.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind and Water Power Program
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1043792
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-5500-54685
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

17 WIND ENERGY
ARIZONA
COLORADO
FOCUSING
INTEGRATED ENERGY UTILITY SYSTEMS
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
NEVADA
NEW MEXICO
POWER SYSTEMS
PRODUCTION
SIMULATION
WIND POWER
WIND POWER PLANTS
WYOMING
wind energy
wind integration