Wind on the Wires1 - Smart Grid (R) Evolution: Electric Power Struggles - page 130

6 Wind on the Wires 1
6.1 Tensions and Synergies of Large-scale Wind and Smart Grid
For many, one of the most appealing and valuable promises of a smarter grid is the
ability to integrate more renewable energy into the electric system. More renewables allow
for lower-carbon electricity generation, facilitate a reduction in fossil fuel reliance, and
enable diversification of sources of electricity generation. As climate and renewable energy
advocates are calling for a transition to low-carbon electricity systems, it is widely
recognized that wind, solar, and other renewable power has great potential to contribute
a greater share of total electricity generation. In this chapter we focus on large-scale
wind development and explore how it has both required and influenced the simultaneous
development of smart grid.
Tointegratewindintotheelectricsystem,smartgridhascometorepresentacrucialsetof
technologies that will continue to ensure grid reliability and resilience while allowing wind
to play a larger role in the electric power grid. Some estimate that wind could ultimately
provide between 20 and 50 percent of total global electricity generation (NREL 2008 ; Xu
et al. 2009 ; Meegahapola and Flynn 2010 ) . Scaling up wind power to these levels requires
both technical and social innovation and involves installing wind turbines, new transmission
networks, and new operations to integrate wind. The rapid expansion of wind power has led
to an evolving shift from focusing on turbines to an expanded systemwide perspective to
support wind power integration.
The recent history of wind power development illustrates how policies to promote
renewable generation are changing electric grid operations and shaping smart grid
development; at the same time, policies to promote grid modernization are changing the
development and operation of renewable energy technologies. In just over twenty years, this
dynamic coevolution has transformed wind power from a boutique experiment to a major
source of power in many places. These changes have shifted the power dynamics among
system actors and changed institutions. The simultaneous development of smart grid and
renewable energy has also created new challenges and struggles. Large-scale wind power
has changed transmission planning and financing, shifted the operation of the electric power
grid, and shifted the economics of the electric system. These shifts in planning, siting, and
financing of long-distance transmission lines to connect distant large-scale wind generation
with electricity demand have created multiple struggles as new challenges and opportunities