PJM committee endorses proposal to improve renewable energy dispatch

Energy transition highlights: Our editors and analysts bring together the biggest stories in the industry this week, from renewables to storage to carbon prices.

PJM Interconnection stakeholders Aug. 6 endorsed a proposed solution to address difficulties in managing the dispatch of renewable energy resources, which are making up an increasing portion of the PJM power generation resource mix.

Specifically, it has become difficult to manage the dispatch of these resources using PJM’s real-time market clearing engines, according to the grid operator.

Stakeholders voted to approve a solution package during a PJM Market Implementation Committee meeting. The proposal passed with 187 in favor, two opposed and 21 abstentions.

Additionally, stakeholders overwhelmingly prefer the proposed solution over the status quo, according to a separate vote conducted during the meeting.

The main focus areas for enhancement are reducing the volatility that renewable energy resources can have on constraint control, improving the data PJM’s system uses to dispatch these resources, and improving the system’s ability to dispatch renewables, thus improving overall system dispatch and reliability.

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