Systems Prepare for Renewables Integration

Oct. 11, 2011 - Bill Opalka - renewablesbiz.com

What will it take to accommodate wind and solar?

Increasing amounts of renewable energy are being integrated into the nation’s power systems, but the impacts are not uniformly understood. So, the Department of Energy set out to identify best practices as it performed a worldwide survey of operators.

The result was a new study that will be released soon. In the meantime, “Successful Strategies for Renewable Integration - A Groundbreaking Global Study” was the subject of a recent webinar. The study was led by Lawrence Jones, vice president, regulatory affairs, policy & industry relations, Alstom Grid and funded by the Recovery Act.

This study is based on specific information provided by the system operators, which have not previously been gathered in one document, said Charlton I. Clark of the DOE office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The report was mostly focused mostly on wind because of the larger penetration, although some applications will apply equally to solar generation.

With significant expansion of wind generation expected worldwide, the reliability issue becomes critical. Some estimates put global wind at 500 gigawatts by 2030. There was a mere 2 gigawatts in 1990. The current worldwide tally is 194 gigawatts.

The study was conducted over 12 months and involved a survey of grid operators, six in-depth visits to control centers and a literature survey.

One point gleaned in the survey was that large operators don’t necessarily have the most experience with wind while some smaller operators with higher penetration have valuable insights.

No surprise, but accurate forecasting is paramount as well as support tools to help integrate renewables. Those would include voltage stability analysis and optimal power flow with wind forecasts.