The Impact of Renewables
on the Electric Grid
The integration of renewables into the operation of the grid.
ByDougHouseman
T
he regulators are coming, the regulators are coming ... the most widely deployed renewable generation sources today
and they are going to force changes in our industry. producing electricity. Large solar and wave power installations
With political requirements to reduce carbon, deal with also fit this category. The assumption is that V-Cent would be
climate change, be greener, allow local participation in the connected to the transmission (high voltage) network.
power grid, and to try to manage the cost of energy, regulators 3) Schedulable Distributed Generation (S-Dist) – This is
are changing the requirements for what is allowed on the grid. small-scale generation that uses renewable fuels; normally, the
Renewable generation is the buzz word today and regulators generation facilities would be found on farms, in businesses
do not want to be left behind. In the US, more than 30 states and in homes. One good example would be wood-fired
now have renewable portfolio standards (RPS) – mandatory combined heat and power. The expectation would be that the
percentages of power that have to be produced and delivered generation can be turned on and off as needed.
from renewable sources by specific dates. In some cases, the 4) Variable Distributed Generation (V-Dist) – This is the
RPS requirements kick in as soon as 2010, in others the first category that most environmentalists mean when they discuss
real requirement is not until 2025. In any case, in the US, state the next generation of the electric network – solar cells on a
requirements will require that an additional 1% of the total roof, or a small windmill in a backyard.
electric power consumed to be produced by renewable sources These four categories bring different issues to the grid and
each year. In Europe, the 20:20:20 initiative will force a similar have different levels of grid friendliness. The location of the
requirement. The manufacturers of renewable generation connection and the ability to produce power on demand
devices are all running at full capacity and looking to increase makes the difference in how friendly they are.
it. GE Energy will double wind turbine production again in
2009 and yet again in 2010 and they are completely sold out S-Cent
until 2012. Other manufacturers are in a similar situation and The S-Cent and the V-Cent are both connected to the
the type of renewable generation they produce matters little. transmission grid and have the ability to take advantage of
Incentives and subsidies, rather than real economics, are traditional control systems and monitoring. The existing
driving sales (together with regulatory requirements). SCADA systems and protection schemes are capable of
This installation of renewables will supporting both these types of
not be without its problems. None are
Renewables will have an
generation. S-Cent is so similar to
impossible to deal with, but some are
impact on the whole
conventional generation that it offers
very expensive and others just take time
and effort. Renewables will have an
utility value chain &
few or no issues for integration into the
grid. Since it is so simple to integrate,
impact on the whole utility value chain how it operates ... where fuels are available and
and how it operates. No utility is economically viable, it should be
exempt, and it does not matter if the market is fully regulated considered as the ‘first choice’ in deployment. In most cases,
or fully deregulated. In some cases it is an engineering issue, in the economic model for S-Cent matches that of conventional
others a people issue. No generation will be installed and fossil generation. A sample of the facilities that fit into this
operated without facing some issues or problems. include:
To really look at the impact of renewable sources on the 1) Large wood-fired power plants.
electric grid we need to separate renewables into several 2) Refuse and post consumer waste incinerators.
categories. In this document, we have made a simplistic 3) Landfill gas generation facilities.
separation into the following categories: 4) Pumped hydro facilities.
1) Schedulable Central Station Generation (S-Cent) – This 5) Large hydro facilities.
includes biomass and other alternative fuels that can be used 6) Run of the river current farms.
in place of fossil fuels, and existing fossil fuel plants may be
able to be retrofitted to consume them. For instance, wood These facilities offer very few challenges from a grid
chips replacing coal, ethanol replacing oil or biogas replacing management point of view, but they do offer other challenges
natural gas. for site approval and operations. In some areas, incinerators
2) Variable Central Station Generation (V-Cent) – Wind that were installed only a few years ago are being shutdown
farmsarethebestknownexamplesofthisclassofassetandare because of protests by those living near the facility.
140 worldPower2009
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