Could the Electric Grid Support Far More Wind and Solar?
SAN FRANCISCO — The electric grid may be able to handle more wind and solar power — way more — than previously thought, according to a new preliminary study. The commonly accepted wisdom in the energy industry is that the grid could only draw something like 20 percent of its power from wind and solar resources before encountering major reliability problems. But the new power flow simulation (.pdf), presented for the first time this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting, shows that, at least in California, the power grid might be able to handle three times that much renewable energy without encountering major trouble pushing electrons around the state. “This work has shown that at least 70 percent of the total projected California generation on a summer day in 2016 could be provided by renewable sources … with relatively minimal upgrades to the transmission infrastructure,” wrote Elaine Hart, a Stanford doctoral student, in her presentation. “This study demonstrates the grid-fe
