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New Plan Speeds Wind Integration Work by Staff BPA Journal, July 2009

Faster schedules, more staff, more budget, higher hopes.

That's the essence of the new work plan for BPA's Wind Integration Team released in late June. "We've moved up customers' highest-priority projects by a year," said WIT Manager Eric King

The faster schedule will require adding staff to do work simultaneously, and it calls for increasing the agency's investment in wind integration techniques by about $7 million a year in 2010 and 2011. "We had budgeted $2 million a year in the revenue requirement for 2010- 2011 rates," King said. "With the accelerated schedule, we may seek external funding for some projects."

The work plan focuses on how operators control the transmission grid minute-to-minute and day-to-day.

"Together, these projects will begin to fundamentally change our grid operation into the faster, more fl exible grid needed for wind, solar and wave power and for Smart Grid technologies," King explained.

For the latest on BPA's work to support Northwest wind power development, go to www.bpa.gov/go/wind.