Dive Brief:
- The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has determined that CPS Energy can mothball a unit at its 1,074 MW natural gas-fired facility located outside San Antonio, as it will not be needed for fall or winter reliability. CPS Energy says the unit to be shut off is one of eight at the facility, and has a capacity of 230 MW.
- ERCOT's generation resources for the winter total more than 77,350 MW, and based on 12-year average winter temperatures the grid operator projects peak demand at about 53,000 MW.
- Available ERCOT reserves during this winter’s peak could range from more than 16,000 MW to less than 1,200 MW, with the latter representing a worst-case scenario of very high demand, extensive generation outages, and fuel supply limitations that would further reduce generation capacity.
Dive Insight:
Platts reports that ERCOT officials have determined CPS Energy can mothball a unit at its VH Braunig plant as the operator forsees sufficient supplies for the coming seasons. The muni had requested to halt operations its Braunig-2 unit for up to 17 months beginning in January.
The grid operator also issued its Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy last week, finding that in a worst-case scenario peak demand could exceed 59,640 MW, more than 2,000 MW higher than the 57,265-MW winter record set in February 2011.
"In recent years, generation providers in the ERCOT region have improved their procedures to prepare their facilities for extreme winter conditions," said Ken McIntyre, ERCOT's vice president of grid planning and operations. "We continue to monitor these efforts to help assess the preparedness of the system overall."
