The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study Phase 2 (Executive Summary)

Technical Report · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1220244· OSTI ID:1220244

Lew, Debra ^[1]; Brinkman, Greg ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

The electric grid is a highly complex, interconnected machine, and changing one part of the grid can have consequences elsewhere. Adding wind and solar affects the operation of the other power plants and adding high penetrations can induce cycling of fossil-fueled generators. Cycling leads to wear-and-tear costs and changes in emissions. Phase 2 of the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study (WWSIS-2) evaluated these costs and emissions and simulated grid operations for a year to investigate the detailed impact of wind and solar on the fossil-fueled fleet. This built on Phase 1, one of the largest wind and solar integration studies ever conducted, which examined operational impacts of high wind and solar penetrations in the West(GE Energy 2010).

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind Program (EE-4W) (Wind Program Corporate)
• OSTI ID: 1220244
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP--5500-58798; 6488
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

WWSIS
grid
integration
interconnection
penetration
phase 2
phase two
western wind and solar
wind