Impacts of wind and solar on emissions and wear and tear of fossil-fueled generators

High penetrations of wind and solar power will impact the operations of the conventional generators on the power system. Regional integration studies have shown that wind and solar may cause fossil-fueled generators to cycle on and off and load follow more frequently and potentially more rapidly. Increased cycling, deeper load following, and rapid ramping may result in wear and tear impacts on fossil-fueled generators that lead to increased capital and maintenance costs, increased equivalent forced outage rates, and degraded performance over time. Heat rates and emissions from fossil-fueled generators may be higher during cycling and ramping than during steady-state operation. Many wind and solar integration studies have not taken these increased cost and emissions impacts into account because data have not been available. This analysis considers the cost and emissions impacts of cycling and ramping of fossil-fueled generation to refine assessments of wind and solar impacts on the power system.