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Wind Integration Studies

Two cover pages.

NREL's integration studies evaluate operating and reliability impacts of higher wind penetrations, calculate the costs of power system operation, and evaluate methods for determining additional reserves.

Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study

Western Wind and Solar Integration Study

NREL's Wind Systems Integration staff collaborates with electric-utility industry partners and provides data, analysis, and techniques aimed at increasing utility understanding of integration issues and confidence in the reliability of new wind turbine products.

For wind energy to play a role in supplying the nation's energy needs, integrating wind energy into the power grid of the United States is an important issue to address. Large amounts of wind energy are located in areas of the United States without transmission lines to the power grid, and the natural variability of the wind resource raises concerns about how wind can be integrated into the existing transmission system. NREL researchers look at improving the use of the existing transmission system and expanding the power grid to deliver energy from windfarms to customers to support increasing the penetration of wind energy throughout the country.

New Wind Power and Energy Required by State RPSs by 2025

A map of the United States showing which states have Renewable Portfolio Standards: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. For the purpose of this map, we assumed that wind power would supply 80 percent of the capacity and energy required from state RPSs. Also, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia, and Vermont have state voluntary goals but not RPSs, and these are not included in this map. Total wind energy required is 182,188 GWh and total wind capacity is 59,359 MW. Click on the map to view a larger version.

View a larger version of the map (JPG).

Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) is the term for legislation which mandates that power suppliers obtain a percentage of their power mix from renewable resources. This map illustrates that the demand for renewable energy is greater than the amount that can be supplied at the current time. To meet the growing demand for wind power to supply our nation's energy needs, we must address wind systems integration. Read an overview about Renewable Portfolio Standards or learn about RPSs by state.

The Wind Systems Integration Group is part of NREL's Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration Center and works with industry, academia, other national laboratories, and various standards organizations.