Aggregate effects of system integration for analysis of wind energy diffusion

During the last several years, a large number of reports and a complementary body of literature has surfaced regarding the effects of incorporating large amounts of wind energy into the electric grid. Studies have been performed by individual system operators, utilities, industry research organizations, as well as national and academic research programs. The results claimed can vary and despite the large amount of research and reports, the actual economic and operational effect of large amounts of wind energy remains unclear. The goal of this work is to analyze the characteristics of the different studies in terms of system context and methodologies in order to provide an informed perspective as to how and why various studies have arrived at the conclusions that they have and what general conclusions can be drawn regarding large-scale diffusion of wind energy into the electric system.