Claims of Sustained Peaking, Ramping, Reserve, Flexibility and Balancing Power from the lower Snake River Dams; What Is Feasible?
Posted /Economic WasteDecember 2020 (Updated); March 2020 (Original)
Prepared by Jim Waddell, Civil Engineer, Retired USACE and PUD Commissioner*, Chris Pinney, Senior Fisheries Biologist, Retired USACE John Twa, Mechanical Engineer Edited by Nina Sarmiento, Binghamton University BS Ecology
This paper examines the claim that “the four lower Snake River Dams (LSRDs) can generate 2,650 MW of sustained peaking power for 10 hours per day for five consecutive days.” This claim has been published in fact sheets by the Public Power Council (PPC), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Northwest River Partners, and appears in the recently released Columbia River Systems Operations Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Based on this claim, the federal agencies have derived cost estimates for a full replacement of LSRD power with a zero-carbon portfolio, and used these values in further analysis to choose a preferred alternative for salmon recovery.