MISO, SPP complete study on how to improve reliability along shared boundaries
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) completed an 18-month study designed to improve reliability along their shared boundaries or “seams.”
The research focused on developing transmission solutions to support the evolving resource mix shared by both regions.
“This collaborative process provided us with the opportunity to coordinate solutions to reliability issues along the MISO-SPP seam while also looking at process improvements,” Aubrey Johnson, executive director, systems planning and competitive transmission at MISO, said. “Together, we focused on a holistic approach to maximize the potential of more generator interconnection queue projects in the future.”
Specifically, it identified a seven-project portfolio, which allows for an increase in generator connections. A range of between 28 GW and 53 GW of improved interregional generation enablement would be available to new generator interconnection projects near the seam. The estimated cost would be about $1.65 billion. Cost allocation discussions for these interregional projects is underway, and projects are subject to approval from each of their respective boards.
These efforts would increase reliability by mitigating constraints, improving transfer capability between the two regional transmission organizations (RTOs), and better aligning interconnection processes. Also, economic analysis conducted by the RTOs shows customers can anticipate an adjusted production cost (APC) benefit of $724 million in the MISO footprint and $247 million in the SPP region.
“Both MISO and SPP have existing planning processes, and the JTIQ partnership allowed us to focus on future reliability risks based on the trends in our generation portfolios,” Antoine Lucas, vice president, engineering at SPP, said. “The resulting portfolio of projects fully resolves the set of transmission constraints evaluated in the study, providing considerable reliability benefits to both RTO regions.”