Transmission considerations for wind generation installation

Wind power generation is increasingly being installed in the US and all over the world at an unprecedented pace. The primary policy drivers for the development of wind power in the US are the Federal Production Tax Credits and the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards enacted by the various State commissions. What is further aiding the rapid development of wind power is the abundant availability of wind across the US, particularly in the Midwest. Consequently, a large percentage of the generation interconnection queues of the transmission providers/RTOs comprises of wind generators. The ballooning queue compounded by limitations in transmission capability, has resulted in a backlog of interconnection studies. To address this issue, Midwest ISO has initiated various efforts from the study and process improvement perspective. Other study efforts include economics based transmission planning. Results obtained so far indicate that such economic-criteria based transmission expansion has regional benefits.