@EIAgov Thread--> Interesting work, for sure, but I fear that these conclusions might be overstated. Also, at least one assertion is flat out wrong. The data is informative but the analysis is lacking perhaps even misleading. Here is why: (1/?)
@EIAgov Coal in SPP is definitely cycling but I’m not sure we can conclude the cycling is because of wind integration. The assertion that only SPP coal cycles (and coal in other markets does not): well that simply isn’t true. 2/
@EIAgov The wind variance in the first graph is 2GW over the course of a “typical” day and to integrate that variable resource: gas fluctuates 4GW; self-committed coal variance is roughly 2 GW; market coal is 1 GW; and, other is 1 GW. 3/
@EIAgov Gas alone could be cycling to accommodate wind power (and then some). Meanwhile the other resources could be ramping to serve load changes. Another possibility (the most likely scenario) is that all resources are being used in concert to meet load. 4/
@EIAgov It is odd that the analysis doesn’t mention wind curtailment. It also doesn’t mention that wind in SPP is required to be dispatchable down to accommodate coal’s “inflexibility.” It also doesn’t mention that self-committed coal is committed in the day ahead market. 5/
@EIAgov At the end of the day, I guess it depends on how you look at it:
On a typical day:
Self-committed coal is about 12 GW, 3 of which ramps down (25%)
Market-committed coal is about 3 GW, 1 of which ramps down (33%)
6/
On a typical day:
Self-committed coal is about 12 GW, 3 of which ramps down (25%)
Market-committed coal is about 3 GW, 1 of which ramps down (33%)
6/
@EIAgov On a summer day:
Self-committed coal is about 16 GW, 4 of which ramps down (25%)
Market-committed coal is about 4 GW, 2 of which ramps down (50%)
7/
Self-committed coal is about 16 GW, 4 of which ramps down (25%)
Market-committed coal is about 4 GW, 2 of which ramps down (50%)
7/
@EIAgov Maybe the self-committed coal is the expensive stuff that wouldn’t get called by the market to run (which is why it has to self-commit) while the market-committed coal is cheaper and so in the bid stack it is less in need to ramp up/down? 8/
@EIAgov This is all tightly connected to work I’ve been doing as of late on the financial impacts of self-commitment and uneconomic dispatch (9/ blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/…
@EIAgov My research and work on this topic, interestingly enough, began by researching self-commitment in SPP. (end) sierraclub.org/sites/www.sier…
@EIAgov @threadreaderapp could you unroll this thread for me?
