Electricity Concepts,
Electricity Mix, and
Changing Generation Shares
Energy sustainability
Notes
Regular office hours resume on Tuesday of next week.
Paper topic is due today on Canvas
RPS homework.
Renewable Portfolio Standards
Pros and Cons
Definitions
Energy: Capacity to do work or to produce heat
Coal is stored energy
1st law of thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created
nor destroyed it can only be transformed
Power: Work per unit of time (energy over time)
This is a rate
We need energy to produce power
Electricity is power delivered by transmission to use right away.
Definitions
Electric power: The rate at which electric energy is
transferred by an electric circuit.
Energy density: Amount of energy stored on a system
per unit volume.
Fossil fuels have very high energy density.
Simple definitions
1 Kilowatt hour (kWh): A unit of energy equivalent to 1
kilowatt of power used up for 1 hour.
Used as billing unit of energy delivered to your house (your
electric bill looks at kWh)
Energy:
Ex: A 40 watt light bulb is on for 25 hours. 40*25 = 1000 watts
(1 kilowatt).
The bulb has used 1 kWh
Example: Nuclear reactor costs
(source:
Banks 2000)
Suppose the Capital cost (Pc) of a nuclear reactor
having a power rating of 1 kw is 219.00 dollars /
kilowatt / year
Kilowatt: 1000 watts of electrical power
What is the Capital cost of a unit of energy?
If machine (nuclear reactor) functioned 24 hours a day, every
day of the year: It would function 365 days * 24 hours / day =
8,760 hours.
219.00 should be spread over 8,760 Kilowatt hours.
219.00 dollars/8,760 hours = 0.025 dollars/hour = 2.5 cents/
kw hour
Capacity Factor
(source: Banks 2000)
We do not expect this machine to work perfectly at all
hours of the year.
Capacity factor: actual number of hours the equipment
is in service in relation to the total number of hours in a
year
Capacity factor
(source: Banks 2000)
Assume capacity factor of reactor is 0.75.
This means the machinery operates 0.75*8760 = 6,570 hours per
year
Previous calculation: 219.00 dollars/8,760 hours = 0.025
dollars/hour = 2.5 cents/ kw hour
New calculation: 219.00 dollars/6570 hours = 0.033 dollars/hour
= 3.3 cents/ kw hour
Important: The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) defines
capacity factor as the period of time considered a year minus
the period every year that is used for normal maintenance. So
you can have nuclear plants with capacity factors about 98%.
Optimal plant mix
(source: Banks 2000)
Usually, electricity is generated using a mix of
electricity generating techniques.
No longer dealing with typical stable demand curves.
Conventional demand curve
(source:
Banks 2000)
A diagram like this must be
taken with caution in this
context.
According to this diagram we
would never use gas.
Load
(source: Banks)
Base Load: Portion of the load that is on the line for 24
hours per day
Peak Load: Portion of the load that is on the line for only
a few hours per day.
Optimal plant mix
(source: Banks 2000)
Key: The demand for electricity
typically varies during a day in
the cycle pattern shown in the
figure
time
Cost considerations
(Source: Banks)
Nuclear and coal: Costly to build and equip. Cheap to
operate.
We do not want them sitting idle a large part of the time
because capital costs very high
Prime candidates for base load
Hydroelectric: High fixed costs, low variable cost.
Prime candidate for base load
But also a good candidate for peak load (ex: Japan)
Cost considerations
(Source: Banks)
Natural gas: Gas turbines are relatively inexpensive, can be built
in small units, and easily turned on and of. Variable cost (cost
of fuel) can be comparatively high (but is not at the moment).
Prime candidate for peak load.
Recall: Colorado value of solar used NG as the marginal fuel.
Oil: Plants relatively cheap to build. Easy to turn on and off,
variable costs may be high.
Prime candidate for peak load.
But oil is considered energy source of last resort in most of the
industrial world.
Example: Tokyo Electric Power
Company
(source: TEPCO)
Information from TEPCOs website
TEPCO believes that Japan should diversify its power
generation sources to avoid excessive reliance on any
one type of fuel, to minimize the impact of potential
shortage
The companys power plants balance the utilization
ratio of fuels based on stability of supply, economic
considerations, and environmental concerns
The output of hydroelectric power plants can be
quickly adjusted used to meet peak demand. How?
Pumped storage hydroelectric power plants pump in
water during low-demand evening hours and use it to
generate power during peak hours
Florida 2013 quick facts
(source: EIA state
profile)
Second in the nation in net electricity generation from
natural gas (62% of Floridas net generation)
Renewable energy accounted for 2.2% of Floridas total
net electricity generation in 2013.
Florida was 7th in the nation in net generation from
utility-scale solar energy.
Source:December 2013, U.S. Energy Information Administration,
Electricity Monthly Update
Florida (Source: EIA)
Florida has its own generating units and also trades with
neighboring systems.
Geography makes this difficult
Roughly 8% of Floridas demand is met by electricity imported
from the Southeast Electric Region (a large portion of which
comes from a large coal-fired unit located in Georgia owned by FL
power and light).
Florida has moved away from petroleum towards natural gas.
Why?
Fuel Switching
(source: EIA)
Fuel Switching: The ability of a single generator or
power system to change between multiple fuels in the
short term.
This does not mean it makes economic sense to switch.
In recent years, most of these use mainly NG.
Co-firing: Use of multiple fuels at the same time. Ex:
Using two or more fuels on the same combustion
device, like coal + biomass.
Florida
(Source: EIA)
Several units in Florida can switch between petroleum
and NG generation.
Currently, NG is cheaper than oil.
This is helpful if supply of NG is interrupted, assuming oil can
be easily obtained.
Nuclear generation and coal generation has declined
Crystal River unit shut down
Retirement of coal units.
Western US States
(Source: EIA)
Coal, NG, and hydroelectric contributes to majority of
generation.
Renewable portfolio standards (and Federal Credits) have
encouraged more generation from renewables.
California policy decisions on mix affect many Western
states (sell to CA)
Texas
(Source:EIA)
Out of all sources of generation that are growing,
renewables have grown the fastest (mostly wind)
Texas cannot readily exchange electricity with
neighboring regions
Had trouble in the Summer of 2011 (very hot).
Incentivized use of wind with Competitive Renewable
Energy Zones
Texas Competitive
Renewable Energy
Zones. Source:
Public Utility
Commission of
Texas.
Texas and Central Region of the USA
(Source: EIA)
Central USA
More than 60% from Coal
NG lower relative prices have contributed to its increase
Low cost renewable sources in form of wind in the Plains
states.
Northeast USA
Shifting away from oil and coal
Towards NG
Concerns about fuel diversity
(also need NG for heat)
New England States and NY are members of the
Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a required cap and trade
program. May have also contributed to shift to NG
Why do we see
variation within US
states?
Why do we see variation?
Existing resource base varies
Ex: Difficult to generate hydroelectric power in Florida.
Policies vary.
Ex: Minnesota considers environmental impacts in value of
solar.
Recent additions to capacity in the
USA (source: EIA)
Recent
additions
by state
(source:EI
A)
Demand
Additionally, demand is impossible to predict.
Systems have to keep substantial reserve capacity.
A lot of times, older equipment with high operating cost.
Regular goods: If demand exceeds supply price goes up.
Electricity: If demand exceeds supply:
Blackout.
Do residential and industrial
customers pay same rates? (Source:
Banks)
Note: Will go over electricity pricing in a different
lecture.
Industrial customers tend to pay less.
Cheaper to serve: Demand more predictable, consumer
electricity at higher voltages (step down transformer, low
voltage distribution lines)
More elastic demand. Why?
Can self generate
Sources
Banks, Ferdinand. Energy Economics: a Modern
Introduction. 2000
Florida EIA State Profile. http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=FL
TEPCO. Tokyo Electric Power Company. Power Supply and
Network: Power Supply.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/challenge/energy/power-s-e.html
EIA. Today in Energy.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=14251
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=14131
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=13991
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=17891
