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Posted on 07/07/2008 11:46:14 AM PDT by anymouse
With Columbia Gorge turbines pumping out extra electricity, the agency had to quickly adjust its hydro generation
Columbia Basin river managers had a close call this week when they were forced to cut back on hydropower after a surge in wind energy blasted through the system.
The surge forced them to spill more water over dams, risking the health of migrating fish. For the first time, it also exposed serious kinks in a plan that was supposed to deal smoothly with just such emergencies.
As it turned out, the spills weren't heavy enough to harm fish. But the federal Bonneville Power Administration admitted that confusion and missteps by the agency and wind-farm operators marred proper handling of the situation.
"It was a wake-up call," said Brian Silverstein, a BPA transmission vice president.
Wind energy has grown dramatically in the Columbia River Gorge the past several years. Though touted as a clean and renewable resource, it also has increased stress on the hydropower system, which is used to balance wind's variability.
Problems began Monday afternoon when wind speeds jumped far beyond levels forecast by wind-farm operators. BPA, responsible for adjusting hydro generation to accommodate the wind, realized by evening that it could no longer handle the sustained surge without increasing spills to dangerous levels
Generally, spills are needed to help juvenile salmon make their way downriver. But too much water can prove lethal.
Following guidelines, BPA power managers began calling wind-farm operators about 7 p.m. with orders to dump the excess wind. It was the first time the agency has made such requests.
Calls to several wind-farm managers reached only answering machines, though dispatchers are supposed to be available around the clock. A dispatcher at another wind farm answered and reduced its generation. BPA declined to disclose the company's name.
Another, Iberdrola Renewables (formerly PPM Energy), misinterpreted the request and kept the turbines turning. "It was a miscommunication," said Don Furman, a senior vice president with Iberdrola. "Basically, we had the wrong people talking to each other."
BPA's Silverstein said his agency "could have been more clear in what we asked them to do."
That evening marked the first time BPA has had to order wind operators to dump generation. But as more wind projects are developed, it won't be the last, BPA said.
The agency can sanction wind companies that disobey pull-back orders. In this case, penalties were unnecessary, Silverstein said, but a serious fine-tuning of protocols definitely is.
The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
It’s nice to know how all this good green energy is going to help everybody.... except it will kill all the fish.
Sounds like they are bottle necking the power through the dam’s system. Need more transmission lines.
Sounds to me like it would be much easier and safer to drop energy from the wind farms by misaligning the props vs wind rather than overflow the dams.
Management problem.
This points out the inherent weakness of wind power. It’s unpredictable. Which means it can only supplant, never replace, more reliable forms of energy.
This is why greedy ship owners eschewed “free” wind powered ships in favor of expensive coal powered ships in the 19th century. This is a lesson that shouldn’t have to be relearned.
Hey Grampa Dave! Here's something that will "blow" yer beautiful fly fishin mind!!!
“Hey Grampa Dave! Here’s something that will “blow” yer beautiful fly fishin mind!!!”
One of the best kept secrets of the damn dam operators and fish and game on the West coast is what happens with a sudden increase in water levels and a sudden cut back to the regular or lower flow. Like increasing the flows over a weekend for the white water rats with their green customers.
The young salmon get caught high and dry when the artificial higher levels go down. When the waters levels and rate of flow increase, the young salmon/steelhead smolts rush to the sides of the river/stream to conserve energy. If the water levels drop rapidly, they can be caught in what becomes shallow water or no water. That is part of what happened to the fish kill on the Klamath a few years ago except those flows killed breeders trying to come up stream.
And that, is the problem in a nutshell all over the USA, aging and inadequate infrastructure to carry electricity to meet the growing demand, now and in the future, especially if everyone expects to plug in electric cars.
Even if we were to build more nuclear power plants, bio fueled generating stations etc; we don't have the infrastructure to carry the load- thanks again to enviro-Nazi's.
Thier idea isn't for America to create electricity in usefull voltages that can power industry, large electric furnaces for smelting plants and other industries which need large, steady supplies of electricity,
Their "vision" is for individual American's to produce tiny voltages in their homes, barely enough to light a few LED lights, and recharge a cell phone battery.
You can see failed examples of this vision implemented in turd-world villages. Their vision of America's future is grass huts, small familly gardens and living in darkness after sunset like cavemen.
I am not sure how many more wind farms are going up but they are growing fast in the wheat fields here.
I am have been reading an outstanding book, Gusher of Lies." The author points out that, because of this variability, the power plants have to be running hot in order to handle breeze-free moments. Very little net energy is saved, and base capacity is not reduced. He points out that the Danish turbines have had entire days where they didn't produce any meaningful power.
The author has very significant anti-Bush biases, but the overall facts that he documents relative to "energy independence" are quite well presented.
Cain't make no money dumpin' a good blow!!!!
No wonder so many didn't bother responding to the cut-off orders.
Not only is it bad for the salmon but the sports fishermen have to put up with nets all over in the water and Indians with an attitude. (please refrain for Indian bashing here as not all of us fit what some of you think is a profile)
I guess this will give Congressman Jim McDermott another reason to start screaming tear down the dams.
One for the Washington State ping list?
Us living as turd-world countries, while the envirowackoes live in upscale apartments. Sounds like the communists who had their homes and dachas, but let the unwashed live in cramped apartments and out on rundown farms.
Can anyone explain why more water was released? Whether it goes through the turbines or around them, its the same amount of water going to the same place. So what gives?
Time to investigate “Big Wind”...
I well remember you watching and reporting those radical fluctuations on the Klamath as compared to other Nor Cal rivers during the Klamath Tea Party of 2001!!!
Well, I guess it’s either “Burn, Baby Burn,” or Blow, Baby Blow!!! The northwind doesn’t blow... it sucks!!! There is no gravity... The Earth Sucks!!!
Pardon my stupidity but why would you use wind power to supplement hydro power? I would think you would wind power to reduce electricity generated from carbon based fuel.
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.
Teach a man to sell fish and his family eats as well.
Teach a man to sell fishing poles and bait and his village eats too.
Teach a man to stock streams and lakes with desirable fish and sell fishing permits and his whole tribe eat steaks for a lifetime. ;)
Teach a man to run a casino and his tribe will never have to work again. :)
It sounds like the storage capacity of the river basin is full. Any water that comes down the system (for example snow melt on a hot day) must pass by the dams. Water can either go through the turbines and make power, or over the spillway. Since there was excess power in the system, some form of generation had to be switched off or the power grid would be overloaded. If the hydro turbines were shut off, there would be too much water going over the spillway, which could kill the fish. Therefore the wind generation had to be shut off so the hydro turbines could keep running.
Thanks for the feedback.
Sometimes, regardless of our race, culture, sex, or religion there are good people from the same group and A$$holes. Sometimes the A$$holes seem to take over.
There used to be tons of tourists and fisherman traveling through our area but the Salmon was the big draw and that is in a steep decline now. I have this feeling that the Casino will be bad for the tribe as if no tourists are coming by then the local people will be blowing all their money with gambling. Looks like a lose lose situation to me. On top of that we have a bunch of young "hotheads" around there that don't treat white people with much respect. I've told them and told them that our biggest asset is NOT the salmon but it's the people that come there.
You mean like Congress! LOL
But why is water of the spillway bad for fish, while water shooting out of the turbines isn't? Its the same amount of water going to the same place.
Darn the luck. /sarc
Maybe you guys should go into the bed and breakfast business. I'm sure a lot of SF yuppies would pay large coin to "get away from it all" along the N. CA coast at a luxury hideaway resort. Seems to have worked out pretty well for Clint Eastwood down in Carmel.
Now that you mention it, there is a Hostel there that got top awards for the last few years on a National scale. I don’t know of any B and B there though.
A hostel? You guys need to set your sights higher than that. Stoned college students aren’t exactly going to keep the tourist trade afloat. Go for the clients that have $$ and will spend it reliving their hippie days running naked through the redwoods high on mushrooms. ;)
It’s hard to sink money into any business in that area as that highway is busy from June to Sept. the other three quarters of the year its like a ghost town up there. No tourist on the highway in the winter, no campers, no motor homes etc. Most people that do that B and B stuff are older retired people that don’t need to count on the money to survive. They do it as being comfortable and doing their thing in life.
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I saw your cousin GH in Old Town on the Fourth. He was lamenting about the young ones and your property on the river. I'm looking forward to seeing you this fall...
“You can see failed examples of this vision implemented in turd-world villages. Their vision of America’s future is grass huts, small familly gardens and living in darkness after sunset like cavemen.”
After about 98% of us die from starvation, disease and civil wars.
“Sometimes, regardless of our race, culture, sex, or religion there are good people from the same group and A$$holes. Sometimes the A$$holes seem to take over.”
‘You mean like Congress! LOL’
Yes, like Congress, your tribe, Cherokee’s, church’s and any other group.
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