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| Renewable Energy Utilization, December 2015 |
Combine high levels of solar generation with self-contained grids unable to export power to other regions, and you have the unique challenge of overproduction and curtailment now facing Hawaiian Electric Companies, which provides power on five of the state’s six islands.
A report from the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) and ScottMadden tackles the problem with a new approach to power purchase agreements, aimed at allocating risk evenly between developers, utilities and customers — and turning distributed generation from “must-take” to dispatchable power. With an eye to achieving the state’s goal of 100-percent renewable generation by 2045, PPA models in the report seek to incentivize dispatchability, preserve system flexibility and maximize value for consumers.