Wind on the Wires: Providing Grid Access to Renewable Energy

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Energy Insights Opinion
• In This Report
• Situation Overview
  • Lagging U.S. Grid Investment
  • Figure: U.S. and U.K. Normalized High-Voltage Transmission Capital Investment Levels, 1999-2003 and 2004-2008
  • Table: Wind Energy Penetration in Europe and the United States, 2006
  • Figure: Conceptual 765kV Backbone System for Wind Resource Integration
  • Figure: Proposed Large-Scale U.S. Transmission Plans
  • Transmission and Wind Energy Access Hang-Ups
    • Which Comes First: Generation or Transmission?
    • Lengthy Planning Processes, Mismatched Build Times
    • Grid Interconnection Proximate to Load Centers
    • Intermittency Concerns
    • Queue Delays
    • Unstable Policy Support
• The Approach
  • Wind Integration Studies: Results Encouraging
  • Table: Key Results from Major Wind Integration Studies, 2003-2006
  • Federal Actions
    • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Rulings
    • Conditional Firm Transmission Service
    • National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors
    • Renewable Transmission Bonds: Potential Funding for Public Power Companies
  • Regional Initiatives
    • Regional Transmission Planning Efforts
    • Area Control Error Diversity Interchange
    • Figure: Proposed Large-Scale U.S. Transmission Plans
  • Technical Innovation
  • Case Studies: Linking State RPSs with Comprehensive Transmission Planning
    • Texas: Competitive Renewable Energy Zones
    • California: Wholesale Transmission Tariff
    • Colorado: Following Texas with Energy Resource Zones
    • Figure: The High Plains Express Project
    • Minnesota: RPS Framework
    • New Mexico: Renewable Energy Transmission Authority
    • Figure: State Transmission Authorities
• Future Outlook
• Essential Guidance
  • Actions to Consider
• Learn More
  • Related Research
    • Energy Insights Research
    • Other Research
  • Synopsis