NERC's integration of variable generation task force: Status report - characteristics of variable generation

State and potential federal policies are expected to significantly increase renewable generation in North America in the immediate future. Much of this growth will be from variable resources such as wind generation and solar photovoltaic (PV). As the amount of variable generation (VG) increases, the reliability of the bulk power system can be negatively impacted if provisions are not made to accommodate the additional variability and uncertainty. As such, in December 2007, NERC created the Integration of Variable Generation Task Force (IVGTF) to prepare a report to identify technical considerations associated with integrating high penetrations of VG and specific mitigating actions needed to ensure bulk system reliability. The special report, released in April 2009, identified several follow-on tasks to further investigate measures to ensure reliability. This paper summarizes the efforts of one of four IVGTF work groups tasked with activities related to the characteristics of variable generation.