the film forum library tutorial contact

BPA to Install Tools to Better Track Wind by Staff The Oregonian, August 19, 2009

Today the Bonneville Power Administration will install the first of fourteen anemometers to better track where and how hard the wind is blowing.

The BPA, which markets power from the Northwest's network of federal hydroelectric dams, has struggled to incorporate increasing amounts of variable wind energy into the region's electric grid.

The anemometers are designed to forecast specifically for wind turbines, giving power managers a better picture of what wind power production will be in the next hour.The first anemometer will be installed today in Troutdale at 10 a.m.

That information should help BPA decide how much water to hold in reserve to release through turbines in federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers to compensate for peaks and valleys in wind power production.

The agency said that should make its operations more efficient, allowing more flexibility in a system already taxed by demands for cheap power and sufficient water flows to help endangered fish.