HomeMy WebLinkAbout20071101Report Addendum.pdfRECEI\/
IDAHO~POWER~
An IDACORP Company
ZOOl OCT 3 I PH It: 4 7
Barton L. Kline
Senior Attorney UTi j i~-
~:J
~H Ji'~ \ ~ S I (; :
October 31 2007
Jean D. Jewell , Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington Street
P. O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Re:Case No. I PC-07 -
In the Matter of Idaho Power Company s Petition to Increase the
Published Rate Eligibility Cap for Wind Powered Small powerProduction Facilities; and
To Eliminate the 90%/110% Performance Band for Wind Powered
Small Power Production Facilities
Dear Ms. Jewell:
In the Settlement Stipulation filed in this matter, Idaho Power agreed to prepare an
addendum to its Wind Integration study. Please find enclosed for filing eight copies of
Idaho Power s Report Addendum for Operational Impacts of Integrating Wind Generation
into Idaho Power s Existing Resource Portfolio.
I would appreciate it if you would return a stamped copy of this transmittal letter in
the enclosed self-addressed , stamped envelope.
Very truly yours~I~
Barton L. Kline
BLK:sh
Enclosures
O. Box 70 (83707)
1221 W. Idaho St.
Boise, 10 83702
~ort A~dendum
". "..... -...
OCT '.3!
:;;~-
DAHO
R..
Operational Impacts of 11J~~~~~ti8gi;;~:~;iC
Wind Generation into Idaho Power
Existing Resource Portfolio
An IDACORP Company
IPC- E-O7 -
F;;ECE.i\'
Re ort Addendum 2007 OCT 31 Pi'l L:: l?8
U T ! L 8 -f~~Jc!~_H!ri..
~j \
~ S i 0
Operational Impacts of Integrating Wind
Generation into Idaho Power s Existing
Resource Portfolio
Prepared by:
t n e N e"x
i' IIWI)
POWER~
An IDACORP company
EnerNex Corporation
1 70C Market Place Boulevard
Knoxville, Tennessee 37922
Tel: (865) 691-5540 ext. 149
FAX: (865) 691-5046
bobz(Q)enernex.com
www.enernex.com
Idaho Power Company
O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707
October, 2007
Table of Contents
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Overview........ ........................................................ ....... ................ .............. 1
Study Methodology .....................................................................................
Public Workshops....................... ............ ........ ............................ .................
Revised Analysis and Impacts ..................................................................
Revised Regulating Reserve Requirements .........................................................
Load Reg-Up/Reg-Down....................................................................................
Wind Reg-Up/Reg-Down ...................................................................................
Total Reg-UpjReg-Down ...................................................................................
Revised Model Inputs........................................................................................
Sensitivity Runs ................................................................................................
Market Price Assumptions .................................................................................
Jim Bridger Regulating Reserve........................................ .................................
Updated Study Results..............................................................................
List of Figures
Figure 1.Distribution of errors for hour-ahead forecast load .................................................
Figure 2. Actual operating hour load vs. forecast hour-ahead load......................................... 17
Figure 3. Actual operating hour wind vs. forecast hour-ahead wind .......................................
Figure 4. Modeling results as a percentage of market prices using actual market prices
and no Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves .............................................
Figure 5. Modeling results using 2006 market prices and the Bridger coal plant for
regulating reserves ............................................................................................
Figure 6.Updated study results as a percentage of 2006 market prices without use of the
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves............................................................... 25
Figure 7. Idaho Power s updated cost estimate (in $/MWh) for wind integration ........... 26
List of Ta bles
Table 1.
Table 2.
Table 3.
Table 4.
Table 5.
Table 6.
Wind machine capacity factor comparison.......................................................
Assignment of extraction points to wind generation scenarios........................... 7
Average levels of regulating reserve by wind penetration level................................ 20
Modeling results as a percentage of market prices using actual market prices and no
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves............................................................... 23
Modeling results using 2006 market prices and the Bridger coal plant for regulating
reserves .............................................................................................................. 24
Updated modeling results as a percentage of 2006 market prices without use of the
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves............................................................... 25
Section 1 OVERVIEW
The objective ofthis study is to assess the costs that Idaho Power will incur in modifying
its operations at the Hells Canyon Complex for "integrating" or incorporating wind
energy onto its system. The intennittent and unpredictable nature of wind generation
requires a utility to have generating resources available which can increase or decrease
generation on short notice in order to keep the interconnected power system balanced.
While hydroelectric power plants are well suited for perfonning this function, there are
operational impacts and costs associated with operating Idaho Power s hydroelectric
plants in a manner that maintains reliability and facilitates integration of energy from
wind generation facilities.
Under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURP A), Idaho Power is
required to offer independent developers a power purchase contract based on a standard
avoided cost rate for a qualifying facility with an output of 10 aMW or less. Due largely
to federal tax incentives and favorable PURPA rates, a large number of wind project
developers came to Idaho Power in 2005 requesting PURP A contracts. Because
uncertainty in integrating this large volume of wind generation on its system
Idaho Power sought temporary relief from PURP A requirements until the impact of wind
integration could be more fully studied. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC)
granted this relief by temporarily reducing the PURP A cap of 10 aMW to 100 kW for
PURPA wind projects.
Variability and uncertainty are the two attributes of wind generation that underlie most of
the concerns related to power system operations and reliability. In day-ahead planning,
for either conventional unit commitment or offering generation into an energy market
forecasts of the demand for the next day will drive the process. In real-time operations
the output of generating resources must be continually adjusted to match the ever-
changing demand pattern. The inherent variability and uncertainty of wind generation
may complicate the ability of matching these generating resources to loads. Adding wind
resources may also increase the challenge of meeting demand at the lowest cost while
maintaining system reliability.
The primary focus ofthis study has been to detennine how the real-time operation of
Idaho Power s Hells Canyon Complex would be impacted by the addition of significant
amounts of wind generation. Previous wind integration studies (of large amounts of wind
generation) have shown that the impacts of wind generation uncertainty and variability on
the bulk power system are primarily economic, and manifested in increased system costs.
These costs are a consequence of the additional controllable generation capacity that must
be allocated to manage the incremental variability of the Balancing Authority area due to
wind generation, and the increased uncertainty that must be dealt with in operations
planning.
Following the completion of the original report in February 2007, which resulted in an
integration cost of $1 0.72 per MWh, Idaho Power conducted a public workshop on March 15
2007 to fonnally present the results of the study and to solicit feedback from representatives
from the wind industry, environmental groups, customer groups and governmental and
regulatory entities. At this workshop, a list of 18 items consisting of questions, concerns and
requests was developed for Idaho Power to address.
On June 20 2007, a second workshop was held to address questions and concerns raised in the
first workshop and to present updated modeling results based on suggestions from the first
workshop. The updated modeling resulted in a wind integration cost of$7.92 per MWh. This
addendum to Idaho Power s original wind integration study addresses the issues discussed at
both workshops and presents modeling results which were updated as a result of the workshops.
Section 2 contains a brief summary ofthe methodology used to conduct the study followed by a
summary of the issues raised at the public workshops in Section 3. Section 4 presents the work
done since the completion of the original report regarding the detennination of reserve
requirements as well as the results of sensitivity analyses. Lastly, Section 5 presents updated
study results.
Section 2 STUDY METHODOLOGY
While there is no fonnal or rigorous definition
, "
integration cost" is the tenn used to
describe the economic impact of wind generation variability and uncertainty on the utility
company charged with accepting and delivering that energy. The tenn applies to the
operational time frame, which comprises the real-time management of conventional
generating units and the short-tenn planning for demand over the coming day or days.
As evaluated in this study, the tenn does not include costs related to transmission
upgrades required to deliver wind generation to serve load or for off system sales.
A chronological operations simulation methodology has become the de-facto standard
analytical approach for wind integration studies. This framework utilizes synchronized
hourly load and wind generation patterns, and mimics the scheduling and real-time
operation activities for the company or area of interest. For this study, Idaho Power used
the Synexus Global Vista Decision Support SystemTM (Vista DSS) to assess the impacts
of wind generation on the real-time operation of its system.
Vista DSS is a hydro optimization model that simulates the operating characteristics of
Idaho Power s system. The model has detailed generating unit definitions, a simplified
bus level transmission architecture and hourly inputs for hydro inflows, loads, electricity
prices, reserve requirements and energy contracts. This software is capable of optimizing
generation scheduling for the Hells Canyon Complex, while observing hydraulic
transmission, and regulatory constraints. The generation scheduling computed by Vista
DSS for the Hells Canyon hydro facilities includes generation from other Idaho Power
resources as well as off-system market transactions.
Seasonal water conditions playa critical role in Idaho Power s ability to utilize its fleet of
hydroelectric resources. Because of this, three different water condition years were
modeled for this study: 1998 (a good water year), 2000 (a nonnal water year), and 2005
(a poor water year). In addition to varying water conditions, the amount of wind
generation on Idaho Power s system, or "penetration level " was modeled in the original
study for four different cases: 300 MW, 600 MW, 900 MW, and 1 200 MW. The 1 200
MW penetration level was removed from consideration for the updated analysis
presented in this report addendum.
The study evaluates the changes in operations and the resulting cost that wind variability
and uncertainty introduce into Idaho Power s system at the varying levels of wind
penetration for each of the three water years modeled. Two Vista DSS runs were needed
to evaluate each wind penetration level for each water condition. The first run (flat wind
case) modeled wind generation in flat blocks to simulate a predictable resource. The
second run (variable wind case) modeled the same amount of wind generation with its
inherent unpredictability and variability. The difference between the values of these
model runs is the basis of determining the cost to integrate wind.
In the original analysis, the flat wind case wind generation was calculated as the average
wind energy for a day and was determined by summing 24-hours of wind generation and
dividing by 24. This average energy is then applied to each hour during that day
resulting in a 24-hour flat block of energy, which removes the variability of wind for that
day. The second run incorporates the actual (hourly variable) wind output and the
required additional regulating reserves necessary to maintain a consistent level of system
control performance. In the updated analysis, the flat wind case was revised such that the
daily wind generation was separated into two flat blocks, one for heavy-load hours and
one for light-load hours.
The wind integration cost per MWh is calculated as the difference between the dollar
value of the total annual generation from the flat wind case run valued at market and that
of the total annual generation from the actual wind run also valued at market, divided by
the total wind energy produced during the year in MWh. This process was completed for
each wind penetration level and water year which resulted in a total of six Vista DSS
model simulations per wind penetration level to complete the analysis.
In order to understand to how Idaho Power calculated the cost of wind integration, it was
important to first review the methodology of the study. Further details regarding study
methodology can be found in Section 2 of the original report. Section 3 of this addendum
presents the questions raised at the March 15 , 2007 public workshop along with Idaho
Power s responses which were presented at the second workshop on June 20 2007.
Section 3 PUBLIC WORKSHOPS
Idaho Power Company completed its original wind study report in February 2007.
Following the submittal of the report, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission asked
Idaho Power to conduct a public workshop to present the results and to explain the
methodology used to conduct the study. The workshop took place on March 15, 2007
and was attended by representatives from the wind industry, environmental groups
customer groups, and governmental and regulatory entities.
The first workshop resulted in the following list of items (grouped by topic) for
Idaho Power to consider with regard to the study methodology and observations
concerning the results of the study. The items that were deemed actionable were
analyzed and incorporated in updated Vista DSS modeling. Following this additional
work, a second public workshop was held on June 20, 2007 to present the updated results.
The complete list of items developed at the first workshop and a brief description of
actions taken are shown below:
Wind Modeling
WindLogics should address concerns regarding west to east diversity of wind
modeling (re: Idaho National Lab (INL) wind data).
WindLogics reviewed the wind data used in Idaho Power s study and
compared it with data provided by INL. The INL and WindLogic data were
sampled from significantly different heights. This difference made a direct
comparison difficult; however there appears to be good similarity of tracking
stonn fronts and synoptic patterns. The review of the wind data does not
invalidate it as a reasonable basis for detennining wind generation
characteristics over the three year study period. Additional infonnation on
simulating Idaho wind resources can be found in the original study on pages
20-21.
The capacity factors used in the modeling appear to be low. Would going to a
different power curve reduce variability?
EnerNex has evaluated the wind data using a turbine curve for the GE 1.
MW SL and the results showed an even lower capacity factor than the Vestas
V82 used in the study. It appears the Vestas V82 turbine works well with the
wind resource found in southern Idaho. Table 1 compares the two machines
as they are modeled with the wind simulation profiles.
Table 1, Wind machine capacity factor comparison
1998
2000
2005
12.
300 673 25,656 25,
600 1,549 29.514 28,
900 265 28.7%211 28,
1,200 007 28,935 27,
300 702 26,686 26,
600 585 30,550 29.4%
900 286 29.232 28,
200 013 28,941 27.
300 617 23,601 22,
600 1,450 27.1,414 26,
900 140 27.085 26.4%
200 835 27,2,764 26.
Idaho Power needs to review the data behind wind variability and scaling issues.
Scaling issues were primarily related to the increase from the 900 MW to
200 MW penetration level. Because the 1 200 MW penetration level was
shown to be beyond Idaho Power s ability to integrate, the 1 200 MW
penetration level was dropped from further consideration in the updated
analysis. Therefore, the scaling of wind data is no longer an issue in the
updated analysis. Item 12 also contains additional information on turbine
scaling issues.
Can the analysis be re-run at the 300 MW penetration level to account for the
recently approved wind contract being in eastern Oregon rather than southern
Idaho?
The wind data has been updated to reflect the recently approved
Elkhorn Valley wind contract (101 MW) in northeastern Oregon.
In the original study, the Cotterel site was included in the 300 MW
penetration level as 102 MW taken from 6 extraction points. These points
were moved to the Elkhorn Valley site and condensed into 5 extraction
points.
Idaho Power also took this opportunity to remove scaling as much as possible
between the penetration levels. This was accomplished by redistributing the
Cotterel generation at the 600 MW penetration level to 5 sites. An additional
24 MW site was added at the 900 MW penetration level. These changes
enabled a reduction in scaling by reconfiguring the build out, however 3 MW
of scaling remained at one site between the 300 and 600 MW scenarios.
Table 2 below (Table 5 in the original study) has been updated to reflect
these changes.
Table 2, Assignment of extraction points to wind generation scenariosRelative Area 300 600 900to Borah Near/Nome Site w~~:/o MW MW MW 1200 MW
West Fossil Gulch 10,10,10,10,
West Tuana Gulch 10,10.10.10,
West Pilgrim Stage 10,10,10,10,
West Thousand Springs 10,10,10,10,
West Oregon Trails 10,10,10,10,
West Salmon Falls
West Notch Butte
East Milner Dam
East Burley Butte
East Golden Valley 10,10,10,10,
East Lava Beds 10,10.10.10,
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Parker
East Parker
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Ammon
East Basalt
East Basalt
East Basalt
East Basalt
East Basalt
East Basalt
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Rockland
East Cotterel
East Cotterel
East Cotterel
East Cotterel
East Cottere!
Relative Area 300 600 900to Borah Near/Nome Site w~~:/o MW MW MW 1200 MW
East CoHerel
West Magic Mt
West Magic Mt
West Salmon Falls
West Salmon Falls
West Salmon Falls
West Glenns Ferry
West Glenns Ferry
West Glenns Ferry
West Glenns Ferry
West Mt Home 1.0
West Mt Home 1.0
West Mt Home 1.0
West Mt Home 1.0
West Mt Home 1.0
East Geiger 1 10.
East Geiger 2 10,
East Geiger 3 10,
East Geiger 4 10,
East Schwendiman
Farms
East Windy Pass 10,10,
West Tennessee Mt 10.
West Glenns Ferry 10,10,
West Glenns Ferry 10,10,
West Glenns Ferry 10,10,
West Magic Wind
West Cassia Gulch
West Cassia Farm 10,10,10,10,
West Glenns Ferry 10,
West Glenns Ferry 10.
West Glenns Ferry 10,
West Glenns Ferry 10,
Oregon Elkhorn Valley
Oregon Elkhorn Valley
Oregon Elkhorn Valley
Oregon Elkhorn Valley
Oregon Elkhorn Valley
Not included in totals above
Montana Horse Shoe Bend 11,
Montana Arrow Rock 11.0 19,19.19.19.
Flat
Combustion Turbines & Coal
Can Idaho Power utilize existing natural gas-fired combustion peaking facilities
(CTs) to provide reserves and load following capability more economically than
using the hydro system?
An independent analysis evaluated operations using several historic gas price
scenarios and shapes against several historic electricity pricing scenarios.
The plant under normal system operating and market conditions is generally
run about 400 hours per year. The simulation evaluated running the plant for
all 8 760 hours in 2005. The economics of running the existing Bennett
Mountain simple cycle combustion turbine to provide 10-minute regulation at
the 300 MW penetration level for year 2005 was modeled using Microsoft
Excel.
The model results using the existing Bennett Mountain project to provide
regulating reserves proved to be more costly than using the Hells Canyon
Complex. The high heat rate of the plant makes the operation uneconomical
during most hours of the year and therefore more costly than using the hydro
system to provide reserves.
14.Can Idaho Power include the new Evander Andrews unit when investigating the
use of combustion units to integrate wind?
The new simple cycle peaking plant will have the same operating
characteristic of the existing plant described in #3. The regulation benefit of
the plant when it is running is limited as it would be available only for reg-
down reserves during heavy load hours during which time there is plenty of
reg-down reserve available on the hydro units.
18.Run just a combustion turbine analysis (possibly using Aurora).
See #3 & #14.
Can Idaho Power modulate its coal-fired projects in order to integrate wind?
Idaho Power theoretically could modulate the Jim Bridger and Boardman
coal-fired plants to a certain degree in order to integrate wind into its system.
However, because of the low variable operating cost ofthese facilities, it only
makes economic sense to use these resources for reg-down capability during
light load hours when market prices are low and generation from the hydro
system is reduced and less able to provide reg-down regulating reserves. The
updated analysis includes a sensitivity case with 48 MW of reg-down reserve
capability assumed from the Jim Bridger Power Plant. It is emphasized that
the use of the Jim Bridger plant for this purpose is a pronounced departure
ITom current operating practice, and is expected to be problematic
considering Idaho Power s position as a non-operating partner at its jointly
owned coal-fired resources. Idaho Power s coal-fired resources are typically
fully dispatched and operated in a manner that minimizes thennal
fluctuations and cycling. Thennal cycling increases the maintenance cost and
decreases the reliability of coal-fired units. In addition, Idaho Power is not
the operating partner at these facilities and a change in operations would need
to be coordinated and agreed to by the operating partner. Therefore, the
Company is reluctant to agree to a long-tenn integration cost which assumes
deployment of its coal-fired resources in this manner.
The purpose of the wind integration study was to detennine the operational
impacts arising ITom integrating wind generation, under the baseline
assumption that Idaho Power s current system of generating resources, the
wholesale energy market with which it interacts, and the general operating
practices currently followed would be used to conduct the study.
Idaho Power has acknowledged that as experience is gained in operating its
system with greater amounts of wind generation and potential cooperative
agreements between control areas are developed, a future analysis of the
impact of wind generation may indicate a lower cost of integration.
However, Idaho Power feels it would be imprudent to detennine the current
cost of integrating wind generation into its system based on the speculation of
future operating conditions.
Regulating Reserves
10.
Does the study double-count regulation requirements?
In the original study, Idaho Power assumed that regulating reserve was
necessary to cover variability in high-resolution load and wind data along
with instantaneous la-minute load and wind data. These two sources of
variability were combined through a root-mean-square operation, not a
straight arithmetic addition. Idaho Power recognizes that the instantaneous
la-minute data may include a portion of the variability present in the high-
resolution data, and consequently regulating reserves calculated ITom both
time series may reflect double-counting. The use of smoothed (e.
averaged) la-minute data would rectify this situation. However, smoothed
la-minute data for wind generation were not available for the study. While
the double-counting likely has a small overall effect, Idaho Power elected to
consider only the la-minute instantaneous data in regulating reserve
calculations for its updated analysis, removing ITom consideration variability
in the high-resolution data.
Idaho Power needs to investigate using an "all reg-down" methodology as
proposed by Renewable Northwest Project.
An all reg-down methodology of maintaining reserves was considered, but
was not analyzed because Idaho Power is not prepared to commit to such a
significant departure from current operating practices at this time. The
asymmetric methodology used in the modeling (described in Section 4 in the
discussion on revised regulating reserve requirements) is a more realistic
depiction of how Idaho Power will operate using wind forecasts to maximize
the hydro operational revenue.
What additional reserves does Idaho Power carry to maintain a CPS2 compliance
level of 98%?
As discussed in the two public workshops, the assumed level of CPS2
compliance is a factor in the estimation of regulating reserve requirements.
For its study of wind integration, Idaho Power has assumed a 98% CPS2
compliance level. Because ofFERC Standard of Conduct regulations
discussions with personnel from the Company s transmission group for the
purpose of quantifying the extra reserve necessary to maintain 98%
compliance versus a lower level of compliance are not permitted. However
it is possible to use the methodology for estimating reserve requirements
described in Section 4 of this addendum report to calculate the additional
reserve imposed in the study as a result of the assumed compliance level. It
is understood that relaxed compliance assumptions would reduce the
estimated regulating reserve requirement for both wind study cases - the flat
wind case where regulating reserve is based on analysis ofload data alone
and the actual wind case where the reserve level is calculated from analysis
of load data and wind data - although the reduction for the flat wind case is
expected to be smaller than that for the actual wind case.
Using the study methodology for calculating regulating reserve and an
alternative compliance level of 95%, the 98% compliance level requires an
additional 17 MW of regulating reserve for the flat wind case in the study.
For the actual wind case at the 600 MW wind penetration level, an additional
29 MW of regulating reserve is imposed because of the 98% compliance
level. While it was not estimated, it is expected that the disparity in the
additional reserve between the flat wind and actual wind cases (12 MW at the
600 MW wind penetration level) would be less for the 300 MW penetration
level and greater for the 900 MW scenario. It is emphasized that these
estimates have relevance only with respect to the reserve levels as imposed in
the study, and should not be considered to represent actual reserve
relationships as applied in practice.
17.Can Idaho Power calculate the reg-down component of reserves? What about
spilling wind? What about the impacts of using a 20-minute ahead forecast?
Yes, the reg-down component of reserves can be calculated. The updated
study results are based on separate (asymmetric) reg-down and reg-up reserve
levels. Furthennore, the asymmetric reserve levels are defined dynamically
as functions of load and wind level. That is, given a forecast load of X MW
and a forecast wind ofY MW, functions have been derived to estimate the
amount of reg-up/reg-down associated with each of the load and wind
forecasts. These amounts are added together through a root-sum-square
operation to yield a total reg-up/reg-down. This approach is considered a
practical way to consider the problem of wind integration from the
perspective of scheduling real-time operations. In the original study, a single
static, bi-directional, regulating margin was used for each year.
Because of the timing issues involved in the scheduling of real-time
operations in an hourly market, the use of a 20-minute ahead forecast is
considered impractical. In practice, generation schedulers would be unable to
derive benefit from such a forecast with regard to relying on the market to
make adjustments.
Spilling or controlling the up ramp of wind generation is an option for
integrating wind generation. This option is based on an economic decision
depending on the cost of the wind generation vs. the cost associated with
either purchasing or carrying additional reserves on Idaho Power s system.
Controlling the up ramp or curtailing wind generation was not factored into
any of the regulation reserve scenarios analyzed. Winds down ramps are not
controllable from the wind turbine side of the interconnection and would
have no effect on reg-up reserve requirements.
Further discussion of methods used to estimate regulating reserves is
provided in Section 4 of this addendum.
General Questions
16.The flat wind HULL bias should be removed from the model.
In the flat wind or base case, actual wind generation was originally input as a
flat block for the entire day. To address this concern, in the updated model
actual wind generation has been separated into two flat blocks, one for heavy-
load hours and one for light-load hours.
Moving wind remotely has built in a very high transaction cost. This needs to be
investigated.
This question demonstrated some confusion in how Vista DSS treated the
wind generation under the flat versus variable scenarios. The total wind
energy is equal between scenarios on a daily basis. The available water was
13.
shaped to maximize the economics of the hydro generation subject to
regulating reserve constraints. Any transaction cost differential between the
flat and variable wind cases is due to the differing reserve constraints and
timing of generation subject to the economic optimization algorithm in Vista
DSS.
In evaluating the purchase or sale of electricity outside of Idaho Power
Control Area, an average transmission "wheeling" expense of $5 per MWh
was used in the Vista DSS model. The Vista DSS model accounts for this
expense when making economic decisions to optimize operation of the
system. This transmission expense applies to any market purchase or sale
(not just wind generation) and is always a factor when considering the
economics of making purchases or sales in the market.
Can a further breakdown of the costs associated with the $10.72 be shown in
regards to the amount attributed to the hour-ahead forecast, the wind forecast
error, reserves and transmission costs (delta between flat and variable case)?
The $10.72 cost figure has been highly processed which makes stratifying the
components difficult and highly subjective. The $10.72 is a synthesis of
model results from three years, interpolated to a 472 MW penetration level
which is then applied to a PURP A contract price. The clearest way to think
about the components of the cost is what contributes to the reserve
requirements. The reserve requirements changed based on the changed
variability between cases. For the workshop this equates to an hour ahead
forecast error evaluated on a 10 minute time step which was used to construct
a 98 percentile confidence interval fonnula adjusted seasonally to derive the
hourly up and down regulation reserves modeled in Vista DSS for each ofthe
three years. The fast fluctuation component was ignored in setting hourly
reserves.
11.Market prices from year 2000 should not have been used due to market
anomalies. Idaho Power needs to investigate other pricing alternatives.
To address this concern, 2006 market prices were used in the updated analysis
for all study years.
Can Idaho Power utilize the regional markets to integrate wind more
economically?
Yes, but there are limitations. The utilization of hourly regional markets is an
integral part of operating Idaho Power s system. The initial study results
included the utilization of both the east side market and the west side (Pacific
Northwest) hourly markets to the degree transmission capacity was available
to either import or export energy. Further review of the model results
15.
uncovered an exaggerated arbitrage opportunity that had an adverse impact
on the results ofthe original study. The modeling ofthe regional markets
was modified by setting the east side prices equal to the west side prices in
order to eliminate arbitrage opportunities. The arbitrage effects were the
result oflarge price differentials between the Mid-C and the Palo Verde
markets. The perfect foreknowledge in Vista DSS allowed the model to take
advantage ofthis arbitrage situation in an excessive manner. The modeling
in the updated analysis removed the arbitrage opportunity by setting the
prices at Mid-C levels for both markets. All other market assumptions
remained unchanged in the updated analysis.
The within hour regulating requirements, which were the focus of the study,
are not available for support in the hourly market structure in which
Idaho Power operates. The western electricity market operates on an hourly
basis which means power is transacted in whole hour blocks and within-hour
products are not available.
Investigate "what-ifs" associated with expanding the size of the control area.
Utilities across the Northwest are investigating the impacts of integrating
wind generation and ways of working together that would lessen the impact
of the variable and intennittent nature of wind generation. Members of the
Northern Tier Transmission Group (NTTG) along with British Columbia
Transmission Company (BCTC) have developed and implemented an ACE
Diversity Interchange (AD I) pilot program. The program pools Area Control
Error (ACE) to take advantage of control error diversity (momentary
imbalances of generation and load). This project and others like it will
undoubtedly be developed in the future, however the focus of Idaho Power
study is to estimate the current cost of integrating wind generation. Idaho
Power acknowledges the results will change over time as additional
experience is gained and programs like ADI are implemented.
In this section, Idaho Power has attempted to address the questions raised at the first
public workshop. These questions were the basis for additional work completed between
the first and second workshops. Section 4 provides a more detailed explanation of the
work completed in regards to the detennination of reserve requirements. In addition
Section 4 presents the results of two sensitivity analyses perfonned as a result of issues
raised at the first workshop.
Section 4 REVISED ANALYSIS AND IMPACTS
REVISED REGULATING RESERVE REQUIREMENTS
Since completing the original study, Idaho Power has incorporated substantive changes to
its approach for estimating regulating reserve requirements. Because regulating reserve
requirements are the basis for determining the cost of integrating wind, the revised
estimation techniques warrant further discussion. In general, the revisions to the
estimation process are related to the simulation of hour-ahead forecasts for system load
and wind generation, and the ability of the Vista DSS model to impose regulating reserve
requirements dynamically and asymmetrically.
As discussed previously in this addendum report, regulating reserve requirements in the
original study were input to Vista DSS at a constant and bi-directionallevel. In this
approach, the amount of regulating reserve the model was forced to carry was
independent of system load and level of wind production. The reserve level carried was
determined simply by calculating the amount ofbi-directional regulating reserve covering
98% of the variability in both load and load net wind. In the revised approach discussed
here, the regulating reserve level for a given hour is determined as a direct function of the
projected load and wind generation for that hour. This results in decreased regulating
reserve requirements, and consequently lower wind integration costs. A detailed
description of the previous method used to calculate reserve requirements can be found in
Section 6 of the original study report. A discussion of the revised process developed in
work leading up to the June 20, 2007 public workshop follows.
LOAD REG-Up/REG-DOWN
The first step in the investigation was to develop a process for representing system
regulating reserve requirements associated with variability and uncertainty in load alone.
The objective is to estimate the amount of regulating reserve needed to cover deviations
in 10-minute instantaneous measurements ofload from hourly average load as forecast on
an hour-ahead basis. This is based on the premise that the hour-ahead forecast load
dictates the generation scheduling (and market activity) for the next operating hour, and
deviations from that forecast load must be managed by increasing or decreasing the
output of other generating units. Deviations from the hour-ahead load forecast occur
because (i) the 10-minute instantaneous load data are variable, and (ii) the hour-ahead
forecast is in error. That is, even if the load forecast is exactly correct as evaluated on an
hourly average basis, deviations occur simply because the instantaneous load varies
above and below the observed average during the course of an operating hour.
Conversely, even if instantaneous load somehow remains constant during the course of
an operating hour, deviations occur unless the load forecast is exactly correct.
To mimic load forecast error, a random error was applied to each hourly average load.
For example, consider an hour for which the six 10-minute instantaneous load readings
average to 2 000 MW. If the randomly selected error for the hour is -00%, then thehour-ahead forecast hourly average load is considered to be 1 980 MW. The randomlyselected errors follow a normal distribution having a mean of 0., standard deviation of
1.3%, and an average absolute error of 1.0%. The distribution of the 8 760 errors usedfor calendar year 2005 is shown in Figure 1 below.
350
100
300
250
200
!::
::J4b .t 150
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ ~
~'r ".J 'I,!Ii. ri,
'?
e!.'11 ~
" ,,
1::'1 I(,e!. ri,'P co ~.J ~ ri,' 'l,v "q, '" t:)" W '0"' '1r 1(,'" \Y' 'Cf'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
n. n. n. ~ ~
~ ~ ~
Bin
Figure 1.Distribution of errors for hour-ahead forecast load
Taking into account the variability in the 10-minute load measurements and the elTor inthe hour-ahead load forecast, Idaho Power must schedule resources with an expectation
of how much higher or lower system load might be during the actual operating hour
relative to forecast hourly average system load. Using calendar year 2005 load data, anhourly time series representing the hour-ahead load forecast was devised using the
process desclibed above for calculating forecast load. The actual 10-minute load data
were then compared to the hourly forecast loads. The data were binned according to the
forecast load, resulting in the curves shown in Figure 2.
3000.
1000.
LOAD
--- REG UP .
'-----
2800.
2600.
2400.= 0.000068x' + 0.823961. + 184.725391
= 0.999724
~ 2200.
.:! 2000.
~ 1800.
-------- ------- ---
ti 1600.1% PROBABILITY ABOVE
1400.
1200.
NOTE: FORECAST NEXT-HOUR LOAD BASED ON ACTUAL
AVERAGE LOAD PLUS RANDOM ERROR. RANDOM ERROR
FROM NORMAL DISTRIBUTION HAVING AVERAGE 0.0%.
STANDARD DEVIATION 1.3%, AND AVERAGE ABSOLUTE ERROR 1.0%,
800.
800.1000.1200.1400.1600.1800.2000.2200.2400.2600.2800.3000.
forecast next-hour load (MW)
Figure 2.Actual operating hour load YS. forecast hour-ahead load
Based on a simple empirical analysis of the data, the probability of observing a 10-minute
system load measurement exceeding the upper fitted line above is I %. Similarly, the
probability of a 10-minute system load measurement less than the lower fitted line is 1%.
For example, given an hour-ahead load forecast of 2,400 MW, there is a 1% probability
of observing a 10-minute load measurement exceeding 2 554 MW and a I % probability
of observing a 10-minute load less than 2 252 MW. In other words, the power system
dispatcher can have 98% confidence that the system load (at least as measured at 10-
minute intervals) will remain between 2 252 MW and 2 554 MW. Therefore (neglecting
any interaction with wind), to assure CPS2 compliance of 98%, Idaho Power should
allow for 154 MW of reg-up reserve to cover possible upward movement in load (relative
to forecast load) and 148 MW ofreg-down reserve to cover possible downward
movement in load. It is important to note that this explanation has yet to consider the LIO
band. That is, the above-noted 154 MW of reg-up reserve was derived based on the
assumption that generation/load imbalances need to be reconciled to a balanced position.
However, CPS2 regulations require only that imbalances are reduced to within a utility
LIO level, which for Idaho Power is 38.52 MW. Consideration of the LIO level will be
discussed in a later step.
WIND REG-Up/REG-DOWN
In this case, the objective is to estimate how much regulating reserve is needed to cover
deviations in 10-minute instantaneous measurements of wind generation versus hourly
average wind generation as forecast on an hour-ahead basis. As with load, deviations
from the forecast wind generation must be managed by increasing or decreasing the
output of other generating units. Also similar to load, deviations between instantaneous
wind generation observed during the course of an operating hour and the associated hour-
ahead hourly average wind generation forecast come about for two reasons:
) the instantaneous wind generation during the course of the operating hour varies
above and below the hourly average, and
ii.) the hour-ahead hourly average wind forecast is in error.
With regard to wind generation, an hour-ahead forecasting process can be simulated
through the use of an autoregressive time-series model expressing hourly average wind
generation for an operating hour as a function of the six 10-minute readings occurring 65
, 85 , 105, & 115 minutes prior to the start of the operating hour (e.g. wind
generation forecast for 9:00-10:00 is a function of instantaneous wind at 7:55 7:45 7:35
7:25, 7:15, & 7:05). The hour-ahead wind forecasting utilized in the study was further
refined through the derivation of season-specific forecast models (i.e. separate winter
spring, summer, and fall forecast models). The autoregressive forecast technique is a
marked improvement over the persistence forecast used in the original analysis
(February 2007 report), where the hourly average wind generation was forecast to persist
from the wind generation occurring at 65 minutes prior to the start ofthe operating hour.
The fundamental question for the power system dispatcher is similar to the load alone
case - given an hourly average wind forecast, how much higher or lower might system
wind generation be during the actual operating hour? Using calendar year 2005 wind
data, the following curves were derived. It should be noted that Figure 3 is provided for
illustration purposes only. The actual seasonal hour-ahead wind forecast models differed
slightly from the example presented below:
Given an hour-ahead wind forecast of 00 MW, there is a 1 % probability
of observing a 10-minute wind measurement exceeding 428 MWand a 1 %
probability of observing a 10-minute wind measurement less than 162
MW In other words, Idaho Power can have 98% confidence that the wind
generation (at least as measured at 10-minute intervals) will remain
between 162 MWand 428 MW Therefore, to assure CPS2 compliance of
98%, Idaho Power should allow for 138 MW of reg-up reserve to cover
possible downward movement in wind generation (relative to forecast
wind) and 128 MWofreg-down reserve to cover possible upward
movement in wind generation. Consideration of the L 10 band, which is
essentially the extent to which loads and resources can be out of balance
without constituting a control performance violation, will be reserved for
the following discussion on total regulating reserve requirement.
600.
100.
1% PROBABILITY ABOVE
500.
400.
:! 300.
'Ji~ 200.
';;;
1:;
NOTE: FORECAST NEXT-HOUR WIND BASED ON AUTOREGRESSIVE TIME-SERIES MODEL
INCORPORATING OBSERVED 10-MINUTE WIND READINGS AT 65, 75, 85, 95, 105, & 115
MINUTES PRIOR TO THE START OF THE OPERATING HOUR.
100.
100.200.300.
forecast next-hour wind (MW)
400.500.600.
Figure 3.Actual operating hour wind VS, forecast hour-ahead wind
TOTAL REG-UP REG-DOWN
In typical real-time operations, load and wind generation share the characteristic of being
largely outside the control of the electrical load serving entity. Other factors in the
load/resource balance are either dispatchable or highly predictable in the time frame of
real-time operations. For example, generation at a run-of-river hydroelectric plant on an
hour-ahead basis is very predictable, barring unforeseen outages related to equipment
failure.
Because of the similarity between load and wind with respect to real-time operations, it is
useful to couple their separate regulation components into a single total regulating reserve
level. It is understood that because of interaction between load and wind, a straight
arithmetic sum of the separate components results in reserve levels that are
inappropriately high. Using the examples given in each section, the load forecast of
2,400 MW requires 154 MW of reg-up reserve and the wind forecast of300 MW requires
138 MW of reg-up reserve. It would likely be excessively conservative for a system to
carry reserve equal to the sum of these components (292 MW). For modeling purposes
Idaho Power combined the components through a root-sum-square operation. Using the
same example, the total reg-up reserve calculated in this manner would equal:
Total Reg-up = SQRT ((154 MW)2 + (138 MW)J = 207 MW
At this point, the LIO band can be applied, resulting in a reg-up reserve requirement of
168 MW (207 MW - 38.52 MW). This process can be followed to generate an hourly
regulating reserve time-series for each study year and wind penetration level that is a
dynamic and asymmetric function of hour-ahead forecast load and wind. Table 3
provides average regulating reserve levels calculated by the above described process
where the load reg-up reserve and load reg-down reserve columns are averages for the
load alone (flat wind) cases and the load net wind columns are for the root-sum-square
combined load and wind.
Table 3.Average levels of regulating reserve by wind penetration level
Wind Load Load Reg-Penetration Reg-up down Load Net Wind Load Net WindLevel (MW) (MW) (MW) Reg-up (MW) Reg-down (MW)
300
600
900
51.4
51.4
51.4
49.
49.
49.
66.
87.4
109.4
74.
104.
140.
REVISED MODEL INPUTS
As part of its continuing study of wind integration following the March 15 , 2007 public
workshop, Idaho Power recognized six primary modeling revisions expected to improve
the accuracy ofthe study results. The incorporation of these changes produced an overall
decline in the estimated cost to integrate wind generation. In this section, the individual
revisions and their associated cost impact are described. It is emphasized that
interdependence between the modeling revisions make it difficult to isolate the cost
impact attributable to an individual modification, consequently the cost impacts presented
in this section should be considered approximate. The estimated cost impacts can be
considered indicative of the effect of the utilized modeling revisions in a relative sense.
A summary of the Vista DSS modeling changes used in the updated wind integration cost
detennination are summarized below:
In the original study, wholesale electricity markets to the west and east of
Idaho Power s system were respectively assigned historical observed prices
reported for the Mid-Columbia (Mid-C) and Palo Verde (PV) electricity markets.
Price differences between these two markets caused the Vista DSS model to
consistently take advantage of arbitrage opportunities across Idaho Power
system. While in practice these opportunities do occur on occasion, review of the
modeling results indicated that Vista DSS's arbitrage activity was far too frequent
and preferential to the flat wind case. Therefore, the arbitrage opportunity was
removed by replacing the PV price data for the wholesale market to the east with
Mid-C prices. Thus, the two markets available to the model contained equivalent
price data, thereby removing the arbitrage opportunity across Idaho Power
system. The elimination of this arbitrage opportunity had a significant impact and
resulted in a reduction of the wind integration cost of approximately $1.00/MWh.
In the original study, regulating reserves were imposed by the Vista DSS model at
a constant and bi-directionallevel. Since completion ofthe original study,
Synexus Global has incorporated the ability to input asymmetric reserve
requirements into the model. This new feature coupled with the ability to specify
dynamic reserves on an hourly basis has allowed the assignment of varying levels
of reg-up and reg-down regulating reserves on an hourly basis. These reserve
levels are considered to more realistically simulate the connection between
reserve obligation and load/wind conditions than the constant, bi-directional
reserves used in the original study. The impact of this change was also significant
and reduced the wind integration cost by approximately $1.00/MWh.
As discussed in Section 3 of this addendum report, it was suggested in the
workshop process that the reserve estimation methodology of the original study
double-counted" the amount of necessary reserves. To remove the potential for
double-counting, Idaho Power excluded high-resolution load and wind data from
the reserve estimation process, and instead based its estimates on the amount of
reserve necessary to cover variability solely in the instantaneous 10-minute data
for load and wind. This change had a small impact and reduced the wind
integration cost by approximately $0.1 O/MWh.
In the original study, the flat wind case was constructed such that wind generation
was input at constant levels by day. The 24 hourly wind generation levels were
set equal to each other, and equal to the average generation for the day. However
because average light load generation in the synthetic wind time series exceeded
heavy load, the value of the flat wind case was favorably biased prior to
consideration of any effects related to wind integration. To remove this bias, the
design of the flat wind case was modified such that wind generation was
separated into flat blocks for both heavy load and light load hours. This change
resulted in lowering the wind integration cost by approximately $0.25/MWh.
The distribution of wind projects used to model the 300 MW penetration level
was updated to reflect selection ofthe Elkhorn Valley Wind Project (Horizon) in
northeastern Oregon in Idaho Power s recently concluded wind RFP. The
300 MW penetration level was amended to include the Elkhorn Valley project and
to move the southern Idaho Cotterel site to higher penetration levels. Overall
100 MW from the Elkhorn project was added to the 300 MW scenario and
100 MW from the Cotterel site was removed. In addition, the sizes of several
individual extraction points were adjusted to address scaling issues between the
300, 600 and 900 MW penetration levels. This change provided a greater
diversification of the wind resource and resulted in a reduction in the wind
integration cost of approximately $0.20/MWh.
The wind forecasting methodology used in the model was improved by utilizing a
seasonal, autoregressive method rather than a persistence forecast taken at 65
minutes before the hour. This change reduced the wind integration cost by
approximately $0.25/MWh.
SENSITIVITY RUNS
In addition to the modifications mentioned above, Idaho Power perfonned additional
Vista DSS simulations for the purpose of exploring the sensitivity of the results to two
issues raised at the public workshops: 1) the use of actual Mid-C market prices as
recorded for the three study years, and 2) using the Jim Bridger coal-fired generating
facility for reg-down reserves.
The selection ofthese factors for sensitivity testing is a product of the workshop process
where considerable discussion was focused on the market price assumptions used in the
Vista DSS modeling and the practicality of providing regulating reserve with resources
other than the Hells Canyon Complex. These sensitivity results are considered
exploratory, and are not included in Section 5. The updated study results provided in
Section 5 are based on a feasible modification of current operating practices for Idaho
Power s generating resources.
MARKET PRICE ASSUMPTIONS
In the updated work since the completion of the original study, Idaho Power selected
Mid-C prices recorded for calendar year 2006 for modeling. The use of actual prices in
the original study received considerable attention at the workshops, particularly with
regard to calendar year 2000 prices. As a consequence, it was decided for the updated
work to input prices observed for calendar year 2006 for all three study years. The
following table provides the results of the sensitivity test in which the actual market
prices observed in the three study years were restored, with all other modeling revisions
discussed in this section implemented. The results of this analysis are presented in Table
4 and Figure 4.
Table 4,Modeling results as a percentage of market prices using actual market prices and no
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves
Study Year 300MW
14,3% 14.1 %8% 11 .1% 10,8.7% 11.9%
900MW A VG Market Price
$27,
$132.
$58.
1998
2000
2005
Average
19.
17.2%
15.
17.
PURPA Wind Contract:
Wind Integration Cost:
Adjusted PURPA Wind Contract:
$62.40
$5.43
$56.
$62.40
$7.41
$54.
$62.40
$10.75
$51.
Interpolated Wind Integration Cost at 492 MW:$6.70
25.
20.0% .
15.
10.
-- 1 998
-- 2000
-.- 20051
I 0.0%-
300MW 600MW 900MW
Figure 4.Modeling results as a percentage of market prices using actual market prices and no
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves
JIM BRIDGER REGULATING RESERVE
The second sensitivity analysis illustrates the impact of using thennal units to provide
reg-down reserves. To incorporate the reg-down capability assumed to be provided by
Jim Bridger, the thennal units were not actually modeled providing reserves; rather the
reserve requirement was reduced on the Hells Canyon Complex. It is important to note
that cycling these units would result in increased maintenance costs which are difficult to
quantify and are not included in the results presented in Table 5 and Figure 5. Additional
discussion ofthe use of Jim Bridger for this purpose is included in response to item 6 in
Section 3 of this addendum report. All other modeling revisions discussed previously in
this section were implemented for this analysis.
Table 5,Modeling results using 2006 market prices and the Bridger coal plant for regulating
reserves
Study Year 300MW21.9% 19.4%8% 4.8% 6.0% 10.1 %
900M W A VG 2006 Price
$44.44
$44.44
$44.44
1998
2000
2005
Average
22.
12.
11.
15.4%
PURPA Wind Contract:
Wind Integration Cost:
Adjusted PURPA Wind Contract:
$62.40
$4.
$57.42
$62.40
$6.
$56.
$62.40
$9.
$52.
Interpolated Wind Integration Cost at 492 MW:$5.
25.
20.0% -
15.
I 5.
--+- 1 998
--- 2000
-- 2005
I 10.
300MW 600MW 900M W
Figure 5.Modeling results using 2006 market prices and the Bridger coal plant for regulating
reserves
The detennination of required regulating reserves is a major component of Idaho Power
wind integration study and this section has provided details ofthe work completed in the
time since the original study was published. Section 5 presents the updated study results
in regards to the cost of integrating wind generation on Idaho Power s system.
Section 5 UPDATED STUDY RESULTS
In the updated study, Idaho Power incorporated the six primary modeling revisions
described in the previous section to derive a new estimated cost to integrate wind
generation. Table 6 and Figure 6 below show the results of the updated analysis and
integration costs by study year as a percentage of 2006 market prices. Table 6 also
summarizes the average wind integration cost by penetration level.
Table 6.Updated modeling results as a percentage of 2006 market prices without use of the
Bridger coal plant for regulating reserves
study Year 300MW
15.1% 15.7.4% 11.0% 17.2% 14.7%
900MW A VG 2006 Price
PURPA Wind Contract:
Wind Integration Cast:
Adjusted PURPA Wind Contract:
$62.40
$5.
$56.
$62.40
$9.
$53,
18.$44.44
12.4%$44.44
14.$44.44
15.
$62.40
$9.
$53,
. .
1998
--- 2000
~ 2005
900M W
1998
2000
2005
Average
I 25.
20.
, 15.0%-
10.
0%
300MW 600MW
Figure 6,Updated study results as a percentage of 2006 market prices without use of the Bridger
coal plant for regulating reserves
Figure 7 shows Idaho Power s estimate of the cost it will incur (in $/MWh) to
accommodate wind generation for a range of penetration levels for both the initial and
updated studies. Study results suggest that as wind penetration levels increase, the
resulting reserve requirements at higher wind penetration levels will ultimately
overwhelm the current system s reserve capacity. Idaho Power believes that given
current technology and market structure, the upper limit on the amount of wind
generation that can be integrated on its current system lies between 600 and 900 MW.
the time the original study was completed, Idaho Power had signed contracts or
commitments to develop 384 MW of wind generation. It should be noted that 600 MW
of wind generation corresponds to a penetration level of approximately 19% (according
to the convention of expressing penetration level as percentage of peak system load),
which is an ambitious level of development by current standards.
To arrive at a single cost estimate to account for system impacts due to wind integration
Idaho Power proposed using the estimated cost at the midpoint of wind development
between the current committed level of384 MW and 600 MW utilizing current PURPA
rates to convert trom percent of market to a dollar amount. In the original study, the cost
at this midpoint level (492 MW) was estimated via a 3rd order line fitted to the original
study results. This cost ($10. 72/MWh) is illustrated in Figure 7 below. In the updated
study, the cost at this midpoint level (492 MW) is estimated via linear interpolation
between the updated study results at 300MW and 600MW. This process results in a wind
integration cost of $7.92/MWh and is also illustrated in Figure 7 below.
$14,. Initial Study Average
$12,
. Updated Study
Averoge
$10.72/MWh
". 'O',""w..',$10,
$8,00 ""
--"...
n--'-o-....-,,..'o.,--...--.--.,--.. $7,92/MWh 00.--' ""'0""'0"....0-- - .----.--
:-....
$6,
$4,
$2,
:;; -
..so
..... :;;:;; ,
$0,
300
WIND PENETRATION LEVEL
600
Figure 7. Idaho Power s updated cost estimate (in $/MWh) for wind integration
Idaho Power supports society s desire to have future energy supplies that come from
clean, renewable energy sources. Renewable, emission-free electricity production has
been a part of our company s history for over 90 years and wind power will be an
important part of continuing that legacy. One thing is for certain - the cost of wind
integration will change over time. Regional wind integration efforts, improvements in
wind forecasting, regulatory changes and actual "hands-on" experience will all have an
impact on the cost of integrating wind energy. In recognition ofthis fact, Idaho Power
will continue to evaluate wind integration costs as model assumptions change and new
and improved study methods are developed.