The Energy Department released a report on fossil fleet transition with renewable integration, describing operational and engineering challenges to the fossil generation fleet.
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
October 15, 2015
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A new report, “Fossil Fleet Transition with Fuel Changes and Large Scale Variable Renewable Integration” from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), jointly funded with the Offices of Fossil Energy (FE), Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is now available. This report addresses future operational and engineering challenges likely to face the fossil generation fleet in response to the need for much greater flexibility in power plant operations.
Prior studies have focused on the feasibility of higher levels of variable wind and solar generation. Renewable generation will require greater grid flexibility to maintain reliable electricity. So this report focuses primarily on gaining a better understanding and estimation of the engineering and operational challenges for dispatchable assets (principally coal and natural gas units) to support higher levels of variable renewable generation.
The report is intended to inform fossil generation owners, operators and vendors, researchers, and policymakers regarding fossil generation operational and engineering impacts associated with increasing levels of flexible operations, as well as reliability challenges and impacts for dispatchable assets.
The report is publicly available through the EPRI website.