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Title: Operational Analysis of the Eastern Interconnection at Very High Renewable Penetrations

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1476255· OSTI ID:1476255
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

The primary objective of the study reported here is to build on work by Mai et al. (2012) and Brinkman (2015) by performing detailed modeling of the U.S. Eastern Interconnection operations with approximately 70% of all energy coming from wind and solar generation. The study assesses the ability to balance supply and demand for electricity using a unit commitment and economic dispatch model with a five-minute time resolution. In addition, the study explores the implications of different amounts of physical and institutional flexibility for balancing. We also present an analysis of system “stress” by quantifying various metrics, such as the amount of spare online capacity, penetration levels of non-synchronous generators, day-ahead compared to real-time curtailment, and start-ups of peaking generation.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Strategic Programs (EE-SP)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1476255
Report Number(s):
NREL/TP-6A20-71465
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English