WATT Coalition report shows Grid-Enhancing Technologies could more than double regional renewable energy capacity by 2025
A new report from the Working for Advanced Transmission Technologies (WATT) Coalition, “Unlocking the Queue,” proposes that advanced transmission technologies could more than double the possible development of renewable energy capacity in Kansas and Oklahoma by 2025.
This would be thanks to three Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs), according to The Brattle Group, which provided the analysis for WATT. Dynamic line ratings, advanced power flow control, and topology optimization could together enable Kansas and Oklahoma to integrate 5,200 MW of wind and solar generation by 2025, and such benefits could be had at the national level, too, according to the models used.
“This report shows how active management of the grid can deliver more clean power over the existing network, benefiting customers and the environment in the very near term,” said Rob Gramlich, Executive Director of the WATT Coalition.“These technologies are proven, and small adjustments to regulations will lead to widespread benefits. The value to the climate and the economy is too large to leave on the table.”
The study concluded that GETs could lead to carbon emission cuts of 90 million tons per year, double the amount of renewables the can be integrated before building large-scale transmission lines and save $5 billion per year along the way. To achieve this, the report recommended four legislative and regulatory policies: federal infrastructure stimulus investments in GETs, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirement that GETs be considered in transmission planning, FERC-created incentives for GETs deployment, and allowing renewable developers to request and accept GETs offers for least-cost solutions to grid connections.
The study was funded by GridLab, EDF Renewables North America, NextEra Energy Resources, and Duke Energy Renewables.
