Renewable Revolution

There are key differences between yesterday’s grid and tomorrow’s grid that should be forefront as we consider the ability of the system to integrate high levels of renewables.

•Advanced communication and IT resources are being deployed to provide grid operators with the information and tools necessary to optimize system operations, markets, and planning. 

•The benefits of geographically broad and co-optimized operating and market footprints are becoming increasingly apparent and there are significant initiatives underway globally to leverage the benefits of regional collaboration to support the reliability and economic performance of the grid while also enabling the integration of clean energy resources.

•Commercially available technologies including active power controls on wind turbines and advanced solar inverters are capable of supporting grid operations and reliability, and in some cases they are better equipped to do so than older or inflexible thermal generating units that do not respond well to automated signals.

•Electricity markets have the potential to provide investors and developers with appropriate economic signals to deploy advanced technologies that provide varying combinations of energy, capacity, and ancillary services. The development of market products beyond energy and capacity will increase the value propositions for renewable resources and there are an encouraging number of initiatives underway to augment existing markets and start new markets.

•Increasingly sophisticated distributed resources, demand response, and storage technologies are in the queue to become essential components in a system that leverages the broad capabilities of a diverse set of resources.

•The ongoing retirement of large coal generating units and the decentralization of generation assets are creating a grid that is more flexible, resilient, and better equipped to integrate renewables.