Variable Renewable Energy and the Electricity Grid

Executive Summary Part 1: Technical and Policy Options 1. Overview 2. Variability and its Prediction 3. Strategies to Reduce or Manage Wind and Solar Variability 4. Improved Planning for Renewable Energy Capacity Expansion 5. New Regulations, Rate Structures, and Standards to Support Variable Energy Resources 6. Policies to Manage Variable Generation at Increased Renewable Contribution Part 2: Scientific Findings 7. The Social Costs and Benefits of Wind Energy: Case Study in the PJM Interconnection 8. Characteristics of Wind, Solar Photovoltaic, and Solar Thermal Power 9. Forecast Error Characteristics of Wind and of Load 10. Day-Ahead Wind Reserve Requirements 11. Year-To-Year Variability in Wind Power 12. Reduction of Wind Power Variability through Geographic Diversity 13. Cycling and Ramping of Fossil Plants, and Reduced Energy Payments 14. Storage to Smooth Variability A. Small-Scale Storage B. Economics of Grid Storage: i. Storage in the Largest Electricity Market, PJM ii. Pumped Hydroelectric Storage in Portugal and Norway iii. Compressed Air Energy Storage iv. Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Storage v. Smart PHEV Charging 15. The Cost-Effectiveness of Dynamically Limiting Wind Turbines for Secondary Frequency Regulation Capacity 16. Quantifying the Hurricane Risk to Offshore Wind Power Part 3: Review of Large-Scale Wind Integration Studies 17. A Critical Review of Large-Scale Wind Integration Studies in the United States