Integrating Variable Electricity Generation into the Grid
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the international regulatory authority for electric reliability of the bulk power system in North America, yesterday released a special report entitled "Accommodating High Levels of Variable Generation", which calls for changes to the way the North American bulk power system is planned and operated. For a quick read, here is a copy of the executive summary.
The NERC special report was drafted by a committee of some 50 industry experts, including grid operators, utilities, wind and solar manufacturers, trade associations and government authorities across North America. Some of the report’s specific recommendations include:
- Planning practices and methods require change — The integration of high levels of variable generation will require system planners to change planning practices, procedures, methods, and tools to ensure reliability in the coming years. Incorporating resources located at the distribution-level (such as roof-top solar panels and “smart grid” technologies) into bulk power system planning studies is a key area in need of improvement, along with integrated analysis of transmission and resources in probabilistic planning studies.
- Grid operators require new tools and practices — Ensuring the efficient, effective, and reliable use of variable resources will require a number of changes in system operations centers, including incorporating consistent and accurate forecasting of daily and seasonal variable generation output and advanced control techniques into daily and real-time practices. A comprehensive regional analysis of the operational impacts of proposed system changes (i.e., larger balancing areas or participation in wider-area balancing management) is also recommended.
- Industry encouraged to pursue research and development and establish appropriate market signals — A renewed focus on research and development for new system models, continued improvement of variable generation technologies, and advanced planning techniques is needed. The report also recommends that organized markets consider instituting mechanisms designed to ensure the availability of adequate flexible balancing resources. Appropriate requirements for generation ramping requirements, minimum generation levels, and shorter operations scheduling intervals should also be considered.
- Policy makers encouraged to remove barriers to transmission development and consider reliability — The report encourages policy makers to accelerate transmission siting, approve permits for needed facilities, and otherwise remove barriers to needed transmission development. It also encourages policy makers to consider the opportunities and issues associated with proposed system changes, the importance of coordinated planning, and the impacts of variable generation on wide-area system reliability.
In the context of the BCUC's Section 5 Inquiry on BC's long term electricity transmission requirements, this report comes at a most appropriate time. There is no doubt that intermittent, or variable, electricity poses a challenge connecting to BC's heritage electricity grid, so it is critical that these issues are considered, at a precisely the time when more and more electrons from renewable power, like wind and solar, are seeking access to the grid.
