by jbs012310 e3 — January 25, 2010—The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released on January 20 a major study of the technical, operational, and economic issues facing the integration of large amounts of wind energy into the power system. The Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study (EWITS), the largest study of its kind conducted in the United States to date, evaluates the future operational and integration impacts of up to 30 percent wind energy penetration into the power system in the study year 2024.
The study encompasses the majority of the utilities in the Eastern Interconnection. It also includes a high-level analysis of transmission needed to deliver the wind energy to load centers and a cursory analysis of carbon pricing impacts. The study consists of three main parts: a wind resource assessment and wind plant siting study, a transmission study, and a wind integration study.
The study concludes that integration of 20 percent wind energy is technically feasible, but will require significant expansion of the transmission infrastructure and system operational changes in order for it to be realized.
For more information about DOE’s work on incorporating increasing amounts of wind energy into the power system while maintaining reliable grid operations, see the Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program’s Renewable Systems Interconnection page. DOE will release a similar study for the Western Interconnection later in 2010.
