Embracing Wind

Deck: 

Integrating renewables in New York.

Fortnightly Magazine - May 2011
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Wind energy provides many benefits, such as a low energy costs and a near-zero carbon footprint, but it also brings new challenges, a consequence of wind’s intermittent nature. These challenges must be overcome by ISO/RTOs and other entities responsible for the reliable and efficient operation of the power grid.

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) administers the wholesale electricity market for New York State. The NYISO runs a day-ahead and a real-time market for electricity. The day-ahead market provides generators with a financially binding schedule of operation. As anticipated load, available generation, and system conditions changes from the time the day-ahead market is settled, the NYISO also operates a real-time market that’s intended to efficiently and economically balance system changes.

In addition, the NYISO schedules transmission service for direct transactions between buyers and sellers—i.e., bilateral transactions. While the cost of energy in a bilateral transaction is negotiated outside the NYISO’s marketplace, a bid-based system is used to make transmission service available. Roughly 95 percent of energy is scheduled in the day-ahead market, while the remaining 5 percent is accounted for in the real-time market. About half of the energy settled in the day-ahead market is scheduled through bilateral contracts.

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