Niagara Power Project FERC No. 2216
RESOURCE CAPABILITY, UTILIZATION, AND PRODUCTS
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Prepared for: New York Power Authority
Prepared by: E/PRO Engineering & Environmental Consulting, LLC
August 2005
Copyright © 2005 New York Power Authority
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Agencies
EC Environment Canada
FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
IJC International Joint Commission
INBC International Niagara Board of Control
NYISO New York Independent System Operator
NYPSC New York Public Service Commission
NYSRC New York State Reliability Council
OMOE Ontario Ministry of the Environment
OMNR Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
OPG Ontario Power Generation
USACE United States Army Corps of Engineers
USGS United States Geological Survey
Units of Measure
C Celsius, Centigrade
cfs cubic feet per second
El. elevation
F Fahrenheit
fps feet per second
G giga (prefix for one billion)
gpm gallons per minute
GW gigawatt
GWh gigawatt-hour
hp horsepower
Hz hertz, cycles per second
k kilo (prefix for one thousand)
km kilometer
kV kilovolt
kVA kilovolt-ampere
kW kilowatt
kWh kilowatt-hour
L liter
m meter
M mega (prefix for one million)
mgd million gallons per day
ml milliliter
MV megavolt
mVA millivolt-ampere
MVA megavolt-ampere
MW megawatt
Mwh megawatt-hour
V volt
W watt
Wh watt-hour
Regulatory
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
NEPA National Environmental Policy Act
NYPSC New York Public Service Commission
Miscellaneous
APEA Applicant-Prepared Environmental Assessment
CENDA Center for Development Analysis
DEIS Draft Environmental Impact Statement
EA Environmental Assessment
EIS Environmental Impact Statement
FSCR First Stage Consultation Report
ICAP Installed Capacity
LBMP Locational Based Marginal Price
LENRIB Lake
Erie
LPGP
LSE Load Serving Entity
MIS Market Information System
NERC North American Electric Reliability Council
NMPC Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation
NPCC Northeast Power Coordinating Council
NYCA
NYISO
NYSEG
NYSRC
OASIS Open Access Same-Time Information System
OATT Open Access Transmission Tariff
RG&
RMNPP Robert Moses Niagara Power Project
TO Transmission Owner
TCC Transmission
Congestion Contracts
The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and the
New York State Reliability Council (NYSRC) are charged with ensuring the
reliable and safe operation of the New York Control Area (NYCA) bulk power
electric system. The Niagara Power
Project is electrically connected to the NYCA high voltage transmission system,
which has nearly 11,000 miles of transmission lines and over 360 individual
electric generating units. The peak
electric use (“load” or “demand”) of
The NYISO is a not-for-profit corporation created in 1999
to maintain reliable, safe, and efficient operation of the
Prior to November 1999, the generation owned by the Power
Authority, the investor-owned utilities, and others was coordinated and
dispatched at the direction of the New York Power Pool. Since November 1999 and the creation of NYISO,
Since the inception of the deregulated market, generation in
Also new with the advent of the deregulated power market, consumers can bid their load in to the Day-Ahead market, and pre-buy electric service to guarantee a fixed price for their electric needs on the following day. Both load not bid and settled day-ahead must be served in the Real-Time market, at prices determined by system conditions each hour.
The NYISO is controlled by four (4) major agreements by
and among the electric industry stakeholders in
1. The NYISO Agreement establishes the NYISO and sets forth its rights, authority and obligations.
2. The
3. The NYSRC/NYISO Agreement establishes that NYISO will perform its duties of Operational Control of the New York electric system in compliance with Reliability Rules and procedures established by the NYSRC and that NYSRC will monitor NYISO’s performance in this regard.
4. The NYISO /Transmission Owners (TO) Agreement sets forth that, while the TO have financial and technical rights and obligations regarding ownership and safe, reliable operation of the electric transmission system, the NYISO has been delegated authority to implement many of these rights and obligations.
A foundation concept to deregulation is opportunity for
power market participants to buy transmission services. This “open access” right was established by
FERC in its 1996 Orders 888/889 which required each TO to offer non-discriminatory service over transmission facilities. Each TO
is required to maintain an “Open Access Transmission Tariff” (OATT), which sets
forth the rules, procedures and charges for use of the transmission system. In
The NYISO Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff provides for the functions (“market services”) required of the NYISO regarding administration of the sale and purchase of energy, capacity, ancillary services and demand reduction. This Tariff also governs NYISO’s provision of services to ensure the reliable operation of the New York State (NYS) Power System (“control area services”). This FERC- authorized Tariff establishes rules and procedures for two wholesale markets, the Day-Ahead Market and the Real-Time Market. The Day-Ahead market allows market participants to forecast load (if they are a Load Serving Entity or LSE), or determine available generation (if a generator) and inform the NYISO of their interest to buy or sell power. The market participant submits bids to the NYISO to inform it of the amount and price at which they will buy or sell. The purpose of the Day-Ahead market is to allow NYISO to plan ahead for adequate generation for the coming day to serve the load in New York and to allow market participants to lock in a purchase or sale price based upon the NYISO calculated Locational Based Marginal Price (“LBMP” or “market price”) for each of the 24 hours for the coming dispatch day.
Prior to the start of the deregulated market in 1999, the
Project scheduled its generation very precisely to match load forecasts
provided by its customers. While some
transfers of electrical energy from other NYPA generation and bilateral purchases
from third parties could be made to serve customer needs,
The Niagara Project is rated at 2,400 MW Net Dependable Capacity under adverse flow conditions. The firm capacity of the Niagara Power Project, as determined by FERC for purposes of allocations under the Niagara Redevelopment Act, is 1,880 MW. Generating efficiency for the Lewiston Pump Generating Plant (LPGP) units ranges from 75% at minimum operating head of 60 feet to a high of nearly 90% at a head of 100 feet. The Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant has a much smaller range than LPGP with about an 87% to 93% range on the original generating equipment, depending upon volume of water flows used for generation. The majority (10 of 13) of the Robert Moses units have already been upgraded and repaired and show slightly higher efficiency with ranges from approximately 88% to 94%. The Project has high reliability with an historical forced outage rate of less than 1%, with RMNPP near 0.2% and LPGP at around 1.0%. The Project has a unit availability of nearly 90%, with 89.65% available for Robert Moses and 89.1% availability for LPGP.
The low cost hydropower from the Project is sold to municipally owned electric systems and rural electric cooperatives throughout New York State and in neighboring states under Federal requirements, to investor-owned utilities in the vicinity of the Project (Niagara Mohawk and New York State Electric & Gas) for resale to businesses and to three upstate investor-owned utilities (Niagara Mohawk, New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric) for resale to their residential customers. All of the power is resold to retail consumers with no profit or markup on the commodity cost.
There is a significant level of cooperation between the
U.S. and Canada regarding Niagara River resources, with the International
Niagara River Water Diversion Treaty of 1950 (1950 Treaty) serving as one
cornerstone of the cooperation. The Treaty
mainly allocates water for scenic flows over the Falls, and provides for the
sharing of water between the
Ontario Power Generation owns and operates hydroelectric facilities on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. These plants, Sir Adam Beck # 1 & 2, with a combined electrical output of approximately 1,900 MWs, are nearly as large as the Niagara Project. Coordination and cooperation between the operators of the two large power projects provide mutually beneficial efficient ice management and water diversion procedures.
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is engaged in the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project which is located in Lewiston, Niagara County, New York. The present operating license of the plant expires in August 2007. As part of its preparation for the relicensing of the Niagara Project, NYPA is developing background information related to the ecological, engineering, recreational, cultural, and socioeconomic aspects of the Project. This report considers the hydropower resource capability and utilization of the Niagara Power Project (“NPP” or “the Project”) as well as the electric power products it generates. The purpose of the study is to specifically describe the influence on the Project of the New York Independent System Operator and the related wholesale power market that NYISO administers. Recent broad changes in the electric power industry are also described. In addition the Report discusses the Lake Erie Niagara River Ice Boom and the Canadian hydroelectric generation which shares the Niagara River resources.
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is a state-owned power company that builds and operates electric generation and transmission throughout New York. NYPA was established as a non-profit, tax-exempt energy corporation though the New York Power Authority Act of 1931. NYPA is the largest state-owned power company in the United States. It currently operates 17 generating facilities and about 1,400 miles of transmission lines.
The 1,880-MW (firm capacity) Niagara Power Project (NPP) is one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric facilities in North America (Figure 1.1-1). The Project was licensed to the Power Authority of the State of New York (doing business as the New York Power Authority) in 1957. Construction of the Project began in 1958, and electricity was first produced in 1961. The Project has several components. Twin intakes are located approximately 2.6 miles above Niagara Falls. Water entering these intakes is routed around the Falls via two large low-head conduits to a 1.8-billion-gallon forebay, lying on an east-west axis about 4 miles downstream of the Falls. The forebay is located on the east bank of the Niagara River. At the west end of the forebay, between the forebay itself and the river, is the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant (RMNPP), NYPA’s main generating plant at Niagara. This plant has 13 turbines that generate electricity from water delivered to the forebay. Head is approximately 300 feet. At the east end of the forebay is the Lewiston Pump Generating Plant (LPGP). Under non-peak-usage conditions (i.e., at night and on weekends), water is pumped from the forebay via the plant’s 12 pumps into the 22-billion-gallon Lewiston Reservoir, which lies east of the plant. During peak usage conditions (i.e., daytime Monday through Friday), the pumps are reversed for use as generators, and water is allowed to flow back through both plants sequentially, and producing electricity at both plants. The forebay therefore serves as headwater for the RMNPP and tailwater from the LPGP. South of the forebay is a switchyard, which serves as the electrical interface between the Project and the State’s electric grid (Figure 1.1-2).
For purposes of generating electricity from Niagara Falls, two seasons are recognized: tourist season and non-tourist season. By the 1950 Niagara River Water Diversion Treaty, flows over the Falls during tourist hours must be at least 100,000 cfs, and at other times 50,000 cfs. Tourist hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from April 1 through September 15 and from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. September 16 through October 31. Canada and the United States are entitled by international treaty to produce hydroelectric power with the remainder, sharing equally.
Water level fluctuations in the Chippewa-Grass Island Pool (in the upper Niagara River) are limited by an International Joint Commission directive to 1.5 feet per day. It is important to note that water level fluctuations in both the upper and lower Niagara River may be caused by a number of factors other than operation of the NPP. These may include wind, natural flow and ice conditions, and operation of power plants on the Canadian side of the river.
Water-level fluctuations in the lower Niagara River (upstream of the RMNPP tailrace) from all causes can be as great as 12 feet per day. Most of this daily fluctuation is due to the change in the treaty-mandated control of minimum flow over Niagara Falls. Water level fluctuations downstream of the RMNPP tailrace are much less. The average daily water level fluctuation 1.4 miles downstream of the RMNPP tailrace, during the 2002 tourist season, was approximately 1.5 feet. Water flows including water level fluctuations in the Niagara River above and below the Niagara Falls are a result of the combined flows of the Sir Adam Beck Power Plant in Canada and the Project.
Operation of the NPP can result in water level fluctuations in the Lewiston Reservoir of 8-18 feet per day, and as much as 36 feet per week.
In 2002, NYPA notified the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it would seek a new license for the Project. The Federal Power Act requires the application be submitted by August 31, 2005, two (2) years before the existing license expires. In July 2002, FERC approved NYPA’s request to engage in an Alternative Licensing Process (“ALP”), which provides stakeholders increased opportunities to participate, particularly early in the process. During the scoping phase of the ALP process, NYPA and the stakeholders identified a number of important issues relevant to the Project relicensing, including this Issue # 7, entitled “Assess Niagara Project Hydropower Resource Capability, Utilization, and Products Including the Opportunities and Constraints.”
The objective of this Study is to develop an understanding of the relationship between the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and Project operations, as well as an understanding of the Project’s current efficiency, capability, and reliability.
This Report is divided into six (6) major chapters, including this introduction, and the Executive Summary.
Chapter 2 is entitled “The New York Control Area (NYCA), The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), and the New York State Reliability Council (NYSRC)”. This chapter provides an overview of the regional operation of the bulk power electric system in New York. NYCA is described in terms of area and size, electrical consumption and facts about the electric system. The overview of the NYISO contains a description of its mission, governance, stakeholders, and controlling legal documents. The purpose and composition of the NYSRC is included as well. Main sources of information are documents, agreements and tariffs establishing and controlling these organizations, which are largely available on the entities’ public web sites.
Chapter 3 discusses “Project Operations, Output, and Products Sold in the Regional Power Markets”. It describes these items including electric power output as well as the regional power markets in which they are sold. Historical and current operations, distribution and customers are explained.
Chapter 4 is entitled “Niagara Project Capability, Efficiency, Utilization, Reliability and Potential Upgrades” and provides a description of Project facilities. It also covers the operating efficiency, reliability and utilization of the Project including a description of an upgrade of the Robert Moses plant.
Chapter 5 addresses “International Cooperation on Niagara River Resources”, and covers international treaties, organizations and agreements concerning the joint use by Canada and the U.S. of the river and structures in it relating to the production of electric power. The impact on NYPA’s Niagara Project from operation of the Canadian hydroelectric projects is described (Figure 1.3-1).
Chapter 6 considers the limited influence on the Project of electric power market changes described earlier in the Report.
[NIP – General Location Maps]
[NIP – General Location Maps]
U.S. and Canadian Power Generating Stations, Lower Niagara River
[NIP – General Location Maps]
The NYISO and the NYSRC are charged with ensuring the safe and reliable operation of the New York Control Area bulk power electric system. NYSRC sets forth rules and standards to achieve reliability and the NYISO implements these rules as part of its duties to oversee operation of the system. Both entities are approved by and operate under the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The NYCA is composed of the entire electric system within New York State. It encompasses the transmission and distribution facilities, generators and, of course, customers (load) that make up the electric utility system. The NYCA contains nearly 11,000 miles of High Voltage Transmission lines, 360+ individual electric generating units of widely varying size (from over 1,000 MW down to less than 1 MW). Total generating capacity installed in the NYCA exceeds 35,000 MW. The load (customer use) in New York is greater than 160,000,000 MWhs per year. Peak demand (the single hour of highest electric use during the year) in July 2005 was 32,075 MW. The New York electric system serves the needs of 18.2 million people state-wide. The electrical load in NYCA is larger than the load of the combined six (6) New England States and is slightly smaller but similar in size to the load of control areas operated in each of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
The NYISO describes four (4) basic power system concepts which explain how the electric system works in the physical world. The four (4) concepts are:
· “Load Customers” determine Demand
· “Dispatch” determines where power is generated.
· The laws of physics determine how the power flows to the Load Customers
· Flows must be controlled
The customer use of electricity (“load” or “demand”) creates the need to generate and move the power from the generator to the customer. The NYISO determines which generators, including the Project, will operate and when they operate, with the knowledge that the design and operation of an electric system is a constant balancing act. The load continually changes because of the fluctuating needs of all the customers in the NYCA. As the load changes, the NYISO changes generation accordingly to serve that load, striving for a perfectly balanced system with load and generation exactly equal. The mix of generating units available to serve load changes due to forced outages, fuel issues, etc., and the transmission system elements can become inefficient or fail from time to time as well. The determination of generating units to run and when they run is made by the NYISO with the help of sophisticated computer software. This dispatch by NYISO is influenced by the location of the load and generators and how the electricity flows over all available power lines. If left unhindered electricity flows from the generator to the consumer over the path of least resistance. Such flows must be controlled by the NYISO to avoid problems or failures on the electric system. The NYISO operates the electric system in New York twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week such that electricity can flow in a controlled fashion from the generator to the consumer over the transmission lines.
The predecessor to the NYISO, the New York Power Pool (NYPP), was established in July 1966 (NYPA joined in 1967) to operate the electric system in a reliable, secure and coordinated fashion and to enhance economics of dispatching energy from generating units. In July 1999, in response to evolving industry deregulation, the parties to the NYPP agreed to create the NYISO to perform those functions and simultaneously terminated the Power Pool arrangement.
The NYISO is a not-for-profit corporation created to maintain reliable, safe, and efficient operation of the New York State Power System. Its purpose is to oversee the bulk power system. It provides open access transmission service over the State’s bulk power transmission system and facilitates the operation of a wholesale power market through which electric capacity, energy and related items can be produced, sold and ultimately delivered to consumers. The NYISO is charged with the economic dispatch of generation units, coordination of maintenance and outage schedules for generation and transmission facilities and administration of various tariffs and agreements. By agreement of the parties, it has operational control over significant portions of the NYS Power System.
The Board Of Directors (Board), subject to regulatory oversight by the FERC, is the decision-making authority for the NYISO, but it is assisted by organized committees composed of stakeholders in the New York electric power industry. The NYISO Stakeholders include all parties to the NYISO Agreement, each of which populate one of the five Sector Groups of the NYISO (Generation Owners, Other Suppliers, Transmission Owners, End Use Consumers, Public Power/Environmental Parties). Table 2.5.1-1 provides more detail on the 5 sectors and 9 sub-sectors of the NYISO Stakeholders. Any person or entity that meets requirements for participation may become a Party to the NYISO Agreement upon payment of an annual fee (which varies among organizations). All Parties to the Agreement may participate in governance of the NYISO after joining one of the five (5) sectors. The appropriate sector is determined according to the business interest of that Party.
The Management Committee (MC) is comprised of each Party to the NYISO Agreement. The responsibilities of the MC include, among others, supervision of other NYISO committees and development of procedures and positions on NYISO operations, policies, rules, and procedures for the NYISO Board. Also the MC is responsible to propose changes as necessary to various Agreements and Tariffs that govern NYISO business affairs. The MC develops an annual budget for the NYISO Board consideration and approval. Actions of the Management Committee may be appealed to the NYISO Board.
The Operating Committee (OC), like the MC, is comprised of Parties to the NYISO Agreement. The NYISO Agreement specifies responsibilities for the OC, which include establishment of rules, procedures and requirements related to the safe and reliable operation of the NY electric system, and to serve as the liaison to the NYSRC for purposes of electric system reliability.
The Business Issues Committee (BIC) likewise is comprised of Parties to the NYISO Agreement. The NYISO Agreement specifies responsibilities for the BIC, which include establishing efficient and non-discriminatory commercial and financial standards and procedures to enable NYISO operations and permit functioning of the bulk power market in New York. In addition the BIC is charged with maintaining procedures for the secure financial and monetary operation of the NYISO.
The NYISO main facility is in Schenectady, NY with other
offices and control facilities in nearby communities. The day-to-day operations of the NYISO are
managed by a President who is a voting member of the NYISO Board and is
selected by the Board.
The Mission of the NYISO is:
(1) to maintain the safety and short-term reliability of the New York State (NYS) Power System in conformance with Reliability Rules promulgated by the NYSRC so as to maintain the integrity and reliability of the interconnected NYS Power System;
(2) to maintain the internal and external operations of the NYS Power System which may have an impact on the security of the interconnected NYS Power System in accordance with the terms of the NYISO Agreement;
(3) to comply with the Commission’s NYISO principles as stated in, among others, Order Nos. 888/889;
(4) to facilitate an effective and equitable marketplace; and
(5) to administer the Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) and ISO Services Tariff.
New York Reliability Rules define a reliable electric system to be one that is adequate to meet the electric needs of all consumers with the ability to withstand sudden and unanticipated electrical disturbances or loss of system elements. The NYISO is the New York Control Area operator responsible for maintaining a reliable electric system and as such provides numerous Control Area Services in accordance with the standards and criteria of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC), the NYSRC Reliability Rules, and Good Utility Practice. These services are provided in accordance with the terms of the NYISO Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff (ISO Services Tariff), the NYSRC Reliability Rules, the NYISO Related Agreements, and general standards of good practice in the electric industry (Good Utility Practice). The NYISO has authority to interact with Operators in Control Areas surrounding New York to ensure the effective and reliable coordination with the interconnected Control Areas. It is responsible for maintaining the safe, efficient, and continual operation of the electric system and provides the implementation of reliability standards promulgated by NERC and NPCC and for the Reliability Rules promulgated by the NYSRC.
The NYISO develops and implements reliability procedures, coordinates outage schedules for generation and transmission, and bears responsibility for committing adequate generation resources to ensure the reliability of the NYS Power System. This includes defining the long-term requirements and location of installed generating capacity requirements for New York and developing many measures for action during abnormal or emergency conditions.
The NYISO maintains and operates a control center in order to monitor and coordinate power flows in New York and with neighboring Control Areas. It maintains back up procedures and rules for operation under adverse and emergency circumstances and has communication and metering rules and procedures necessary to perform its function as the Control Area Operator.
Based upon standards established by NYSRC, the NYISO forecasts peak load on a yearly basis and determines the minimum installed generating capacity (ICAP) requirement for each Load Serving Entity (LSE). New York is divided into eleven (11) zones for purposes of planning and operating the electric system, and the NYISO determines the amount of capacity required state-wide and the amount that must be physically located within certain zones. The NYISO also determines the extent to which capacity from outside of New York can be counted to meet New York’s capacity needs. Each LSE must secure adequate capacity, in the proper locations, to meet the requirement as established by NYISO. The purpose of these capacity rules and procedures is to provide NYISO with a management and planning tool to maintain long term electric system reliability.
NYISO procures sources of power and certain ancillary services through deregulated power markets that it administers. By doing so, NYISO provides non-discriminatory open access to the New York State transmission system for all market participants, and allows m