AUSTIN – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced Tuesday an update to the emergency operations reserve levels ahead of the winter months.
In a news release, ERCOT stated it has increased the minimum operating reserves (MW) requirements for emergency operations for each of its three Energy Emergency Alert (EEA) levels.
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ERCOT periodically studies the level of online reserves that must be preserved to maintain system reliability during emergency conditions. That level of reserves has increased as the resource mix has changed, with more wind, solar, and battery storage resources supplying power during emergency conditions, even during the winter season.
“The generation resource mix that powers the grid has changed, and how we operate the grid has evolved with it,” said ERCOT Senior VP and COO Woody Rickerson. “By increasing the minimum reserve levels for the different EEA levels, we are better representing system requirements during emergency conditions.”
ERCOT will reportedly now require a baseline minimum operating reserve for EEA 3 of 1,500 MW, which automatically increases EEA 1 and EEA 2 reserve levels, as follows:
- EEA 1 will occur if reserves reach 2,500 MW (previously 2,300 MW) and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes.
- EEA 2 will occur if reserves reach 2,000 MW (previously 1,750 MW) and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes, or if the frequency has dropped below 59.91 Hz for 15 minutes (previously 30 minutes).
- EEA 3 will occur if reserves drop below 1,500 MW and are not expected to recover within 30 minutes, or if frequency drops below 59.8 Hz for any period of time. If either situation occurs, ERCOT would require Transmission and Distribution Service Providers (TDSPs) to implement controlled outages, which impact residential, commercial, and industrial users. (Previously, an EEA 3 was issued when ERCOT’s operating reserves dropped below 1,430 MW. When operating reserves dropped below 1,000 MW, and were not expected to recover within 30 minutes, controlled outages were activated.)