Renewable energy sources, while helping nations reach their clean energy goals, present challenges to the power grid. Solar and wind power are often unpredictable and not always able to produce power at maximum capacity when demand peaks.  

Dive into the challenges of incorporating renewable energy into the electricity grid, just how much of the grid is fueled by renewable energy sources, and the impact of renewable energy on the power grid. 

What Are the Challenges of Incorporating Renewable Energy in the Electricity Grid?

With the proliferation of clean energy sources, the power grid is changing. 

However, the goal of the grid remains the same – constantly matching supply to demand for electricity.

The burgeoning push for renewable energy presents a challenge to this goal. Unlike nuclear, coal, or gas-fired power plants, wind turbines and solar panels only generate electricity when the wind blows or the sun shines. Sometimes, on particularly sunny or windy days, they can even produce more electricity than the grid can accept. 

This poses a challenge for grid operators who must balance supply and demand. Too much electricity flowing over transmission lines can create constraints on the system, and too little electricity means consumers may be subject to power outages. 

Some independent system operators (ISOs) are integrating these technologies at an especially fast pace, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is set to become a leader in wind, solar, and batteries. 

How Much of the US Power Grid Is Renewable Energy?

Data from the C Three Group, a part of Yes Energy

Renewable energy currently generates 20% of US electricity annually, according to the Department of Energy. Of this, the largest source of renewable power is wind energy, followed by hydropower. 

Source: The C Three Group's North American Electric Generation Project Database

This is only expected to grow as more renewable energy sources come online and connect to the grid. This brings another challenge, however. 

Can the Grid Support Renewable Energy? 

While the grid can support renewable energy, currently there is a backlog of renewable energy projects waiting for connection to the grid. This is significant because while the number of renewable energy projects is growing across North America, the delay in connecting these projects to the grid, which is often several years out, can hinder reaching global clean energy goals.

Data from the C Three Group, now a part of Yes Energy

Changes to governmental regulations, increased investment in infrastructure, reskilling workers, and securing supply chains can help alleviate this backlog, according to the International Energy Agency.  

The Impact of Renewable Energy on the Electric Power Grid 

Renewable energy impacts the electric power grid in several ways. 

1. Renewable Energy Can Create More Energy Than Needed, Creating Challenges in Balancing the Grid.

Most of the time, the grid can absorb all the energy that renewable sources produce. However, renewables can sometimes produce more energy than the grid can reliably accept, driving prices lower or even negative. 

ISOs can curtail renewable energy sources if there’s oversupply. 

Curtailments can be market driven (low enough prices to incentivize lower production) and usually driven by grid operators manually curtailing power plants. Due to tax incentives, some renewable generation projects receive up to a $30/mwh credit and will continue to produce when local market prices are negative.

To avoid excessive curtailment, the power needs to be stored, such as in batteries, or used by increasing demand, i.e. employing electric vehicle charging systems that respond to grid conditions. 

2. Renewable Energy Drives a Need for More Grid-Scale Energy Storage.

Historically, power plants have had to produce electricity at the same time that consumers demand it. However, renewable energy sources sometimes produce too much power when demand drops. 

This creates a need for grid-scale energy storage. For example, grid-scale batteries can charge when renewable sources of power operate at their peak and can store the charge for when demand is high or power is expensive and renewable intermittent generation is unavailable. The US currently has more than 400 batteries with a power capacity of 8,842 MW. While this number is growing rapidly, it still represents a tiny portion of the US’ energy storage capacity. 

The most common method of grid-scale energy storage is pumped storage hydropower. There are 550 gigawatt hours of pumped hydro energy storage in the US today, 96% of all energy storage in the US.

3. Renewable Energy Creates Challenges in Transmission.

Many of the areas that abundantly produce renewable energy are far from the areas of greatest demand for that energy. This creates an issue with transmission and can cause gridlock – the challenge is delivering the power to the areas of greatest demand, hundreds of miles away from where generators create the electricity. 

This map shows the 15 central states that are capable of producing large amounts of wind energy. Several of these are not population dense.

This map shows where generators can produce the most solar energy. High-population areas such as the northeast produce very little.

Many people complain about transmission lines in their backyards, so this is an additional challenge to transmit power from one place to another. States, not the federal government, largely have the authority to regulate the construction of transmission lines. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates interstate transmission of electricity. 

Conclusion

The grid has become one of the most complex human-made machines on the planet, and it’s only growing more complex. To meet climate change goals, we must make changes to the grid while using it, which will require a combination of efforts and technologies. 

Yes Energy via Powered by Yes Energy partners with many companies working to balance the grid while introducing additional sources of renewable energy. 

• Tesla Electric uses Yes Energy data to make it easier for people to charge their electric cars at times when renewable energy abounds. 
• THG Energy Solutions employs Yes Energy data to help companies see data about their energy usage and track how they’re reaching their sustainability goals. 
• Power traders across the continent use Yes Energy data to help balance the power markets and to move power from one region to another. 

If you’re building solutions for power markets, we can help. Contact us to learn more.