Transcript Integrating Wind Power into the Electric Power System Ed DeMeo

Integrating Wind Power into the
Electric Power System
Ed DeMeo
Renewable Energy Consulting Services, Inc.
Technical Advisor: Utility Wind Integration Group
Michigan Public Service Commission Wind Forum
April 25, 2007
Lansing, Michigan
Key Integration Issues
 Costs (capital, energy, O&M)
 Variability Impacts (ancillary services costs)
 Energy (fuel displacement) and Capacity
(serving demand growth) Contributions
 Environmental Considerations
Natural Gas Situation
“Today’s tight natural gas markets have
been a long time in coming, and distant
futures prices suggest that we are not apt
to return to earlier periods of relative
abundance and low prices anytime soon.”
– Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman,
Testimony at Senate hearing, July 10, 2003
Wellhead gas costs - 2002-2003: $3 - $5/MMBTU
Current prices and projections exceed $6/MMBTU
Wind Energy Compared to
Conventional Electricity Generation
 Wind displaces natural gas primarily
 Wind energy costs: 4¢ to 7¢/kWh total
 Gas fuel only costs: 4¢ to 10¢/kWh today
 Wind costs stable; fuel costs are not
 Wind - gas synergy: save gas when wind
blowing, burn gas when wind calm
 But wind’s variability complicates powersystem operation
 Does wind variability compromise reliability?
 Will variability reduce wind’s value
substantially?
10¢
gas
7¢
wind
4¢
Minnesota 25% Wind Energy
Penetration Study (MN DOC 2006)
3500 to 5700 MW of wind generation
delivered to Minnesota customers (15 to
25% of retail electric energy sales in 2020)
System Operating Cost Impacts
 Ranged from 0.21¢ to $0.44¢ per kWh of wind
 Includes all costs related to wind uncertainty and
variability
Similar results from 10+ studies nationwide
 Impact generally less than 10% of wholesale value
Range of System Operating Cost Impacts
Studies Conducted To Date
6
1/2 ¢/kWh
4
2
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Wind Penetration (% of System Peak Load)
All results to date fall within the crosshatched area
Wind’s Contributions
to Electric Power
Energy: displacement of fossil fuels
 In most cases, this is the primary motivation.
Previously existing power plants run less, but
continue to be available to ensure system reliability.
 Contrary to common lore, addition of a wind plant
requires NO new conventional backup generation
to maintain system reliability.
 In many cases, natural gas is saved, reducing total
system operating costs. In all cases, overall
emissions are reduced.
 IEEE Power Engineering
Society Magazine,
November/December
2005
 Utility Wind Integration
Group (UWIG): Operating
Impacts and Integration
Studies User Group
 www.uwig.org
 UWIG Summary:
Key Points from IEEE
Power Engineering
Society Magazine,
Nov/Dec 2005
 www.uwig.org
Environmental
Tradeoffs
We need to evaluate environmental
impacts on a relative basis.
No energy-generation approach is
without impacts.
The choice is wind vs. something -not wind vs. nothing.
Audubon Magazine,
September 2006
feature article on
wind power
“We can’t lose sight of the larger
benefits of wind,” says Audubon
Washington’s Tim Cullinan. “The
direct environmental impacts of
wind get a lot of attention,
because there are dead bodies
on the ground. But nobody ever
finds the bodies of the birds
killed by global warming, or by
oil drilling on the North Slope of
Alaska. They’re out there, but
we don’t see them.”
Environmental
Benefits of Wind
 No emissions of any kind during operation




No SOx, NOx, particulates or mercury
No contributions to regional haze
Hedge against environmental regulations
No greenhouse gases
 No toxic wastes or health impacts
 Nuclear waste transport and storage unresolved
 Respiratory diseases of growing concern
 No water consumption or use during operation
 Water availability a looming crisis in the Western US
Environmental
Benefits of Wind
 Global climate change concerns can no longer
be ignored by any legitimate political entity
 Most environmental scientists view this as by far the
most serious environmental issue facing society
 Unavoidable evidence mounting
 Very few doubters remain
 Not many arrows in the quiver to address this
concern
 We need them all
 Wind energy is one of them
Paul Anderson, CEO of Duke Energy
(Southeastern Utility, Coal/Nuclear)
Lobbying for tax on carbon dioxide emissions
“Personally, I feel the time has come to act to take steps as a nation to reduce the carbon
intensity of our economy. And it’s going to
take all of us to do it.”
– Paul Anderson, quoted in AP press release, published April 7, 2005
The Climate Change Threat Is A
Major Business Opportunity
 Technologies to reduce CO2 emissions are
needed worldwide
 Industries producing them will provide
employment and profits
 Countries that produce them will enjoy export
potential and trade-balance benefits
 Countries that do not may miss out on one of
the 21st Century’s best business opportunities
Wind Contributions in Europe
and the United States (2006)
 Germany
85,000
22,000
7
 Spain
50,000
11,600
8
 Ireland
5,500
600
6
 Denmark
4,200
3,100
30
900,000
11,300
 USA
* Approximate values
0.6
Contrasting Approaches to Accommodating
Wind Power in Europe and in the U.S.
Europe
Wind power is environmentally preferred.
How can we best accommodate it within the
existing power system?
U.S.
OK, we’ll accept wind into the existing
system, but it will follow our traditional rules
and procedures.
A change in mindset is needed in the U.S. It will not
come from within the power sector, whose responsibility
is reliability, not change. Change, and the incentives to
enable it, must originate in the policy sector.
Bottom Line on
Wind Power
Wind power is a very low carbon,
affordable, domestic energy source
It can make a large contribution to the US
economy -- 20% of electricity and more
As a responsible society, we need to use it
-- and use our ingenuity to resolve the
tactical issues it presents