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Wind Break

By JAN FALSTAD - The Billings Gazette - 06/04/06

New Judith Gap wind farm causing = headaches=20 on the grid

The clean, green power from the Judith = Gap Wind=20 Farm that debuted last fall has been more intermittent than=20 anticipated.

And that is causing problems for = NorthWestern=20 Energy, the utility that must balance supply and demand on = its=20 transmission lines.

=93It=92s more variable initially = than we=20 anticipated. But remember the facility has just gone through = startup=20 and there is a shake-down period,=94 said David Gates, vice = president=20 of wholesale operations.

In April, the Western = Electricity=20 Coordinating Council in Salt Lake City sent a letter to = NorthWestern=20 saying that its transmission system may have fallen 3 = percent short=20 of its minimum control performance standards of 90 percent. = WECC, an=20 organization representing 44 power companies, is part of a = voluntary=20 nationwide system to improve reliability on the nation=92s=20 transmission grid.

WECC spokesman Kwin Peterson said = the=20 letter is preliminary and carries no sanctions. The facts = must be=20 reviewed and proven, a process that can take three months. =

=93This is unconfirmed and ordinarily = this=20 information isn=92t even made public,=94 he said.

The = council=20 sends out about a dozen of these letters every three months, = he=20 said.

Blowin=92 in the wind

Joel Schroeder = worked as=20 project manager for Invenergy Wind LLC=92s Judith Gap = project, the=20 largest of the company=92s four wind farms. Reached at = company=20 headquarters in Chicago, Schroeder said wind is by nature=20 intermittent.

=93If you have a storm move in and the = wind picks=20 up, that will boost production, or if you have the opposite = and the=20 wind drops out, you=92ll lose power,=94 Schroeder said. = =93It=92s completely=20 dependent upon the wind.=94

Everyone knows wind power = is=20 variable and that other backup power from coal or hydro or = natural=20 gas is needed to fill in the calm times.

However, the = hourly=20 ups and downs are harder to manage than expected, Gates=20 said.

=93The wind=92s blowing and in that hour, the = output goes=20 from 20 MW (megawatts) to 80 MW,=94 he said. =93The average = is 50 MW,=20 but as control operator we have to manage that move from 20 = to 80 MW=20 (on the transmission lines).=94

He said the utility = expects=20 performance to improve at the wind farm.

Power=20 balancing

You can store water behind a dam. But you = cannot=20 store electricity, and that fact creates lots of challenges = for=20 delivering power and pricing power.

Engineers may = have more=20 elegant explanations, but you can think of a power = transmission line=20 as a teeter-totter.

To keep the board level, the = supply of=20 power sitting on one side must balance the demand sitting on = the=20 other side.

When there is too much supply, the = utility has to=20 sell power right now. When demand outweighs supply, the = utility must=20 buy more power right now.

Long-range power contracts = that run=20 for years are relatively inexpensive. But, like shopping at = a=20 convenience store, buying power on the spot market costs = more, often=20 far more.

So variability at the Judith Gap project is = costing=20 NorthWestern=92s consumers more, they just don=92t know how = much=20 yet.

Green power is cool

The Montana = Legislature=20 mandated that NorthWestern buy 15 percent green power by=20 2015.

As part of the move to alternative power, = Invenergy=20 Wind built the Judith Gap Wind Farm with 90 turbines = towering 260=20 feet into the air. With approval of state regulators, = NorthWestern=20 Energy agreed to buy all of this Montana wind power for the = next 20=20 years.

With output ranging from 135 megawatts to 150=20 megawatts, Judith Gap provides about 7 percent of the = electricity=20 NorthWestern needs to serve its 316,000 electrical = customers.=20 Another 70 percent comes from PPL Montana, which bought = Montana=20 Power=92s dams and coal-fired properties.

However, = after two=20 PPL contracts expire in July 2007 costs are expected to rise = significantly, especially in view of Thursday=92s ruling in=20 Washington, D.C.

The ruling said that PPL does not = exert=20 monopoly control in Montana and can charge market rates or = the=20 highest price the market will bear.

Future wind=20 farms

On May 7, more than 30 energy developers, power = company=20 representatives and rural electric cooperative executives = met in=20 Helena with Gov. Brian Schweitzer=92s staff to discuss = Montana=92s=20 energy future.

One topic was how to build more wind = farms,=20 yet keep the transmission lines balanced.

Dave = Wheelihan,=20 chief executive of the Montana Electric Cooperatives = Association,=20 said the gist of that part of the conversation was that = NorthWestern=20 has had to buy more short-term power than expected to = balance Judith=20 Gap.

=93You can go out and contract for it, but the = pricing=20 will be interesting,=94 Wheelihan said.

He said the = utility has=20 purchased another 15 megawatts of incremental power from = Avista=20 Energy to balance the load.

NorthWestern executives = said that=20 extra power is being paid for through retail customers = rates,=20 Wheelihan said. Wholesale customers like his members, the = rural=20 electric cooperatives, aren=92t bearing the extra cost. =


Related Headlines:	Northwest=20 hub for wind power Winds=20 of change Wind=20 power on the horizon Alaska=20 communities turning to wind farms to cut diesel = bills Baucus,=20 Burns tout tax cut bill

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