posted on Monday, April 21, 2008 3:26 PM by Amanda Frazier

ERCOT Identifies Scenarios for Texas Wind Transmission

Texas Senate Bill 20 (2005) directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), in consultation with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), to designate Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) and develop transmission plans for areas in Texas with significant renewable resource potential and developer commitment to facilitate new electricity generation from renewable resources.  In July 2007 the PUCT designated five CREZs in West Texas and the Texas Panhandle.  In early April ERCOT filed its transmission study, which provides transmission plans and cost estimates for the four scenarios that the PUCT designated.  The study presents optimized transmission plans for developing between 12,000 MW and 24,000 MW of wind generation in the CREZs.

ERCOT applied three overarching criteria to its evaluation of the study scenarios: 1) system reliability, 2) sufficient transfer capability, and 3) benefit and cost-effectiveness for consumers.  ERCOT made a significant effort to evaluate the engineering feasibility of the interconnections and circuits that it proposed.  Consistent with the PUCT's directive, ERCOT also endeavored to design the transmission plans for each scenario to be staged and expandable to bring more wind generation on-line over time.

For Scenario 1, ERCOT designed two transmission proposals for 12,053 MW of wind generation.  Plan A has an estimated cost of $2.95 billion, excluding collection costs, and Plan B, which is a more scalable transmission proposal, has an estimated cost of $3.78 billion.  ERCOT recommended Plan B, since it provides for more cost-effective expansion in the future.

For Scenario 2, ERCOT's estimated cost of the transmission proposal for 18,456 MW of wind generation is $4.93 billion, excluding collection costs.

For Scenario 3, ERCOT's estimated cost of the transmission proposal for 24,859 MW of wind generation is $6.38 billion, excluding collection costs.

For Scenario 4, ERCOT's estimated cost of the transmission proposal for 24,419 MW of wind generation is $5.75 billion, excluding collection costs.