ERCOT readies for renewable market integration.
Julia Matevosyan is a senior planning engineer for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). She is an expert in transmission and distribution system planning, power production planning, and network interconnection of new generation and load. She earned a Ph.D., MSc. and Technical Licentiate in electrical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, and is a senior member of IEEE.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is the independent transmission system and electricity market operator of Texas serving 85 percent of the state's load, with installed generation capacity of almost 85,000 MW. ERCOT conducts a long-range planning study every two years to review generation and transmission needs for the region in accordance with Texas state law. As well, it follows NERC requirements to conduct 10-year assessments of system reliability.
Historically, the scope of long-term transmission plans has always complied with legal and regulatory requirements. With the relative uncertainty created by forecasted renewable energy sources (RES) penetration on the regional transmission grid, ERCOT decided to expand its biannual study to determine necessary operating reserve requirements for accommodating RES. A successful application for DOE funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 enabled ERCOT to begin a much more ambitious long-range analysis.