29 July 2015
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Presentation—Introduction to the webinar and panelists
Presentation—Michael Milligan and Jessica Katz: Integrating Variable Renewable Energy into the Grid
Transcript—Webinar audio transcript
The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with USAID and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), hosted this webinar on Integrating Variable Renewable Energy into the Grid: Key issues and Emerging Solutions. It is part of the recently launched GreeningTheGrid.org toolkit, a USAID and NREL collaboration designed to support countries in integrating renewable energy into the power system. This toolkit provides fact sheets, emerging practices, training materials, and an “Ask the Expert” service for remote assistance on grid integration topics.
The webinar reviewed the challenges to integrating significant quantities of variable renewable energy to the grid and the emerging solutions that policymakers, regulators and grid operators have taken to integrate wind and solar and meet renewable energy targets. Webinar participants learned about the myths, misperceptions, costs and options for scaling up grid-connected renewable energy, as well as the Greening the Grid website and technical assistance opportunities.
The speaker for the webinar was Michael Milligan of NREL. His research focuses on large-scale integration of wind and solar energy on the bulk power system, on which he has authored/coauthored more than 200 journal articles, conference papers, technical reports, and book chapters. Dr. Milligan has provided expert testimony in numerous public utility commission proceedings and workshops and advises power system planners and operators on wind and solar integration issues. He leads and participates in various task forces for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). His sustained participation on the International Energy Agency Task 25 for large-scale wind integration helped launch a continuing series of international technical papers on integration issues.
The presentations will be followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.
Panelists
Michael Milligan
Dr. Michael Milligan came to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s National Wind Technology Center in 1992, and he is now with the Transmission and Grid Integration Group at NREL. His research focuses on large-scale integration of wind and solar energy on the bulk power system, on which he has authored or coauthored more than 200 journal articles, conference papers, technical reports and book chapters. Michael has provided expert testimony in numerous public utility commission proceedings and workshops, and he advises power system planners and operators on wind and solar integration issues. He leads and participates in various task forces for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). His sustained participation on the International Energy Agency Task 25 for large-scale wind integration helped launch a continuing series of international technical papers on integration issues. He was an invited panelist in 2012 to the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin and an invited keynote speaker at the 2011 Power System Computation Conference in Stockholm. He has hosted visiting researchers from Germany, Ireland, Spain, Australia, China and Italy.
Jessica Katz
Jessica Katz is an analyst at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Her work focuses on coordinating and implementing technical assistance in support of the U.S. government’s Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies program, which works with partner countries to accelerate sustainable economic growth while minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trajectories. In this role, she has developed tools and trainings related to clean energy development topics such as renewable energy resource assessment and the integration of large-scale renewable energy systems to the grid. While at NREL, she has also supported the development and implementation of the Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Guidance and has assisted federal agencies in completing GHG inventories in compliance with President Obama’s Executive Order 13514. Jessica holds a BSE in civil and environmental engineering from Arizona State University.
Jennifer Leisch, Climate Change Mitigation Specialist, USAID Office of Global Climate Change
Jennifer Leisch is a Climate Change Mitigation Specialist in the USAID Office of Global Climate Change, where she supports the U.S. Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies program. Jennifer manages the USAID Greening the Grid partnership, and she directs agency work to account for greenhouse gas emissions reductions as a result of USAID Clean Energy programs. She holds a Ph.D. focused on renewable energy science, and has previously worked in the research and development of advanced solar energy and fuel cell technologies.