GRID FLEXIBILITY: METHODS FOR MODERNIZING THE POWER GRID

The document argues that as variable clean energy sources become a larger part of the electricity mix, grid operators must transition from simply dispatching supply to meet uncontrollable demand toward a flexible system that dynamically matches supply and demand. It identifies a hierarchy of flexibility resources, noting that improved operations (such as sub-hourly dispatch and better weather forecasting) are the lowest-cost options, followed by demand response, grid infrastructure upgrades, flexible generation (e.g., fast-ramping gas plants), and energy storage.

• Low-cost operational improvements to increase flexibility include implementing sub-hourly dispatch (clearing markets as often as every five minutes), improving weather forecasting for two- to six-hour intervals, and consolidating balancing areas to reduce variability through geographical diversification.
• Demand response is a highly cost-effective flexibility resource; in the PJM market, allowing demand response to participate in the capacity market led to an 85 percent drop in overall prices in one year, and PJM now procures approximately 10 percent of its resource needs via demand response.
• The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) implemented a Fast Frequency Response (FFR) pilot program using battery storage and electric vehicles to counter the loss of system inertia caused by the increase in asynchronous wind generation, resulting in a 37 percent improvement in the rate of change of frequency during loss-of-generation events.
• The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) developed the Flexible Ramping Product (FRP) to manage projected net load volatility, such as a forecasted need for 13 GW of capacity to come online within three hours by 2020.
• Long-term flexibility planning can be achieved through mandates, such as California's 2013 law requiring investor-owned utilities to procure 1,325 MW of energy storage by the end of 2024, or through a conceptual "staircase capabilities" market that uses iterated, small-volume procurements for specific system needs over 10 to 20 years.

APA

Aggarwal, S., & Orvis, R. (2016). GRID FLEXIBILITY: METHODS FOR MODERNIZING THE POWER GRID. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Grid-Flexibility-report.pdf

Chicago

Aggarwal, Sonia, and Robbie Orvis. GRID FLEXIBILITY: METHODS FOR MODERNIZING THE POWER GRID. Energy Innovation, 2016. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Grid-Flexibility-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Aggarwal |first1=Sonia |last2=Orvis |first2=Robbie |title=GRID FLEXIBILITY: METHODS FOR MODERNIZING THE POWER GRID |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=March 2016 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Grid-Flexibility-report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aggarwal2016grid, author = {Aggarwal, Sonia and Orvis, Robbie}, title = {{GRID FLEXIBILITY: METHODS FOR MODERNIZING THE POWER GRID}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Grid-Flexibility-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }