Determining the Capacity Value of Wind: A Survey of Methods and Implementation

This report (an update to an earlier paper) examines various methods used to estimate the capacity value of wind. It summarizes several important state and regional studies regarding wind energy’s capacity value, discusses how different regions define and implement capacity reserve requirements across the country, and examines how wind energy is defined as a capacity resource in those regions. Investigations of several North American utilities and system operators are presented, as is a brief discussion of the capacity value of wind in Europe.