$25. 002009 ieee 52 ieee

Transmission system issues:

 

✔

 

Good sites for wind or 

large-scale solar plants (greater than 100 MW) may 

be located in areas distant from any existing trans-

mission lines or areas with limited available trans-

mission capacity. These capacity limits are the most 

fundamental constraint facing wind power project 

developers, since it can take many years to plan and 

build new transmission infrastructure. Planning for 

transmission expansion to support increasing levels of 

wind generation in dispersed areas is essential to the 

growth of the wind sector. 

Planning and system stability studies are needed 

to determine seasonal requirements for “up regula-

tion” and “down regulation” (seconds) and ramping 

(minutes) capacities. It should be pointed out that sig-

nifi cantly higher levels of regulation and ramping ca-

pacity might not be readily available in regions with 

a thermal and nuclear generation base. Long-term re-

source adequacy issues also need to be addressed.