Publications
By Marcelino Madrigal and Steven Stoft
Scaling up renewable energy, such as wind and solar, goes hand in hand with the expansion of transmission infrastructure. Investment needs for transmission expansion to accommodate renewable energy are significant and growing in both developed and developing countries, and they are challenging existing planning and cost-recovery practices.
The objective of this report is to present emerging lessons and recommendations on approaches to efficiently and effectively expand transmission networks for renewable energy scale-up. The report focuses on the planning and regulatory aspects of transmission expansion that are relevant to transmission utilities and electricity regulators. Recognizing that policy goals, sector structures, existing regulations, and capabilities to implement new tools vary across countries, we offer some general principles to help guide the design of transmission planning and pricing regulations aiming at effectively and efficiently developing transmission for renewable energy.