MISO seeing record number of requests for interconnections in 2022
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) reported a record 956 submittals during the 2022 Generator Interconnection Queue (GIQ) application period.
The interconnection requests represent roughly 171 GW of new generation across the MISO footprint. Further, about 164 GW (or 96 percent) of the requests are renewable or storage resources. By comparison, queue applications totaled 487 for 77 GW last year.
This is the third straight year that submittals have exceeded the previous all-time high, reflecting an acceleration of the resource transition. This acceleration is a trend identified in MISO’s Renewable Integration Impact Assessment (RIIA), among other sources.
“At this point, we are experiencing exponential growth in the queue,” Andy Witmeier, director of resource utilization at MISO, said. “The current applications continue to be heavily weighted with renewables and standalone storage requests again tripling the amount submitted the previous year.”
The single-highest category this year is solar projects, representing 84 GW, followed by hybrid projects at 34 GW and storage projects at 32 GW. Further, wind projects totaled about 14 GW.
In July, MISO approved 18 transmission projects representing $10.3 billion in new investment through Tranche 1 of its Long Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) effort. These projects will add significant new transmission capacity to the grid. Also, Congress’ approval of the Inflation Reduction Act increases the production tax credits available to renewable energy sources.
“These numbers continue to represent the seismic shift occurring on the electric grid highlighting a rapid resource transition to renewable energy,” Witmeier said. “It seems the LRTP Tranche 1 approval and Inflation Reduction Act have spurred additional interest this year by enabling and incentivizing new resources to come online. We are working with our stakeholders on the additional regional transmission needed to accommodate this resource shift.”
At present, the MISO queue consists of 769 projects totaling 118 GW, of which 97 percent is renewable or storage. If all the projects submitted this year are accepted as valid applications, the MISO queue would surge to 289 GW.
