Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy
Abstract
Estimating the overall costs of transmission needed to integrate variable renewable energy (VRE) onto the grid is challenging. An improved understanding of these transmission costs would support electricity system planning as VRE penetrations increase. This paper brackets VRE transmission capital costs using multiple approaches based on interconnection studies, actual transmission projects, capacity-expansion simulation models, and aggregated U.S. VRE-related transmission expenditures. Each approach possesses advantages and drawbacks, and combining the approaches lends confidence to the results. The resulting range of average levelized VRE transmission costs is 1– 10 dollars/MWh, which is generally lower than earlier estimates in the literature. These transmission capital costs can increase the direct plant-level levelized cost of VRE by 3%–33%, based on levelized costs of energy of 29– 56 dollars/MWh for utility-scale wind and 36–46 dollars/MWh for utility-scale solar. As VRE deployment continues to expand, policy makers can use this information to (1) assess the benefits of transmission avoidance and deferral when comparing distributed energy resources versus utility-scale projects, (2) evaluate the potential costs of large-scale public transmission investments, and (3) better analyze system-level costs of utility-scale VRE technologies. Future research can expand on the framework presented here by providing a review of operation and maintenance costsmore »
- Authors:
-
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Electricity (OE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1572067
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1566915
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Energy Policy
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 135; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0301-4215
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Citation Formats
Gorman, Will, Mills, Andrew, and Wiser, Ryan. Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110994.
Gorman, Will, Mills, Andrew, & Wiser, Ryan. Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy. United States. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110994.
Gorman, Will, Mills, Andrew, and Wiser, Ryan. Sun .
"Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy". United States. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110994. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1572067.
@article{osti_1572067,
title = {Improving estimates of transmission capital costs for utility-scale wind and solar projects to inform renewable energy policy},
author = {Gorman, Will and Mills, Andrew and Wiser, Ryan},
abstractNote = {Estimating the overall costs of transmission needed to integrate variable renewable energy (VRE) onto the grid is challenging. An improved understanding of these transmission costs would support electricity system planning as VRE penetrations increase. This paper brackets VRE transmission capital costs using multiple approaches based on interconnection studies, actual transmission projects, capacity-expansion simulation models, and aggregated U.S. VRE-related transmission expenditures. Each approach possesses advantages and drawbacks, and combining the approaches lends confidence to the results. The resulting range of average levelized VRE transmission costs is 1– 10 dollars/MWh, which is generally lower than earlier estimates in the literature. These transmission capital costs can increase the direct plant-level levelized cost of VRE by 3%–33%, based on levelized costs of energy of 29– 56 dollars/MWh for utility-scale wind and 36–46 dollars/MWh for utility-scale solar. As VRE deployment continues to expand, policy makers can use this information to (1) assess the benefits of transmission avoidance and deferral when comparing distributed energy resources versus utility-scale projects, (2) evaluate the potential costs of large-scale public transmission investments, and (3) better analyze system-level costs of utility-scale VRE technologies. Future research can expand on the framework presented here by providing a review of operation and maintenance costs for transmission systems. },
doi = {10.1016/j.enpol.2019.110994},
journal = {Energy Policy},
number = C,
volume = 135,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {12}
}
Web of Science
Works referencing / citing this record:
Financial Impacts of Net-Metered Distributed PV on a Prototypical Western Utility’s Shareholders and Ratepayers
journal, December 2019
- Cappers, Peter; Satchwell, Andrew; Gorman, Will
- Energies, Vol. 12, Issue 24