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Advancing Minnesota’s Clean Energy Economy: Building on a History of Leadership and Success

Advancing Minnesota’s Clean Energy Economy: Building on a History of Leadership and Success

Full Title: Advancing Minnesota’s Clean Energy Economy: Building on a History of Leadership and Success
Author(s): Sam Gomberg and Sandra Sattler
Publisher(s): Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Publication Date: January 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

UCS used the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model to analyze the technical and economic feasibility of Minnesota pursuing a 40 percent by 2030 renewable energy standard (RES). This document describes the methodology and assumptions that were used for that analysis. The ReEDS modeling of the 40 percent by 2030 RES in Minnesota shows that this level of renewable energy penetration is achievable while maintaining reliable and affordable electricity, driving significant economic benefits, and positioning the state to make meaningful reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

ReEDS is a computer-based, long-term capacity-expansion model for the deployment of electric power generation technologies in the United States. ReEDS is designed to analyze the impacts of state and federal energy policies, such as clean energy and renewable energy standards or reducing carbon emissions, in the U.S. electricity sector. ReEDS provides a detailed representation of electricity generation and transmission systems and specifically addresses issues related to renewable energy technologies, such as transmission, resource quality, variability, and reliability. UCS used the 2014 version of ReEDS for our analysis. However, we did make some changes to NREL’s assumptions for renewable and conventional energy technologies based on project-specific data and mid-range estimates from recent studies, as described in more detail below.

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