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Small Hydro Interconnection Benchmarking
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Travis Douville
Deployment of distributed energy resources (DERs) has increased in recent years and is anticipated to continue growing in the future. Small hydropower is one of the DERs that is projected to rise, and as this resource grows there is a need for utilities and regulators to consider interconnecting them to the main grid. Connecting DERS to the grid may allow utilities to better manage peak demand, avoid transmission overloads and keep electricity flowing to the customers. An emerging application for renewable DERs is resilience – providing power if a site loses grid electricity. Although these upgrades have the potential to improve resilience, a barrier to their execution are distribution and transmission interconnection processes which have been described as prolonged, opaque, and inconsistent by applicants. On the other hand, utility owners have struggled to understand how to limit strains on both the distribution and transmission grid. To address this gap, a national dataset was developed to summarize different cost drivers and required work that are associated with hydropower projects. This study aims to build a shared understanding that will enhance project selection, limit stranded costs, and benefit interconnection customers as well as the system operators, and ultimately energy consumers. The focus of this study is to find trends within three major queue owners, PJM, PacifiCorp, and Idaho Power Company (IPC) and investigate how network upgrades associated with conductoring, line protection and control, substation modification and construction, and communication infrastructure have an effect on project timeline and cost. This will also help up compare the three different queues and analyze the trends within each one.
Technology Application
Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
The Economic Feasibility of Pumped Storage Hydropower
Lead Companies
Washington State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Lisa Dilley
There is little general modeling research available for evaluating new PSH proposed for development from an economic point of view. This modeling framework enables the analyst to evaluate hypothetical pumped-storage within the generation fleet that it would be built in with limited data requirements on the front end. Using shortest paths optimization and a k-shortest paths technique, a simulation model is developed that demonstrates the potential effects of storage on a thermal generation system. It is shown that these simulation results reproduce analytical economic efficiency conditions, which gives specific insight to the sensitivity of PSH to design choices and wind statistics. It is shown that system marginal cost and total cost can be reduced through operations policies. These results also inform the need for additional data and detailed modeling in the feasibility stages of design
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
complete
Completion Date
2015
- Pumped Storage
Value and Role of Pumped Storage Hydro under High Variable Renewables [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
Lead Researcher (s)
While advanced PSH technologies like variable speed units have existed for some time, none have been installed in the US. As such, market and operations models do not capture the capabilities of these technologies. The overall goal of this project is to overcome a range of market barriers for PSH by helping utility companies understand benefits of PSH that are not well understood or quantified, by demonstrating the capabilities of new PSH technologies such as variable speed PSH, and by helping developers improve PSH revenues with development of a new scheduling optimization tool. Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org