IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2021 - 57

Enabling Clean, Affordable,
and Reliable Electricity
N
november/december 2021
NUMEROUS COUNTRIES, STATES, UTILITIES, CITIES, AND CORPORATIONS HAVE
adopted 100% clean electricity goals to slow climate change. Typical goals are to achieve 100%
clean electricity by 2035 and 100% clean energy by 2050 while maintaining an affordable, reliable
energy system. This article explores the role of high-voltage transmission as an enabler for achieving
100% clean electricity and a largely decarbonized economy in an affordable, reliable fashion.
It synthesizes the results from several recent studies on decarbonization pathways to examine
implications for transmission expansion needs and approaches in the United States and Europe.
As presented in Table 1, various efforts have examined the expansion and performance of
alternative electricity decarbonization pathways to understand the solutions and identify common
needs. Such studies typically use capacity expansion models to optimize resource mixes and
transmission system configurations, on a least-cost basis, and then use production cost models to
assess performance and refine systems. These studies include the following:
✔ The 2020 10-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) conducted by the European Network
of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), which examined various
scenarios up to 78% clean electricity for the European Union. A capacity expansion/
production cost model with a detailed representation of the existing transmission network
is used in this study. The development plan assessed 154 transmission projects, 26 storage
projects, hydrogen for long-duration storage, and high levels of distributed energy resources
(DERs).
✔ The Interconnections Seam Study conducted by the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which investigated the
value of additional transmission across the seam between the
Eastern Interconnection (EI) and Western Interconnection (WI)
for up to 95% clean (85% renewables) electricity by 2038. This
study co-optimized generation and transmission expansion and
then assessed operational performance, with a detailed production
cost model that included 13,000 generating units, 98,000
transmission buses, and 96,000 transmission lines.
✔ A recent study from Brown and Botterud at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) [referred to here as the MIT
study], which explored the impact of interregional coordination
and transmission expansion at the state, regional, and national
level for 100% clean electricity systems by 2040. This study cooptimized
generation, storage, and transmission investment and
operations over seven years of hourly weather data to ensure resource
adequacy during uncommon weather events. This study
does not consider security or stability constraints, and the spatial
resolution is also lower than the other studies listed here.
✔ The Renewable Integration Impact Assessment (RIIA) by the Midcontinent
Independent System Operator (MISO), which examined
comprehensive grid reliability for the EI with up to 50% wind
and solar resources (yielding 63% clean electricity) and examined
long-term reliability for the EI with up to 100% clean electricity.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2021.3104127
Date of current version: 18 October 2021
ieeepower & energy magazine
57
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2021

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