Plan Transmission Lines, System Policies To Make Use Of Wind, AWEA Urges Panel

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For Immediate Release

Plan Transmission Lines, System Policies To Make Use Of Wind, AWEA Urges Panel

Clean Energy Potential Is Enormous, Trade Group Tells

Senate Hearing, If Transmission Hurdles Are Overcome

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 -/E-Wire/-- Wind energy can make a major contribution to America's electricity supply, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), if new transmission lines are built and transmission system operating procedures take the characteristics of wind generation into account.

"Consistent, fair [transmission] grid operating rules are essential to allow wind to reach its full economic potential. So too are robust, proactive grid expansion policies," AWEA Policy Director Jim Caldwell told a field hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Water and Power in Bismarck, N.D., on August 7.

Wind is already the nation's fastest-growing energy source on a percentage basis, Caldwell said, but its potential is far larger. He provided the following table to describe wind's capability if natural gas prices remain high:

ELECTRICITY GENERATION FROM WIND Nameplate Capacity, MW

(A megawatt of wind capacity is enough to supply 200 to 300 average American homes.)

As examples of transmission "rules of the road" that would take wind's intermittent and variable nature into account, Caldwell listed:

-- "Network transmission access fees paid by load. -- "Flexible near real time scheduling. -- "Penalty free imbalance settlements in a liquid spot market. -- "Long term non-firm transmission rights at volumetric pricing. -- "No pancaking of transmission access fees. -- "Robust secondary markets in transmission rights. . . . "

All of these features, he said, are "consistent with theoretical economic efficiency, all comport with current Federal Energy Regulatory Commission policy, and none are available at most locations in today's wholesale electricity markets."

Existing transmission system rules allow for the characteristics of traditional power plants (fossil and nuclear), Caldwell said, which generate large amounts of electricity but can drop to zero suddenly if equipment failures occur. A wind plant, by contrast, is not as predictable most of the time, yet very unlikely to suffer a sudden, complete loss of output.

Large-scale expansion of the transmission system is also needed in the Great Plains states for wind to reach its full potential, Caldwell said. He urged Congress to lay the groundwork for expansion by requiring the Western Area Power Administration (Western) to "conduct a long-range planning exercise on technical options for bringing the vast wind resource potential in the Upper Great Plains to urban load centers in both the Midwest and the West.

"This should be an open process which includes both resource-rich but rural and resource-poor but populous states, environmental interests, existing Western customers, Native American tribes, and other stakeholders in the region."

AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The associationÃs membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www. awea.org

American Wind Energy Association

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