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Energy in the News
Wind Energy overdevelopment causes transmission grid problems in Oregon, Washington and Texas. In the nation’s windiest state the Texas electricity regulator, ERCOT, was forced to approve 5 billion dollars of emergency investment to augment transmission. The extra capacity will be needed to handle projected growth in Wind generated power based upon upward trending growth in Wind generation investment. The ratepayer will foot the bill for this transmission investment, according to a July 12, 2008 Houston Chronicle story by David Ivanovich. What began as a wholesome effort to add clean, cheap electricity to Texas has turned into an expensive proposition. Oregon, Washington Wind power in the Northwest could quadruple. A BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) assessment shows that while developers are ready to build more wind farms, transmission lines can't handle much more power. In the Monday, July 21, 2008 issue of the Oregonian, Gail Kinsey Hill reported in so many words that “wind power could blow up the grid.” In a very real way the problems in Oregon mirror the problems in Texas; there is too much intermittent wind with too little transmission. A new solution is needed. Specifics from Hill’s article include the following: Utilities and independent developers are poised to more than quadruple the amount of wind power in the Northwest, a huge increase that underscores the region's push for renewable energy. "It's phenomenal," said Elliot Mainzer, a transmission manager with the federal Bonneville Power Administration. "It's more than we expected." Evidence of the wind rush shows up in a recent BPA assessment aimed at finding out how much more electricity will fit on transmission lines that deliver to customers in urban centers such as Portland and Seattle. Though the tally shows a wholehearted embrace of clean, renewable energy, it also exposes the limits of the transmission network, or grid. Unless more power lines are added, the Northwest won't be able to handle so much wind so quickly, the BPA said. The BPA said it has space on the grid to add only one-third of the 4,716 anticipated megawatts. "A resource isn't very valuable unless you can deliver it," Mainzer said. The Columbia River Gorge is home to most of the Northwest's wind farms, with thousands of turbines stretching from Sherman County east along the Van Sickle Ridge to the Idaho border. Most of those projects hook into the BPA's transmission network, delivering power to customers in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho. Currently, the system handles about 1,490 megawatts of wind capacity, a number expected to rise to 2,000 megawatts by year's end. That's enough power to meet the annual electricity requirements of about 500,000 homes. The BPA analysis shows developers eager to add 4,716 megawatts to the lineup in as little as five years, bringing wind power production to four times its current level. Even wind power advocates were startled by the numbers. "It's an incredibly robust response . . . a welcome surprise," said Rachel Shimshak, director of Renewable Northwest Project, a Portland-based group that promotes clean energy such as wind, solar and geothermal. Several big players emerged from the assessment: Columbia Energy Partners, a Vancouver company with sights on a huge project in Harney County's Steens Mountain; Iberdrola Renewables, formerly PPM Energy, an international wind developer that boasts a hefty presence in the gorge; and Horizon Wind Energy, which wants to build a series of large wind farms near La Grande. The Steens Mountain project could involve as much as 800 megawatts and, for the first time, bring Harney County into the region's wind mix. It also could run into controversy from birders, hikers and vacationers who seek out the area in the summer months. Further, like in Texas it would need miles of expensive transmission lines to connect it to the BPA's main network. Source: http://www.oregonlive.com
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