Opportunities and challenges of integrating wind, solar and other distributed generation & energy storage: Effects on and values for the grid

Integrating renewable energy resources, particularly wind and solar energy, to the electric grid is expected to contribute significantly to our striving for a appreciable reduction of the Green House Gas (CO2) emission footprint. On the other hand, in order to reliably integrate higher penetration of renewable resources, which by their nature are variable power resources and usually a long distance from load centers, it requires significant changes in transmission, manufacturing, and marketing. These needs drive power system engineers to searching for enabling and robust transmission technologies aiming at strengthening and expanding the fundamental infrastructure of the electric power grid.