Federal Columbia River Power System Operations Planning

2

The FCRPS• Partnership (Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation,

Bonneville Power Administration)– Low cost, reliable power & effective stewardship– Generates power worth $3-4 billion annually to the people of the Pacific Northwest– Through direct funding agreements, the program spends over $300 million annually on O&M

programs

• The FCRPS includes:– 31 hydroelectric projects (21 COE/10 BOR)– 209 turbine-generating units

• Capacity and Production:– Over 22,000 MW of nameplate generation – 8,700 aMW of energy production with average water– 89% of the FCRPS generating capacity is in the “Big 10” dispatchable projects

• Hydropower Facts:– 65% of the region’s power comes from hydro– 40% of all U.S. hydropower is generated on the Columbia and Snake Rivers

3

Operational Objectives• Multiple purposes & interests of the FCRPS

– Flood Control– Irrigation– Navigation– Recreation– Operations for listed and unlisted fish

species (BiOps)– Control Area Services– Power

• Power production is driven by need to move water to meet the above objectives.

4

Albeni Falls Dam• 20-25% of GCL

average inflow• 1’ of forebay = 1’ of

forebay at GCL• 1 unit of water

produces 2 MW at site

• 1 unit of water produces up to 60 MW for D/S Fed projects

Columbia Basin

More than a factor of 2 variability from driest to wettest year Drives operational objectives.

Annual Runoff of Columbia River

Storage capacity in the Columbia Basin is about 30% of the total annual

runoff

5

6

2300.0

2320.0

2340.0

2360.0

2380.0

2400.0

2420.0

2440.0

2460.0

2480.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Elev

ation

(ft)

Libby Reservoir

Dry

Wet

3480.0

3490.0

3500.0

3510.0

3520.0

3530.0

3540.0

3550.0

3560.0

3570.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Elev

ation

(ft)

Hungry Horse Reservoir

Dry

Wet

7

1440.0

1460.0

1480.0

1500.0

1520.0

1540.0

1560.0

1580.0

1600.0

1620.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Elev

ation

(ft)

Dworshak Reservoir

Dry

Wet

1210.0

1220.0

1230.0

1240.0

1250.0

1260.0

1270.0

1280.0

1290.0

1300.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Elev

ation

(ft)

Grand Coulee Reservoir

Dry

Wet

2044.0

2046.0

2048.0

2050.0

2052.0

2054.0

2056.0

2058.0

2060.0

2062.0

2064.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Elev

ation

(ft)

Albeni Falls Reservoir

Dry

Wet

8

-100.0

-80.0

-60.0

-40.0

-20.0

0.0

O N D J F M A M J J A S

Feet

Draft from Normal Full Pool (Avg)

LIB

HGH

GCL

DWR

ALF

Lake Pend Oreille Pre and Post Dam

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FCRPS Annual Operations

Fall• Kokanee Spawning minimum elevation at Coulee, Fall Chinook spawning

maximum flow at Brownlee• Vernita Bar Fall Chinook spawning maximum daytime flow mid-October

through November then maintain minimum protection flow through May at Priest Rapids

• Bonneville Chum operation min/max tailwater elevation for spawning Nov/Dec with protection flows through March

Winter• System draft for winter loads, first snow survey and volume forecast to

determine Flood Risk Elevations, and Variable Draft Limits• Continue to maintain Bonneville minimum flow for chum salmon• Maintain Priest Minimum flow for Vernita Bar

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FCRPS Operations (continued)

Spring• Target reaching April 10 BiOp elevations at storage projects followed by

April 30, flood risk draft • Begin releasing water for BiOp flow requirements at McNary and Lower

Granite• Begin fish spill at Lower Columbia and Lower Snake projects• Begin White sturgeon flows in May–June at Libby• Target storage project refill by about June 30• Meet Bull Trout flows at Libby and Hungry Horse in May–September

Summer• Continue drafting to provide summer flows per BiOp • Continue fish spill on Lower Columbia and Snake River per BiOp• Operate Dworshak for downstream temperature control and Nez Perce

Agreement

Other factors influencing system operations

• Water Quality Standards• Requests for special operations

• Treaty fishing• Fish habitat restoration projects• Recreation Events (fishing derbies, boat

races, etc.)• Special navigation requests • Dam/reservoir modifications• Outages

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Power PlanningGeneration = Load

Generation must equal Load every second• What is generation (supply)? • What is load (demand)?• Are they equal? --rarely during planning• How much can we adjust supply? --limited

– Flexibility • Operational objectives, constraints, and special operations• How much can we store/release (adjust generation) and not

violate the items above?

• How much can we adjust demand? – Buy and sell electricity

Loads Generation

Loads = Generation (or close)

Loads Generation

Loads < Generation

Loads Generation

Loads > Generation

Ideal

No buy/sell actions

Surplus

Sell

Deficit

Buy

Loads & Generation

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• Short-Term/Mid-Term Planning (next two weeks – one year) • Coordinate special operations with Corps/BOR• Coordinate outage planning with Corps /BOR• Providing inventory assessment (capacity and energy) for

marketing • Implement Treaty via weekly Treaty requests with BCH for flow at

boarder• Real Time (24x7 operation)

• Send generation requests to projects (matching generation to load)

• Integrate hourly/daily marketing & wind with hydraulic objectives• Manage hourly water operation of FCRPS (spill, tailwater, forebay,

ramp rates, etc.)

Planning Horizons

• Load (demand) • Temperature variation affects demand• Economic trends affect demand• Technology changes affect demand (server farms, electric vehicles)

• Market Depth

• Prices (MW & natural gas)• Thermal unit availability• Wind generation• Transmission availability

• Streamflow (fuel)• Water supply forecast• Daily streamflows

Planning Uncertainty

Endangered Species Protection

Irrigation

Flood Risk Management Navigation

Recreation

Hydropower

Fish and Wildlife

Municipal and Industrial Water Supply

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Questions?