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Rolling on Redispatch
Published: June 05, 2008:Author: ColumbiaGrid Staff
Stepping ahead from its 2007 reliability studies, ColumbiaGrid is discussing ideas for redispatch that would match buyers and sellers of redispatch service and provide a technical platform to route signals that move generation among control areas. ColumbiaGrid VP Paul Arnold said there is considerable interest in redispatch west-wide, especially in linking up redispatch and within-hour energy scheduling to help ease wind integration.
Redispatch offers a way to avoid curtailing schedules in congested areas. That’s one reason to study redispatch, and the growth in wind generation is another. “If things stay on track, wind could become a big factor on the system and impose large costs,” Arnold said. With wind generation, you have to set aside generation within a control area to regulate for the fluctuations, he explained. Redispatch offers a way to share that regulation burden.
We’ve talked to others, including the Northern Tier Transmission Group, and there is interest in collaborating to make redispatch work, Arnold said. But discussions have just begun, and ColumbiaGrid will continue to gauge the interest and see if it has the makings for a concrete proposal, he said.
