Transcript Slide 1

Overview of Alabama Power’s
Tallapoosa River Operations
Andy Sheppard, P.E.
Project Mgr. - Hydro Optimization
Martin Dam Relicensing
Informational Meeting
April 1, 2008
What do we want to do today?
 Take a brief tour of the river basin and dams
 Review project purposes
 Special operation issues
 Daily operation considerations
Alabama Power Company Hydroelectric Projects
APCo RESERVOIR
SYSTEMS
Three River Basins
Tallapoosa
Warrior
Coosa
Drainage
10,100
Reservoirs
6
Units
3,300
4,200
4
3
11
4
Tallapoosa River Basin
Harris Dam
$
N
W
Martin Dam
Yates Dam
Thurlow Dam
E
S
$
$
$
Tallapoosa River Basin Average Monthly Rainfall
RAIN (in.)
8
6
7.0
5.4
5.5
5.0
5.2
4.8
4.2
4
3.8
4.4
3.7
3.6
2.7
2
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
MONTH
8
9
10 11 12
PROJECT PURPOSES
 HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER
 Electric System Dynamic Benefits
 Energy
 FLOOD CONTROL
 DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
 NAVIGATION REQUIREMENTS
 RECREATION, FISH AND WILDLIFE
 WATER QUALITY
The Reservoirs operated by APCo are different in more than just name and
location, they're designed to be operated differently.
APCo operates two types of reservoirs : Run-of-River and Storage
Run-of-River
Storage
Tallapoosa
Yates, Thurlow
Harris, Martin
Warrior
Bankhead, Holt
Smith
Coosa
Lay, Mitchell, Jordan/Bouldin
Weiss, Henry, Logan Martin
Furthermore, the dams located on the same river must be
operated as a single system
The operations of each dam have an impact on both upstream and
downstream reservoirs
Typical APCo System Load and Hydro Generation during
Winter
9,000 MW
Generation or Load
8,000 MW
7,100 MW
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hydro Generation
T ime of Day
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 14 15
Time of Day
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Typical APCo System Load & Hydro Generation during
Summer
Generation or Load
11,000 MW
6,300 MW
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Hydro Generation
Time of Day
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 12
13 14
15 16
Time of Day
17 18 19
20 21
22 23
24
160
140
120
100
% Avg. MWh
80
60
40
20
0
1985
1989
1993
1997
2001
2005
Wadley May 2003
Tallapoosa River above Horseshoe Bend
May 2003
Flood Control can be defined as reducing river stages
DOWNSTREAM of a dam
The people and property located downstream benefit from flood
control operations
Run-of-river reservoirs have limited flood control capability;
they cannot provide this benefit to the public
Downstream flood peaks are reduced by discharging less water
than is coming into the reservoir
Flood control plans are based on studies of significant rainfall
events.
Not every flood can be completely controlled; each project has
a particular amount of water that it can store
After all flood storage has been used, the project becomes runof-river
Drought Forecasting
Drought Timetable
Reservoir Impacts
So, how does APCo make the decisions?
Using a consultation process that involves all the regulatory
agencies responsible for managing flow and its impacts:
How bad . . . . How long . . . . . How much
License Excerpt for Martin Dam
FERC Project 349
• Article 12 - The FERC & Secretary of the
Army have rights to dictate storage &
discharge rules in the interest of
navigation, protection of life, health, and
property, and in the interest of the fullest
practicable conservation and utilization of
such waters for power purposes and for
other beneficial public uses, including
recreational purposes
(paraphrased)
Tallapoosa River
Daily Reservoir Operations
Automated Rain & Stream
Gages
RIVER
RAIN
STREAM
TALLAPOOSA
15
6
WARRIOR
COOSA
15
45
6
18
HARRIS HYDRO PROJECT
Flood Control Guideline
796
794
792
MSL
790
788
786
784
782
780
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Operational Issues
Daily & Weekly Load Forecast
Lake Level Forecast
Rain Forecast
Lake Activity
Inflow Forecast
Maintenance Plans
Units On-line
Up & Down Stream Lake Levels & Inflows
Required Min. Discharges
Flood Control Discharges
Martin Rule Curve
Evaluation
•
Primary objective of MIG 3 Project Operations Study Plan is to
determine feasibility of winter pool change
•
Preliminary results of modeling complete, presented today
•
Investigated early implementation approach – change and evaluate
“in the field”
•
Modeling results indicate downstream flooding issues
•
Solicited direction from FERC – must conduct in-depth analysis of
impacts and mitigation during relicensing process through modeling
and studies prior to any operational changes
•
Evaluation of permanent changes to winter pool will be conducted
over the next 2 to 3 years and proposal included in license application
in 2011
•
Precedent has been set for addressing future drought conditions