Wind-farm developers, retail electric providers and others in Texas outlined their recommended approaches for dealing with overloaded power lines in areas with thousands of megawatts of wind farms, according to filings posted at the Public Utility Commission of Texas Thursday. Such congestion forces the curtailment of wind-turbine operations, so parties want to establish a system for priority dispatch of power generated by wind-turbines in the "competitive renewable energy zones" in Texas.
Wind-farm developers, retail electric providers and others in Texas outlined their recommended approaches for dealing with overloaded power lines in areas with thousands of megawatts of wind farms, according to filings posted at the Public Utility Commission of Texas Thursday. Such congestion forces the curtailment of wind-turbine operations, so parties want to establish a system for priority dispatch of power generated by wind-turbines in the "competitive renewable energy zones" in Texas.
Wind-farm developers, retail electric providers and others in Texas outlined their recommended approaches for dealing with overloaded power lines in areas with thousands of megawatts of wind farms, according to filings posted at the Public Utility Commission of Texas Thursday.
Such congestion forces the curtailment of wind-turbine operations, so parties want to establish a system for priority dispatch of power generated by wind-turbines in the "competitive renewable energy zones" in Texas. Although nearly $5 billion in transmission lines will be built over the next five years in these areas, the PUC wants to reduce congestion in the meantime.
REP Direct Energy said in its comments that a "congestion revenue right" mechanism would help …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]Wind-farm developers, retail electric providers and others in Texas outlined their recommended approaches for dealing with overloaded power lines in areas with thousands of megawatts of wind farms, according to filings posted at the Public Utility Commission of Texas Thursday.
Such congestion forces the curtailment of wind-turbine operations, so parties want to establish a system for priority dispatch of power generated by wind-turbines in the "competitive renewable energy zones" in Texas. Although nearly $5 billion in transmission lines will be built over the next five years in these areas, the PUC wants to reduce congestion in the meantime.
REP Direct Energy said in its comments that a "congestion revenue right" mechanism would help protect the financial investment of a CREZ generator, and control excess development of wind power. CRRs are financial instruments which help their owners hedge against transmission congestion.
Wind-farm developers Iberdrola Renewables, Mesa Power, Horizon Wind Energy, Eurus Energy America and RES America Developments said in jointly filed comments that they "believe that CRRs, while workable, are not the best priority dispatch mechanism."
Among other things, they said that CRRs are "a purely financial device [that] offer no real-time support to [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas] in managing actual, physical congestion on the transmission system" and depend on the still uncertain transition to a nodal market.
The five developers said they prefer an "automated offer curve" mechanism.
Under an AOC, ERCOT would use software to determine which wind farms would run and at what level.
John Deere Wind Energy said in its comments that it sees no need for any dispatch priority mechanism now, adding that the PUC could increase the transmission-carrying capacity in CREZs if developers commit to building more wind farms there. The PUC plans to hold a workshop on the matter on April 17.