Wide-Area Planning of Electric Infrastructure: Assessing Investment Options for Low-Carbon Futures

Electric infrastructure worldwide has evolved significantly over the last decade, as nations increase the renewable share of their generation portfolio and build transmission to move energy from the resources to the load centers. Since 2007, the United States has increased its percentage of electric energy generated from wind and solar from lower than 1% to 7.5%, Europe from approximately 3% to over 13%, and China from 1% to 5%.