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Bonneville Trims Wind,
Nuclear Output to Help Fish
by Eileen O'Grady, ReutersReuters, June 10, 2010
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Bonneville Trims Wind,
by Eileen O'Grady, Reuters |
Energy Northwest said its 1,131-megawatt Columbia nuclear power plant in Washington was reduced to 40 percent output from 55 percent earlier this week at Bonneville's request.
A series of heavy spring rain storms moving across the region in recent weeks has increased streamflow on the Columbia and Snake river systems.
While the agency typically increases the amount of water it allows to spill over dams to help migrating fish, too much runoff increases the river's nitrogen level which is bad for fish.
The Columbia nuclear plant and some Northwest wind farms are expected to remain curtailed until early next week when river conditions are expected to return to normal.
Daily power prices at the Mid-Columbia hub slumped to less that $10 per megawatt-hour this week, about half the typical price this time of year, as hydro output has risen. Off-peak power prices have traded in negative territory.
On Wednesday, dissolved gas levels at the Bonneville Dam reached levels that triggered action under federal rules.
BPA is now running as much water through its hydro turbines as possible to minimize the amount of water spilled to alleviate the danger of gas bubble disease for endangered fish. BPA is producing up to 24,000 megawatt-hours of hydropower a day.
Where possible, more water is being stored behind dams.
The agency is selling its surplus hydropower at low prices to encourage utilities to shut coal and natural gas plants, depressing daily power prices.
The need to keep hydropower output high also limits BPA's flexibility to serve as a back-up for the region's fluctuating wind power which has also been high due to the recent storms.
The Columbia reactor -- which had been at 55 percent output since June 4 for work on the main condenser -- is not expected to begin increasing its output until Tuesday morning even though condenser work is scheduled to be finished Friday, BPA said.
Current high river conditions aren't expected to last much longer.
In its latest forecast, the U.S. Northwest River Forecast Center projected water runoff at The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River climbed to 69 percent percent of normal for January-July from 66 percent in its previous forecast.
But that's well below last year when The Dalles actual runoff was 84 percent of the 30-year normal.
The Dalles is a key point to measure the volume of water available for power generation in the Northwest, which receives about 65 percent of its power from hydroelectric dams. (Reporting by ; editing by Carol Bishopric)
Related Pages:
Seasonal Hydropower on Lower Columbia & Lower Snake Rivers Army Corps of Engineers Data for January 2000 - August 2002
###################
NOTE
These data are furnished with the understanding that the
Corps of Engineers makes no warrenties concerning the accuracy,
reliability, or suitability of the data for any particular
purpose
###################
1
NPD RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER PROJECT- LWG LOWER GRANITE DAM & LAKE
DAILY SUMMARY REPORT MAY 2010
DAY GENERATION STA INFLOW ------ OUTFLOW ------ MIDNIGHT EL AT POWERHOUSE AVG MIDNIGHT
OF TOTAL AVG USE -- IN KCFS -- RESERVOIR IN FEET + MSL HEAD LEWISTON
MONTH MWH MW MWH KCFS TOTAL POWER SPILL ELEVATION AVG FB AVG TW FT GAGE FT
1 7667 319 44 63.30 65.70 44.90 20.50 733.11 733.48 634.95 98.53 733.36
2 6451 269 44 61.60 58.90 38.00 20.60 733.80 733.68 634.84 98.84 733.98
3 6443 268 45 59.40 58.80 38.10 20.40 733.80 733.51 634.89 98.62 734.12
4 7004 292 45 61.50 62.50 41.60 20.50 733.49 733.61 634.84 98.77 733.70
5 5777 241 45 55.40 55.30 34.60 20.30 733.52 733.55 634.60 98.95 733.85
6 5353 223 45 52.70 52.80 31.80 20.60 733.50 733.63 634.49 99.14 733.79
7 5303 221 45 52.80 52.50 31.70 20.60 733.60 733.41 634.44 98.97 733.78
8 5044 210 44 49.90 51.10 30.10 20.50 733.26 733.52 634.55 98.97 733.41
9 4804 200 44 50.90 49.80 28.50 20.60 733.54 733.44 634.43 99.01 733.69
10 4957 207 44 49.70 50.20 29.40 20.50 733.42 733.58 634.54 99.04 733.68
11 4938 206 44 50.20 50.50 29.50 20.50 733.34 733.49 634.58 98.91 733.41
12 4507 188 44 48.60 47.60 26.80 20.50 733.50 733.52 634.43 99.09 733.63
13 5170 215 43 51.20 51.40 30.70 20.40 733.45 733.45 634.56 98.89 733.54
14 5338 222 43 52.70 52.50 31.80 20.30 733.50 733.52 634.46 99.06 733.64
15 5878 245 43 56.30 56.40 35.10 20.70 733.48 733.53 634.40 99.13 733.65
16 6694 279 43 60.60 60.50 39.60 20.50 733.50 733.63 634.74 98.89 733.70
17 7582 316 43 65.30 65.80 44.80 20.60 733.38 733.51 634.85 98.66 733.60
18 9835 410 42 77.20 77.40 57.90 19.00 733.33 733.55 635.05 98.50 733.66
19 12583 524 42 94.70 93.50 74.20 19.00 733.62 733.53 635.42 98.11 734.28
20 14335 597 42 105.30 106.00 85.10 20.60 733.44 733.53 635.81 97.72 734.17
21 13939 581 43 104.40 103.80 82.90 20.60 733.58 733.35 635.71 97.64 734.14
22 11642 485 44 89.50 89.70 68.60 20.70 733.55 733.53 635.28 98.25 734.02
23 10169 424 44 81.00 80.90 59.90 20.60 733.58 733.49 635.21 98.28 734.00
24 9004 375 44 73.70 74.10 53.20 20.60 733.47 733.42 634.96 98.46 733.82
25 8842 368 42 73.20 73.30 52.20 20.60 733.42 733.49 634.95 98.54 733.63
26 8182 341 43 69.40 69.10 48.30 20.50 733.48 733.47 634.86 98.61 733.74
27 8322 347 44 69.70 70.00 49.10 20.60 733.40 733.55 634.92 98.63 733.68
28 8558 357 43 71.50 71.50 50.40 20.60 733.42 733.51 634.91 98.60 733.87
29 8881 370 43 74.40 73.80 52.40 20.80 733.58 733.44 635.12 98.32 734.03
30 9361 390 43 75.20 75.90 54.90 20.70 733.40 733.51 635.15 98.36 733.78
31 8980 374 43 74.10 73.80 52.80 20.70 733.47 733.41 635.01 98.40 733.96
TOT 31 241546 1351 2075.40 2075.10 1428.90 634.20
AVG 7792 325 44 66.95 66.94 46.09 20.46 733.48 733.51 634.87 98.64 733.78
MAX 14335 105.30 106.00 85.10 20.80 733.80 733.68 635.81 99.14 734.28
MIN 4507 48.60 47.60 26.80 19.00 733.11 733.35 634.40 97.64 733.36
1
NPD RESERVOIR CONTROL CENTER PROJECT- LWG LOWER GRANITE DAM & LAKE
DAILY SUMMARY REPORT JUNE 2010
DAY GENERATION STA INFLOW ------ OUTFLOW ------ MIDNIGHT EL AT POWERHOUSE AVG MIDNIGHT
OF TOTAL AVG USE -- IN KCFS -- RESERVOIR IN FEET + MSL HEAD LEWISTON
MONTH MWH MW MWH KCFS TOTAL POWER SPILL ELEVATION AVG FB AVG TW FT GAGE FT
1 44 79.70 78.80 57.30 20.70 733.68 733.38 635.02 98.36 733.96
2 44 89.30 89.70 68.50 20.80 733.60 733.62 635.32 98.30 734.21
3 43 127.70 128.60 86.80 41.40 733.38 733.68 636.24 97.44 735.12
4 42 161.40 160.90 90.90 69.40 733.51 733.25 636.80 96.45 735.36
5 41 196.60 196.50 91.30 104.90 733.53 733.42 637.91 95.51 736.54
6 41 207.10 207.20 91.30 115.60 733.49 733.53 638.20 95.33 736.20
7 42 201.00 200.10 90.90 108.90 733.71 733.65 638.01 95.64 736.64
8 42 203.00 204.00 91.50 112.10 733.46 733.55 638.15 95.40 736.19
9 42 182.40 181.50 90.60 90.50 733.68 733.58 637.42 96.16 736.03
10 42 179.90 180.20 90.70 89.10 733.61 733.59 637.37 96.22 735.94
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
TOT 30 422 1628.10 1627.50 849.80 773.40
AVG 42 162.81 162.75 84.98 77.34 733.57 733.52 637.04 96.48 735.62
MAX 207.10 207.20 91.50 115.60 733.71 733.68 638.20 98.36 736.64
MIN 79.70 78.80 57.30 20.70 733.38 733.25 635.02 95.33 733.96
Related Sites:
Columbia Basin Water Management Snake Basin Project data.
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