Investigating the concurrence of transmission grid expansion and the dissemination of renewables

The development of electricity transmission systems is essential for promoting the dissemination of renewables. Policy concurrence of transmission-line expansion and the expansion of renewables is challenging as environ-mental clearances tend to be cumbersome, and contracts are complex and differ substantially between renewable energy projects and transmission line projects. Extended delays that are frequent in both types of projects may have an impact on security of supply, prices and, in general, the operation of electricity markets, particularly when the system margin is tight. Although abundant research has been devoted to assessing the vast dissemi-nation of renewables worldwide, no known report provides a scenario-based simulation investigation that ex-plores electricity dispatch in the context of a hydroelectricity dominated system, further considering delays in implementing transport facilities. To address this, a simulation model was built for assessing the effects of inserting wind and solar into the power system under scenarios that consider the electricity exchanges required between northern and central Colombia to securing electricity supply. This paper concludes that 100% renew-ables dispatch may be attained in the country by 2030 unless delays in transmission construction takes place, which could threaten outages in Colombia.