LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Feds end ‘unjust’ exemption for wind energy 

Credit:  By John Siciliano | Washington Examiner | 6/23/16 | www.washingtonexaminer.com ~~

It’s time for the wind industry to start being held to the same standard as power plants run by natural gas and coal, the federal grid watchdog says.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the independent agency charged with regulating the nation’s interstate electricity markets, did away with a key exemption last week for wind farms wishing to compete in the large wholesale markets the commission oversees.

The commission says maintaining the exemption is “unjust, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory and preferential.”

It says the declining cost of wind power makes it inexcusable for wind farms not to provide “reactive power” to the grid, which maintains the baseline level of electric voltage needed for electricity to travel across transmission lines to ensure that the grid does not collapse.

Conventional, or “synchronous,” power plants have typically had to pick up the slack in providing the reactive power to keep the grid humming. “Further, the growing penetration of wind generators on some systems increases the potential for a deficiency in reactive power,” the commission says, suggesting that wind has to start supporting the grid it relies on too.

“Given these changes, the commission finds under section 206 of the Federal Power Act that wind generators should not have an exemption from the reactive power requirement which is unavailable to other generators,” the commission says.

The commission says the exemption was based on it being too expensive in the past for wind technologies to provide the same reactive power services as other generators. But wind turbines have become much more robust, and with their growing technological advancement comes added responsibility for keeping the grid stable.

But the rule recognizes that wind generators cannot be expected to provide the same level of service in providing reactive power as other power plants. The new requirements make it technically feasible for wind to provide the new required services.

The American Wind Energy Association, representing the wind industry, said it supports the commission’s move.

The industry “is now able to provide all reliability service as good or better than conventional resources,” says Michael Goggin, senior director of research at the wind association.

The commission’s decision marks the “evolution of wind as a mainstream technology,” he said. Wind turbines are now competitive, and “we’ve advocated that wind play by the same rules” as other generators.

Goggin noted that the commission is holding a technical conference to discuss how to structure the payments wind and other generators receive to provide reliability services to the grid. The June 16 rule did not address compensation, he said.

The new rules will become effective 90 days after being published in the Federal Register.

Source:  By John Siciliano | Washington Examiner | 6/23/16 | www.washingtonexaminer.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon