Bob Zavadil led this EnerNex project to qualitatively assess the impact of significant wind generation on the operation of the U.S. Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) control area, especially considering the economic impacts on hydropower, which constitutes a significant amount of the generation base.  

EnerNex determined the level of wind generation that can be accommodated by the current generation deployment scenario for ancillary services such as regulation and load following or real-time balancing.  A key goal was to identify the constraints on the Missouri River system that could limit further wind generation deployment due to control area operating issues, explore ways to maximize availability of the hydroelectric system to provide ancillary services for wind generation, and provide recommendations on how the study findings can be utilized to investigate transmission capacity within and outside the WAPA control area.