This working group convenes ESIG members to recommend, analyze, and report on energy system planning topics. The SPWG sponsors Task Forces that conduct targeted economic and engineering analysis on the transition to a decarbonized energy future. Topics include: transmission planning, generation planning, interconnection, electrification, resource adequacy, and long term market design.
Members of the System Planning Working Group are encouraged to interact with one another via Groups.IO, an online discussion platform and community network. The ESIG Resource Library is also a valuable tool for those seeking information on System Planning, as well as other topics.
Links to both can be found below:
(Please note: only members of ESIG may participate in the Working/Users Groups. If you are interested in membership, please email us at info@esig.energy.)
Long-term Load Forecasting
The Long-term Load Forecasting Task Force follows on ESIG’s Long-term Load Forecasting Workshop in Denver. This task force examines how demand will evolve in the next 10-25 years, due to climate change, electrification of buildings/transportation/industry, and new loads such as hydrogen. The summary findings of the June workshop will be used to describe the state of the art, and the initial activities are planned to be focused around identifying use-cases, best practices and gaps.
Task Force Lead: Julieta Giraldez, Kevala
Capacity Expansion Modeling for Transmission Planning
As we continue to add large amounts of wind and solar to the system and exhaust existing transmission capacity to bring those resources to load centers, it becomes increasingly important to consider resource and transmission expansion as an integrated process. For many utilities and ISOs, transmission planning is a separate, siloed process.
ESIG, supported by DOE, examined the use of capacity expansion models for transmission planning. This project examined capacity expansion model capabilities and culminated in a half-day public workshop preceding the 2022 ESIG Fall Technical Workshop. The group convened both model vendors and transmission planners for a dialogue on how capacity expansion models can be used in transmission planning and what improvements can be made to the models or the processes.