Minnesota study says wind integration costs are minimal in MISO

Washington (Platts)--14Dec2006

A new study on how to integrate wind resources into the transmission grid
in the Midwest found that up to 25% of a utility's generation portfolio could
come from wind generation at minimal cost, the American Wind Energy
Association said Wednesday.

The study was ordered by the Minnesota Legislature in 2005 to evaluate
reliability impacts and other factors associated with adding wind generation,
which is increasing significantly in the region.

Minnesota utilities in the Midwest Independent Transmission System
Operator system could add wind generation to make up one-quarter of their
retail power sales without sacrificing reliability, said the Midwest Wind
Integration Study, carried out by EnerNex and WindLogics. The total cost for
integrating that much wind generation is 0.45 cents/kWh.

The 25% generation level used in the study is predicated on operating in
the MISO territory, control area consolidation, which is currently underway in
MISO, geographic diversity of the wind power and adequate transmission. That
last factor can be significant, because wind project developers often face
significant transmission enhancement costs for adding generation in remote
areas where transmission capacity is limited.

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