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Cited by 294

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 72 of the 72 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The challenges of achieving a 100% renewable electricity system in the United States

Open access
Denholm, Paul, Arent, Douglas J., Baldwin, Samuel F., Bilello, Daniel E., Brinkman, Gregory L., Cochran, Jaquelin M., Cole, Wesley J., Frew, Bethany, Gevorgian, Vahan, Heeter, Jenny, Hodge, Bri-Mathias S., Kroposki, Benjamin, Mai, Trieu, O’Malley, Mark J., Palmintier, Bryan, Steinberg, Daniel, Zhang, Yingchen·2021·Joule

Abstract

Summary Understanding the technical and economic challenges of achieving 100% renewable energy (RE) electric power systems is critical, given the increasing number of United States regional and state commitments toward this goal. Although no detailed study of a major utility of large interconnection under 100% RE system has been published, considerable literature explores the potential to greatly increase RE penetration. This literature, combined with real-world experience with increased RE deployment, points to two main challenges associated with achieving 100% RE across all timescales: (1) economically maintaining a balance of supply and demand and (2) designing technically reliable grids using largely inverter-based resources. The first challenge results in a highly nonlinear increase in costs as the system approaches 100% RE, in large part because of seasonal mismatches. The second challenge might require new inverter designs, depending on the mix of RE technologies. Analysis and experience to date point to no fundamental technical reasons why a 100% RE electric power system cannot be achieved, but the economic challenges indicate the need for advancements in several technologies and careful consideration of the suite of options that could be used to achieve equivalent carbon-reduction goals. Previous work also points to the need for analytic tool development, and techno-economic feasibility analysis must also consider the host of regulatory, market, and policy issues that might limit the ability to deploy mixes of resources that are suggested by least-cost modeling exercises.

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Metadata

Authors
Denholm, P., Arent, D. J., Baldwin, S. F., Bilello, D. E., Brinkman, G. L., Cochran, J. M., Cole, W. J., Frew, B., Gevorgian, V., Heeter, J., Hodge, B.-M. S., Kroposki, B., Mai, T., O’Malley, M. J., Palmintier, B., Steinberg, D., & Zhang, Y.
Venue
Joule
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-06
Volume
5
Issue
6
Pages
1331-1352
ISSN
2542-4351 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3162436079
Cited by
294
References
72
FWCI
12.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The challenges of achieving a 100% renewable electricity system in the United States. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.joule.2021.03.028
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Denholm, P., Arent, D. J., Baldwin, S. F., Bilello, D. E., Brinkman, G. L., Cochran, J. M., Cole, W. J., Frew, B., Gevorgian, V., Heeter, J., Hodge, B.-M. S., Kroposki, B., Mai, T., O’Malley, M. J., Palmintier, B., Steinberg, D., & Zhang, Y. (2021). The challenges of achieving a 100% renewable electricity system in the United States. Joule. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.03.028

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.