ERCOT: Texas Added More Than 3,100 MW of New Capacity Since May
Texas has added some 3,140 MW of new generation capacity since May, mostly from coal and natural gas–fired power plants, the grid operator for most of the state said in a capacity, demand, and reserve update released last week.
About 1,690 MW of that new capacity was from new coal plants while 1,093 MW was from natural gas plants, the report (PDF) from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) revealed. The region’s total resources were projected at 76,363 MW in 2010 and 78,017 MW in 2015.
ERCOT said that the state’s reserve margin’s are forecast to remain above the 12.5% target minimum through 2013—but drop below the desired reserves beginning in 2014 to 12.3% and 10.2% in 2015.
The net changes in the five-year generation outlook since ERCOT’s last update in May show an increase in total resources for 2010 (1,049 MW), 2011(681 MW), and 2012 (708 MW). In 2014 and 2015, the grid operator expects a net decrease of 1,105 MW in generation, primarily due to the exclusion of the Cobisa Greenville Project, a 1,792-MW natural gas–fired power plant, which had been scheduled for completion in 2013.
Although the project has an air permit and transmission interconnection agreement, the project developers notified ERCOT in early December that their current expectations were such that the unit should not be included in the reserve margin calculation at this time.
“Reserve margins are calculated based on specific criteria for the inclusion of existing and planned resources and is based on information available to ERCOT at a snapshot in time,” said Dan Woodfin, director of system planning for ERCOT. “In the region’s deregulated market, it is the generation owner who bears the risk of investment and decides when and where to build new generation, and whether to retire or mothball existing generation, based on market conditions.”
Potential resources that are not included in the report’s generation total include more than 3,000 MW of generation capacity, which is currently mothballed but could be brought back into service at the owners’ decision. Other potential resources include proposed units that have requested a full transmission interconnection study but lack either an air permit or signed interconnection agreement.
The planned units under review total 2,751 MW with a 2010 in-service date, 8,704 MW for 2011 completion, and more than 20,000 MW by 2015.
The amount of wind generation that contributes toward the reserve margin calculation—the effective load carrying capability of wind generation—was set at 776 MW, or 8.7% of nameplate capacity.
Source: ERCOT