Supported by the U.S. Government Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) program, Greening the Grid offers a toolkit of information and guidance materials to support developing countries in defining and implementing renewable energy grid integration road maps.

To foster sustainable, low emission development, countries around the world are establishing ambitious renewable energy targets for their electricity supply. Because solar and wind tend to be more variable and uncertain than conventional sources, meeting these targets will involve changes to power system planning and operations. Grid integration is the practice of developing efficient ways to deliver variable renewable energy to the grid. Robust integration methods maximize the cost-effectiveness of incorporating variable renewable energy into the power system while maintaining or increasing system stability and reliability.

Grid integration spans a variety of issues, including:

• New renewable energy generation
• New transmission
• Increased system flexibility
• Planning for a high renewable energy future.

The Greening the Grid toolkit provides comprehensive overviews of emerging practices for addressing grid integration challenges through policy, market, and regulatory mechanisms; as well as guidance on applying these mechanisms to develop robust grid integration road maps. The Toolkit offers the following concise factsheets covering the following areas:

• Integrating Variable Renewable Energy Into the Grid: Key Issues
• Scaling Up Renewable Energy Generation: Aligning Targets and Incentives With Grid Integration Considerations
• Balancing Area Coordination: Efficiently Integrating Renewable Energy Into The Grid
• Using Wind and Solar to Reliably Meet Electricity Demand
• Sources of Operational Flexibility
• Methods for Procuring Power System Flexibility
• The Role of Storage and Demand Response
• Grid Integration Studies: Advancing Clean Energy Planning and Deployment
• Grid Integration Studies: Data Requirements
• Wind and Solar on the Power Grid: Myths and Misperceptions
• Forecasting Wind and Solar Generation
• Grid-Integrated Distributed Solar: Addressing Challenges for Operations and Planning
• Renewable Energy Zones: Delivering Clean Power to Meet Demand
• Designing Wind and Solar Power Purchase Agreements to Support Grid Integration
• The Evolution of Power System Planning with High Levels of Variable Renewable Generation

Drawing on this toolkit, Greening the Grid also facilitates direct technical assistance tailored to the unique power system characteristics and priorities in each partner country. Find out more here.

Access the toolkit here.

Photo: Asian Development Bank/Flickr