Fig. 4: Effect of eliminating transmission congestion on generation and storage.
From: The value of long-duration energy storage under various grid conditions in a zero-emissions future
Blue load zones generate less than their yearly demand (net importers), and red load zones generate more than their yearly demand (net exporters). Compared to the baseline (b), a Western Interconnect without transmission congestion (a) becomes reliant on eight load zones in the southwest (outlined in green) and most load zones (28 in 50) import power from neighbouring load zones to meet more than half of their yearly energy consumption. Circle size represents storage power capacity and circle color represents storage duration. The “without transmission congestion” scenario is equivalent to a scenario where there are no transmission expansion costs.
