Renewable energy integration and the impact of carbon regulation on the electric grid

This panel session paper outlines one of the research thrust areas in the Power System Engineering Research Center´s (PSERC) new initiative funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to investigate requirements for a systematic transformation of today´s electric grid to enable high penetrations of sustainable energy systems. The proposed research under this thrust area aims at understanding and quantifying the impact that massive integration of wind power will have on the power system in terms of efficiency, operational reliability, economic consequences and environmental outcomes. It also focuses on the design and evaluation of technological and market based approaches to mitigation the adverse impact of such integration. The analysis will be based simulation models designed to explore and evaluate technological and market solutions that can facilitate the integration of renewable resources. Specifically, the potential of harnessing the inherent flexibility of certain load types such as heating and cooling and PHEV charging and the deployment of distributed and system level storage devices to mitigate the variability and uncertainty of renewable resources will be explored and evaluated.