NREL: Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS): Background of Model

ReEDS is a multiregional, multitime-period, geographic information system (GIS), and linear programming model of capacity expansion in the electric sector of the United States. The model, developed by NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center (SEAC), conducts analysis of the critical energy issues in today's electric sector with detailed treatment of the full potential of conventional and renewable electricity generating technologies as well as electricity storage. The principal issues addressed include access to and cost of transmission, access to and quality of renewable resources, the variability of wind and solar power, and the influence of variability on the reliability of the grid. ReEDS addresses these issues through a highly discretized regional structure, explicit accounting for the variability in wind and solar output over time, and consideration of ancillary services requirements and costs.