Wind/Hydro Integration Workshop
March 21-22, 2007 - Portland, Oregon
The integration of wind generation and hydropower presents both unique opportunities as well as technical challenges. One of the oft-cited criticisms of wind power is its variable nature and its requirements for ancillary services and supplemental generation sources. Hydropower has long been viewed as a perfect fit for wind generation, providing balancing and reserves in an all renewables mix. Hydropower offers key benefits over other forms of generation as a generation partner to wind. It offers near real-time smoothing of wind’s variability as well as an energy storage option with the most extensive operational experience.
In several regions, most notably the Pacific Northwest, there is a significant amount of wind generation being built in areas with significant hydro resources. Indeed, by the end of 2007, the Pacific Northwest is expected to have more than 2,000 megawatts of wind turbines online. An additional 2,000 megawatts are in the planning stages with more expected.
However, in these regions where hydropower serves as the base generation resource, there are key considerations that come into play when scheduling water spills in coordination with wind generation. For instance, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has to spill about 2,000 megawatts of water to meet regulatory requirements for sustaining salmon populations. Also, the prime generation window for hydropower does not necessarily coincide with that for wind generation. There are a number of key technical, economic, environmental, and regulatory issues that must be considered when integrating wind generation with hydropower.
The Utility Wind Integration Group, in partnership with the
Renewable Energy Laboratory, Bonneville Power Administration,
Energy Association, and Canadian Wind Energy Association,
presented this Wind/Hydro Integration Workshop. This event covered the key
aspects related to this topic, and came at a critical time for the wind power and utility industries. The
Northwest Power and Conservation Council
worked with BPA to develop a regional
Wind Integration Action Plan. This plan
has identified key steps to effectively integrate large amounts of wind power and other renewable resources into the
Pacific Northwest Power System. In other areas, most notably the Nordic countries, Canada, and the Western United States, significant studies are or have been conducted on integrating wind and hydropower.
This workshop covered the following topics:
In addition, there was an introductory background session covering the basics of hydro system planning and operation from around the world. This special session
covered hydro system scheduling and operational fundamentals, regional operational practices, system flexibility considerations, and identification and resolution of technical limitations.
- Operational studies
- Technology status and developments
- The Northwest Wind Integration Action Plan
- Regional Cooperation Activities
On this page can be found the agenda and overview presentation for this
workshop. The Utility Wind Integration Group is pleased to make available the
presentations for the first session on experience gained from operational
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Meeting Overview - Charlie Smith, Utility
Wind Integration Group
Experience Gained From Operations Studies
Wind/Hydro Integration on a Large Hydro System
- William Girling, Manitoba Hydro
Wind/Hydro Integration on a Very Large Hydro System
- Hannele Holtinnen, VTT
A Parametric Evaluation of Wind/Hydro Integration in the
Avista System in the Pacific Northwest - Clint Kalich, Avista Utilities
IEA Annex 24: International Wind/Hydro Integration Experience - Tom
Acker, Northern Arizona University