Transmission Plans for Large Renewable Integration in US Midwest

The panel objective is to share with the industry the technical methodology and transmission alternatives proposed to interconnect approximately 56 GW of wind resources in the US Midwest. Reliability analysis were performed and are currently being used to recommend solutions for the expansion of EHV transmission, integrated with the existing transmission system in states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri and Wisconsin. The panel includes project participants from utilities that worked in collaboration for almost a year and the topics to present are: a) key study assumptions/methodology; b) wind models and the development of the energy requirements needed to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standards for states included in the study; c) the different transmission alternatives evaluated and d) final selected alternatives and future plans.