Renewable energy vs. the electric grid - Solar, Wind and Land: Conflicts in Renewable Energy Development - page 152

the benefits of distributed generation, Germany has emerged as a leader in
this green energy strategy, installing thousands of megawatts of new solar
PV generating capacity per year in the form of relatively small projects. 15
Although distributed generation through smaller-scale wind and solar
energy systems is an increasingly valuable part of the global sustainable
energy movement, it also has its limitations. For instance, distributed
generation strategies are incapable of making use of the large quantity of
valuable wind and solar energy resources available in rural areas. Without
careful siting and design, renewable energy systems installed in urban
environments are also more likely to trigger disputes over such issues as
aesthetics and solar access. And, as described later in this chapter, increases
in distributed generation can complicate utility operators' task of balancing
the supply and demand of power on the grid. Because of these and other
constraints, distributed renewable energy is unlikely to be a panacea for
the transmission-related problems associated with renewable energy. For
the planet to fully utilize its wind and solar energy resources, a substantial
proportion of the world's renewable power will likely need to travel across
long distances before reaching consumers.
Recognizing that dramatic improvements in high-voltage transmission
capacity are essential to the continued growth of its business, the wind
energy industry in the United States has advocated for the development of an
expansive new “backbone” system of extra high-voltage (EHV) lines across
that country's Midwest region. 16 This enormous system would be capable
of delivering large amounts of wind-generated power from the windswept
hills and prairies of America's flyover country to population centers further
east and along the Pacific coast. Such a system, if constructed, would
significantly reduce grid congestion problems and would provide enough
transmission capacity to enable rapid wind energy development to continue
in the region for several decades.
To date, the U.S. wind energy industry's vision of a transmission super-
highway to spread wind-generated electricity throughout the continent
has yet to be realized, and transmission constraints continue to hamper
renewable energy growth in the U.S. and throughout the world. Why does
this lack of adequate transmission infrastructure continue to be such a
troublesome barrier to the global transition to renewable energy resources?
Although the factors contributing to this problem vary from country to
country, they often have something to do with the regulatory regimes that
govern the siting and funding of transmission facilities.
The problem of multiple siting authorities
In some parts of the world, the sheer number of government entities capable
of blocking any given transmission project proposal has stifled efforts
to update and expand grids for renewable energy development. Because
major transmission projects often stretch across multiple state or national