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Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study

A partial map of the United States.

This partial map of the United States shows the study regions of the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study, which include Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) and Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (MAPP), Southwest Power Pool (SPP), Entergy, Tennessee Valley Authority, SERC Reliability Corporation (SERC), PJM Interconnection (PJM ISO), New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), ISO New England (ISONE). View a larger version of the map.

The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS) is one of the largest regional wind integration studies to date. It was initiated in 2008 to examine the operational impact of up to 20-30% energy penetration of wind on the power system in the Eastern Interconnect of the United States (see study area map). This study was set up to answer questions that utilities, regional transmission operators, and planning organizations had about wind energy and transmission development in the east.

Previous studies focusing on specific states or utilities have laid the groundwork for wind integration studies (e.g., New York, 2005, and Minnesota, 2006). The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study approach allows additional questions to be answered, including:

  • How do local wind resources compare with higher capacity-factor wind power that requires more transmission?
  • How does geographic diversity of wind reduce wind integration costs (i.e., spreading the wind power over a larger region and thereby "smoothing" out some of the variability)?
  • How does offshore wind power compare with onshore wind power?
  • What transmission is needed to facilitate higher penetrations of wind power?
  • What is the role and value of wind forecasting?
  • How are wind integration costs spread over large market footprints and regions?
  • What additional operating reserves are needed for large wind power deployments?

Eastern Wind Dataset

A primary task of the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study is to develop a dataset of three years of modeled time-series wind speed and power output that can be used to evaluate the power system impacts and transmission associated with increasing wind penetration to 20% and 30% on most of the eastern interconnect.

Main Tasks

  • Wind Resource Modeling:
    • Develop 3-years of modeled time-series wind speed datasets for the wind integration study area.
    • Identify wind power generation sites
    • Develop wind power plant outputs
  • Transmission Analysis:
    • Develop conceptual transmission overlays
    • Analyze different conceptual transmission overlays for different wind scenarios.
  • Integration Analysis:
    • Evaluate operating and reliability impacts of 20% and 30% wind
    • Calculate costs and identify issues for 20% and 30% wind
    • Identify how other generation sources are affected

The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with project coordination by NREL. The wind integration and transmission analysis is being lead by Enernex, with support from Ventyx and the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO). Wind inputs for the Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study were developed by AWS Truewind. This study and its partner study, the Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, are conducting an operating impact analysis to see if 20-30% wind energy is feasible from an operational level.

Technical Review Committee

A technical review committee consisting of regional and national technical experts on wind generation and power systems analysis guides and reviews the study. The technical review committee reviews and provides feedback on key assumptions, methods, and preliminary results.

More Information

Publication cover.

Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study. (January 2010).

Publication cover.

Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study: Executive Summary and Project Overview. (January 2010).

Publication cover.

Development of Eastern Regional Wind Resource and Wind Plant Output Datasets. (December 2009). Brower, M. AWS-Truewind created the Eastern Dataset with oversight and assistance from NREL. AWS-Truewind has completed this final report describing the overall project detailing the modeling and inputs. Read more about the Eastern Wind Dataset.

Publication cover.

Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study — Preliminary Findings. (September 2009). Corbus, D.; Milligan, M.; Ela, E.; Schuerger, M.; Zavadil, B. To be presented at the 8th International Workshop on Large Scale Integration of Wind Power and on Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Farms, 14-15 October 2009, Bremen, Germany.

Publication cover.

Large-Scale Wind Integration Studies in the United States: Preliminary Results. (September 2009). Milligan, M.; Lew, D.; Corbus, D.; Piwko, R.; Miller, N.; Clark, K.; Jordan, G.; Freeman, L.; Zavadil, B.; Schuerger, M. To be presented at the 8th International Workshop on Large Scale Integration of Wind Power and on Transmission Networks for Offshore Wind Farms, 14-15 October 2009, Bremen, Germany.