NORTHWEST WIND RECORD

BPA cheers new record for wind generation in the Northwest
Rocky Barker, February 23, 2011 (Idaho Statesman)

"The Bonneville Power Administration is taking a clearly different approach to its growing wind resource than Idaho’s public utilities…[I]t generated over 3,000 megawatts on its grid for the first time [February 22 from ~2,100 turbines on 35 privately developed wind farms primarily east of the Columbia River Gorge,] producing enough electricity to serve a city three times the size of Seattle for an hour.

"Like Idaho Power, BPA has seen wind power grow at an astounding rate, more than 1,500 megawatts of capacity have been added in just the last two years…Idaho Power Co., Avista Utilities and PacifiCorp successfully petitioned the Idaho Public
Utilities commission to reduce the cap for wind and solar projects they have to buy power from at a set rate from 10 megawatts to 100 kilowatts. The utilities argue that they have so many wind projects coming on line they could end up having more power than they can use or sell at some parts of the year."

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"Wind generation on BPA’s system surpassed the new milestone at 2:55 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 22, reaching a new all-time peak of 3,006 megawatts. BPA expects to have between 5,000 and 6,000 megawatts of this clean, emission-free, renewable resource connected to its system by 2013…[and] unlike Idaho utilities it is celebrating this growth in renewable energy…

"…[To] accommodate 6,000 megawatts or more of wind, BPA is expanding and reinforcing the transmission system to support wind integration. The agency is exploring additional measures to balance wind more effectively, other sources of generation to balance wind and is developing partnerships with other utilities and the wind community to expand wind integration even further."

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"…[T]o be fair, Idaho Power is not against wind power, it is seeking to ensure this intermittent power doesn’t cost its ratepayers too much. There is a good debate before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission about how it can keep these new home-grown energy sources growing without making electric customers pay more than they would on other new sources of electricity…With[out] carbon sequestration technology [for coal], and nuclear power too big for Idaho’s needs…the choices are renewables and natural gas…

"…To make [wind] power more useful, BPA is developing a state of the art wind speed and wind generation forecasting system. The new system will forecast more accurately up to three days in advance rather than the previous [one-hour ahead] forecast service…That will allow BPA to integrate wind into its other power sources better and more cost-effectively…"