NREL: Wind Deployment System Model (WinDS)

Cost of Wind Transmission Access

The data is presented at both the national and regional level. The national and regional results from each scenario are selectable using the drop-down box in the database and clicking on the map.

In these supply curves, the cost is only the levelized cost of building the transmission segment from the wind site to the grid (i.e. the cost of generation has been subtracted from the total levelized cost used in the optimization). By using this approach, users can add in their own costs of generation from wind.

Note also that the costs to build to the grid are specified by wind class. This captures the fact that higher quality Class 5 and Class 6 wind resources are often more remote than lower-quality Class 3 and Class 4 resources. Finally, note that the cumulative capacity is listed for each wind class, not the total wind resource in the region.

Choose the scenario you want to view:
Click on the map to view results for a specific region.

Wind Power Class	Incremental Cost (cents/kWh)	Capacity (GW)	Cumulative Capacity (GW)
3	0.0	21.1	21.1
3	0.1	51.0	72.1
3	0.2	38.1	110.2
3	0.3	15.8	126.1
3	0.4	15.1	141.2
3	0.5	13.1	154.3
3	0.6	7.8	162.1
3	0.7	6.7	168.7
3	0.8	9.7	178.4
3	0.9	7.0	185.4
3	1.0	9.1	194.6
3	1.1	8.9	203.5
3	1.2	12.2	215.7
3	1.3	7.6	223.2
3	1.4	3.4	226.6
3	1.5	5.2	231.8
3	1.6	8.8	240.6
3	1.7	8.3	248.9
3	1.8	5.6	254.5
3	1.9	7.1	261.6
3	2.0	12.2	273.9
3	2.5	40.3	314.1
3	3.0	25.9	340.0
4	0.0	9.9	9.9
4	0.1	19.1	29.0
4	0.2	12.4	41.4
4	0.3	9.5	50.9
4	0.4	6.1	57.0
4	0.5	6.3	63.3
4	0.6	4.7	68.0
4	0.7	4.0	72.0
4	0.8	5.4	77.4
4	0.9	5.2	82.6
4	1.0	9.3	91.9
4	1.1	11.0	102.9
4	1.2	9.7	112.6
4	1.3	12.0	124.6
4	1.4	15.6	140.2
4	1.5	18.2	158.3
4	1.6	6.6	165.0
4	1.7	6.5	171.4
4	1.8	6.1	177.5
4	1.9	4.9	182.4
4	2.0	1.5	183.9
4	2.5	15.6	199.5
5	0.0	0.424	0.424
5	0.1	9.6	10.0
5	0.2	8.0	18.1
5	0.3	4.3	22.4
5	0.4	4.7	27.1
5	0.5	3.2	30.4
5	0.6	4.2	34.5
5	0.7	7.5	42.1
5	0.8	5.8	47.8
5	0.9	6.7	54.5
5	1.0	4.4	59.0
5	1.1	3.3	62.3
5	1.2	3.0	65.2
5	1.3	3.2	68.5
5	1.4	3.0	71.4
5	1.5	3.2	74.6
5	1.6	2.4	77.0
5	1.7	2.8	79.8
5	1.8	3.8	83.6
5	1.9	4.7	88.3
5	2.0	5.5	93.8
5	2.5	33.2	126.9
6	0.0	14.7	14.7
6	0.1	21.5	36.2
6	0.2	9.9	46.1
6	0.3	5.9	52.0
6	0.4	4.9	56.9
6	0.5	4.1	61.0
6	0.6	3.6	64.6
6	0.7	3.5	68.1
6	0.8	4.3	72.4
6	0.9	1.6	73.9
6	1.0	1.1	75.0
6	1.1	1.2	76.2
6	1.2	0.802	77.0
6	1.3	0.881	77.9
6	1.4	1.6	79.5
6	1.5	1.1	80.7
6	1.6	1.7	82.4
6	1.7	2.3	84.7
6	1.8	2.2	86.8
6	1.9	3.2	90.0
6	2.0	0.615	90.7