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Ventyx and EnerNex Lead Charge on Wind Development and Integration Study for Nebraska Power Association

Posted on: Tuesday, 24 March 2009, 08:10 CDT

ATLANTA and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventyx(R) and EnerNex(R) Corporation announced today that they have been selected to conduct a yearlong study, in collaboration with the Nebraska Power Association (NPA, www.nepower.org) and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, www.nrel.gov), to advance the understanding and development of wind energy in the state of Nebraska.

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The Nebraska Power Association (NPA) is a voluntary organization that represents all segments of the Nebraska power industry: municipalities, public power districts, public power and irrigation districts and cooperatives engaged in generation, transmission or distribution of electric energy in the state. NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and is operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. As such, DOE and NREL have an interest in advancing understanding of wind integration impacts in the Western Area Power Administration's (WAPA) service area and among consumer-owned electric power cooperatives. Federal funding of the study is matched by an equal contribution provided by the participating NPA utilities.

NPA views this program as an opportunity to advance statewide wind development and increase the level of understanding among state leaders concerning wind integration and operational issues for Nebraska. "Nebraska benefits from a diverse generation resource mix today that helps provide the state with some of the lowest electric rates in the nation," said Clint Johannes, assistant general manager of the Nebraska Electric G&T and chairperson of the NPA's Joint Planning Subcommittee. "Results of this study will give Nebraska's electric utilities, customers and policymakers information on how we best integrate significant amounts of wind into the state's existing electric generation mix and meet future energy requirements."

The objectives of this integration study include ascertaining the impact of wind energy on system operations and potential mitigation approaches that may include innovative markets, institutional arrangements within or between balancing areas or physical response on an economic basis. Using synchronized wind and load data, Ventyx's industry-leading market simulation and portfolio modeling system and state-of-the-art analysis techniques, Ventyx and EnerNex will forecast expected wind integration costs and impacts, as well as capital costs for new transmission and generation. Various scenarios will be assessed, including wind energy penetration of 20 percent of the state's forecasted needs and beyond.

Ventyx Executive Vice President Will Dailey said, "Wind energy is not a fad; it is an operational reality in the generation mix today. Nebraska offers great potential as a resource for wind power and is the perfect location to conduct this study. The question of how we can integrate wind resources into the grid and how new wind plants can work together with traditional sources of generation is a top-of-mind issue in the industry. We are very excited to have the opportunity to use our state-of-the-art software to analyze the broader potential of wind energy as a resource."

According to EnerNex Cofounder and Principal Consultant Bob Zavadil, "Electric utilities in Nebraska are in a relatively unique situation, with their geographical location at the western boundary of the Eastern Interconnection, the high quality of the wind resources in the state and their standing as the only 100-percent public power state in the U.S. The study will build on recent efforts to assess wind energy issues and impacts for larger geographical footprints, such as the current wind integration study for the entire Eastern Interconnection sponsored by DOE through NREL, but incorporate to the extent possible the unique challenges and opportunities faced by the Nebraska Power Association membership."

Stakeholder and expert technical input will be obtained through a Technical Review Committee (TRC) scheduled to meet six times throughout the study. The Committee consists of representatives from NREL, the NPA utilities, the consultants, Utility Wind Integration Group, Western Area Power Administration, Southwest Power Pool, University of Nebraska, Nebraska Department of Energy and Energy Office, Nebraska Wind Working Group, Nebraska Power Review Board, American Wind Energy Association and Community-Based Energy Development representation, and invitations have been given to five area Native American tribal organizations. For more on the TRC, visit the NPA Website at http://www.nepower.org/wind_study.asp.

According to NREL Project Technical Monitor Brian Parsons, "The Technical Review Committee is vital to the success and effectiveness of this study. The Committee will add tremendous value through public education for our stakeholders, as well as helping the utilities and consultants grasp the public attitudes and interests that will have a major impact on our initiatives going forward."

Study results will be available for public distribution as documents and in the form of oral presentations made at local and national conferences.

About NPA

Leaders of Nebraska's public power industry formed the Nebraska Power Association (NPA) in 1980 to address industry-wide concerns and interests. This voluntary organization represents all segments of the power industry: municipalities, public power districts, public power and irrigation districts, and cooperatives engaged in generation, transmission or distribution of electric energy in the state. It is the policy of the State of Nebraska to provide its citizens with adequate, reliable and low-cost electric service, consistent with sound business practices. The agencies responsible for providing electric service to citizens of the state work through NPA to implement this policy. For more information, visit http://www.nepower.org/.

About Ventyx

Ventyx is a leading business solutions provider, delivering asset management, mobile workforce management, energy portfolio management and customer care solutions to more than 1,250 energy, utility and communications customers, as well as to asset-intensive customers in selected commercial markets. Ventyx delivers best-of-breed business solutions that maximize operational and financial performance, backed by the industry's deepest available industry-specific domain expertise. For more information, visit our Website at www.ventyx.com.

About EnerNex

EnerNex Corporation provides engineering and consulting services, along with software solutions and customization, for the electric power industry. EnerNex focuses on providing services around the development and application of new and emerging electric power technologies to engineer a cleaner, smarter energy system of the future. For more information on EnerNex, visit www.enernex.com.

Ventyx is a registered trademark of Ventyx Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

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Will Dailey https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=86480

SOURCE Ventyx

Source: PR Newswire

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