3/20/19
Hydroelectric Power on the Colorado River
S. Clayton Palmer Brent Osiek CRSP MC
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Electricity has unusual properties
• Electricity is the flow of electrons • Electricity travels at the speed of light • AC current turns engines and lights on and off in waves – 60 waves per second • Electricity cannot be stored. It is used at the moment it is generated • Electricity can be “stored” by storing potential energy; chemicals in a battery, a natural gas tank or water in a reservoir. Batteries cannot (yet) store large amounts of electricity
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Electricity distribution
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What is WAPA?
• A DOE power marketing administration. • Created in 1977 to separate the generation and transmission functions • Western Area Power. Administration assumed Reclamation’s function of marketing and delivering power in the west and mid- western U.S.
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Colorado River Storage Project
• 11 hydro plants - 1,816 MW of installed capacity. • Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) is largest of CRSP powerplants and is capable of producing 1,320 MW of power. • For scheduling, marketing, and rate-setting purposes, GCD power is combined with other Colorado River powerplants and other plants. • The CRSP MC operates 2,325 circuit miles of transmission lines to deliver CRSP hydropower.
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CRSP Management Center
• Committed to protecting the delicate balance of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Agencies that manage this river's resources must weigh multiuse needs: irrigation, recreation, hydropower, flood control, cultural resources, and native and non- native species, and endangered species protection.
• Balancing these resources with the needs of water and electrical energy is a chief concern.
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Electrical system regulation and emergencies • NERC and WECC requirement of electrical utilities. • The CRSP MC responds to electrical emergencies in the region (not just CRSP system). • Regulation signal • Comes from WAPA dispatch office to GCD, every 4 seconds. • Purpose is to keep electricity on the transmission lines within NERC criteria. • Changes caused by changes in demand.
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Who does what? Reclamation WAPA • • Owns and operates the transmission Owns and operates powerplants system infrastructure used to deliver power and energy • Water release activities include reservoir management, irrigation, • Markets available power and energy flood control, water compact from water projects deliveries, environmental activities • Schedules and delivers generation to • Responsible for water management electric service customer from reservoirs • Dispatches generation from the • Generation is transferred to WAPA powerplants at the dams for electrical regulation and emergencies at powerplants • Revenue from sale of generation is used to pay project operations expenses and debt to U.S. Government
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Colorado River Storage Project
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Capacity: 13 MW Fontenelle Dam Generation: 76 GWh
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Capacity: 152 MW Flaming Gorge Dam Generation: 781 GWh
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Capacity: 96 MW Blue Mesa Dam Generation: 269 GWh
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Capacity: 156 MW Morrow Point Dam Generation: 324 GWh
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Capacity: 28 MW Crystal Dam Generation: 164 GWh
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Capacity: 1,320 MW Glen Canyon Dam Generation: 5,000 GWh
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Hydroelectric power • Clean - Hydropower utilizes water to generate electricity, it doesn’t produce air pollution or create toxic by-products. • Renewable - Hydropower is renewable because it relies on the hydrological (water) cycle driven by the sun which provides a renewable supply of water. About 96 percent of the United States' renewable energy comes from hydropower. • Often is “Environmentally Preferred” – GCD has been the subject of substantial research on its “environmental footprint” on a per unit power basis.
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Comparing ecosystem disruption of hydropower to other generation
m2 per kWh
Source: Vattenfall
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Annual Production (MW) Acres of disrupted habitat Performance vs Size 1400 3000
1200 2500
1000 2000 800 1500 600 1000 400 500 200 Lake Mokelumne Safe Conowingo Conawapa 0 Chelan Harbor 0 Source: Scientific Certification Systems
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Hydroelectric Power
• Flexible - Hydropower output can be changed quickly in response to changes in electrical demand because of the ability to control the flow of water. Flexibility is essential to grid stability. • Black Start Capability - Hydropower facilities have the ability to start generation without an outside source of power. This service allows system operators to provide auxiliary power to more complex generation sources that could take hours or even days to start.
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Hydroelectric Power
• Reliable - Hydropower can meet changing demands because it can go from zero power to maximum output rapidly and predictably. • Efficient - Today's hydropower turbines are capable of converting more than 90 percent of available energy into electricity which is more efficient than any other form of generation (the best fossil fuel powerplant is only about 50 percent efficient).
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Hydroelectric Power
• Cost-Effective - Hydropower generation has low operating costs and a long powerplant life compared with other large-scale, power-generating options. Once the initial investment is made, powerplant life can be extended economically and remain in service for many years. • Stored, Renewable Energy Source - Because hydropower is most often generated by water stored in a reservoir behind a dam, a vast amount of potential energy exists in the reservoir which is available over a long period of time.
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CRSP MC electrical customers
• Rural Electric Coops • Municipal Utility Systems • Native American tribes • Federal Facilities • State Institutions (such as universities) • Irrigation Districts
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How SLCA/IP customers use electrical energy from CRSP MC • CRSP power is not a customer’s sole resource. • Customers have flexibility in scheduling electrical energy from WAPA. • Customers schedule hourly to assist in meeting retail electrical demand. Hourly schedules are limited to: • A maximum amount per hour • A minimum amount per hour • A total amount of energy within a month
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CRSP Generation vs. Demand (data from Jan. 15 preschedule)
1000 DEMAND Market Sales Blue 800 purchases Morrow Flaming Gorge
600 MW upramp downram 400
Glen Canyon 200
Crystal, Fontenelle Molina 0 010002000300040005000600070008000900100011001200130014001500 160017001800 19002000210022002300 2400
Time of Day
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CRSP Hydropower: At what price ?
“…The Government of the United States markets power to serve the public interest, not to make a profit.” — Stewart Udall
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Setting CRSP Power Rates
• Cost-based rates • Hydropower is inexpensive to produce: there is no fuel cost • Rates include repayment assistance to water development projects for irrigation • Retail rates of CRSP’s municipal and electrical cooperative customers are typically higher than in privately-owned utility service areas • This is so because rural areas generally require larger investments in transmission and distribution lines per customer
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Environment and Cultural Resources
Historically funded by CRSP electric power revenues: • Upper Colorado Recovery Program – endangered fish species program - $6 million, annually. • San Juan Recovery Program – endangered fish species program - $2 million, annually. • Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program – environmental program in the Grand Canyon - $10 million, annually. • Salinity Control Program – reduce salt in Colorado River water - $2 million.
• Note: CRSP power revenues not funding the RIPs and the GCD AMP in 2019.
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Experimentation at Glen Canyon Dam • How best to achieve environmental goals? • What are the trade offs?
Example: High Flow Experiments (HFEs)
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Economic Effects of HFEs • Water needed for an HFE bypasses the powerplant. • Additional water is released through the powerplant during the HFE. • Monthly water volumes are redistributed. • In accord with the HFE protocol: • Water, in the month of the HFE, is reduced to very low flows for the remaining days of the month • The priority of rearranging monthly water volumes is to redistribute the least “valuable” water first • Electrical reserves and regulation (needed for operating a reliable electrical system) may be moved to other CRSP units during the HFE.
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Glen Canyon Powerplant
1997 changes to power operations to achieve environmental goals
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Powerplant Bypass: 2012 Example bypass water = 78,000 Acre-Feet
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Economic Effects of the 2012 HFE • 78,000 af bypassed the electrical generators • The electric value of this water is included in the estimated cost of monthly water redistribution. • The redistribution of water affected several months • Moving water out of December through April (including bypass) to cover the HFE had a lost value of about $1,650,000. • An economic gain occurred in November because of higher water released to accommodate the HFE. • The gain in November was estimated to be $529,000. • The net effect was a cost of about $1,121,000.
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Lost Capacity
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Experimental Operations at CRSP Dams – WAPA’s Goals
• Accomplish environmental goals in a manner that optimizes the value of hydroelectric power generated at Glen Canyon Dam.
• Achieve an appropriate balance between hydropower generation and value and environmental resources.
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Modeling input for the Macroinvertebrate Experiment Summer 2018
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Questions ?
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