SPP established a new high for wind penetration Jan. 31, with 39.1% of load being supplied by the resource.

The record was set at 5:29 a.m., when load was about 23,000 MW and energy from wind reached the 9,000-MW level for just the third time in the RTO’s history. The mark topped the previous record of 38.3%, set Nov. 4.

SPP’s record peak for wind remains 9,948 MW, set Dec. 19.

The RTO says it can handle wind penetration levels of up to 60% with additional transmission and monitoring tools, according to its first wind integration study since 2009. (See Study: 60% Wind Penetration Possible in SPP.)

SPP has scheduled a wind integration summit Feb. 17-18 in Little Rock, Ark., to provide its stakeholders with an open forum to ask questions, provide feedback and critique the study’s results.

The RTO says wind-powered generation accounted for about 13.5% of its fuel mix in 2015. It has 12,397 MW of installed wind capacity in its footprint, with another 33,819 MW in various forms of development.

—  Tom Kleckner