Power system integration can be a tool for improving electricity security, reducing system costs, and enabling the integration of variable renewable resources. For example, rising penetrations of variable renewable generation in the Western Interconnection is driving increased regional collaboration, for example through the development of the Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM). One question that has arisen is the extent to which the potential benefits of regional collaboration would extend to greater integration of Mexico's Baja California power system with the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) system in the United States.
In this context, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) jointly organised a workshop to better understand the state of integration of the Mexican Wholesale Market and CAISO, and to engage in a broader discussion on the question of cross-border power system integration. This workshop engaged relevant stakeholders to discuss opportunities from and obstacles to further integration, while also allowing other relevant IEA member countries to learn from the CAISO-Mexico example, and bring their own experiences to bear.
Through the organisation of this workshop, the IEA and EPRI sought to highlight lessons learned through various case studies to an audience interested in better understanding the potential impact of cross-border capacity trading. The lessons learned to not only informed the question of cross-border energy trading along the U.S.-Mexico border and elsewhere.