North Dakota might be a state with a lot of generation sources and a well operating transmission grid, but transmission constraints will be a limiting factor going forward, said John Weeda, director of the North Dakota Transmission Authority, when he addressed the North Dakota Interim Energy Development and Transmission Committee on February 13.
“When it comes to intermittent sources – such as wind and solar – as a low-cost option, people are looking at fuel costs, but they are not acknowledging the capital costs of transmission lines, controls and storage that constitute the total cost,” he said.
A study recently completed on behalf of the North Dakota Transmission Authority determined that energy would need to be stored for months to match wind generation to demand. He noted that intermittent sources would require vast quantities of batteries or other storage “far beyond what has been demonstrated on a commercial scale at this time.”
Currently there are limited opportunities for new generation sources – whether dispatchable or non-dispatchable – to enter into the MISO and SPP grids in the near term.
“Without additional transmission being built, North Dakota will be a less attractive place to generate electricity,” Weeda told the legislators. He continued saying that companies building generation sources today are often looking to capitalize on the tax credits (such as the production tax credit for wind generation) rather than to fill a need caused by a power plant retirement. Companies investing in wind generation find North Dakota a good place to build due to high capacity factors.
He also talked about a study conducted in Texas by the Texas Public Policy Foundation which showed that transitioning to 50 percent wind and solar by 2030 would increase annual-electricity costs by 250 percent.