Actions for Water-Related Power Plant Curtailments [electronic resource] : An Overview of Incidents and Contributing Factors

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Water-Related Power Plant Curtailments [electronic resource] : An Overview of Incidents and Contributing Factors

Published
Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 2016.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Physical Description
39 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.), United States. Department of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
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Summary
Water temperatures and water availability can affect the reliable operations of power plants in the United States. Data on water-related impacts on the energy sector are not consolidated and are reported by multiple agencies. This study provides an overview of historical incidents where water resources have affected power plant operations, discusses the various data sources providing information, and creates a publicly available and open access database that contains consolidated information about water-related power plant curtailment and shut-down incidents. Power plants can be affected by water resources if incoming water temperatures are too high, water discharge temperatures are too high, or if there is not enough water available to operate. Changes in climate have the potential to exacerbate uncertainty over water resource availability and temperature. Power plant impacts from water resources include curtailment of generation, plant shut-downs, and requests for regulatory variances. In addition, many power plants have developed adaptation approaches to reducing the potential risks of water-related issues by investing in new technologies or developing and implementing plans to undertake during droughts or heatwaves. This study identifies 42 incidents of water-related power plant issues from 2000-2015, drawing from a variety of different datasets. These incidents occur throughout the U.S., and affect coal and nuclear plants that use once-through, recirculating, and pond cooling systems. In addition, water temperature violations reported to the Environmental Protection Agency are also considered, with 35 temperature violations noted from 2012-2015. In addition to providing some background information on incidents, this effort has also created an open access database on the Open Energy Information platform that contains information about water-related power plant issues that can be updated by users.
Report Numbers
E 1.99:nrel/tp--6a20-67084
nrel/tp--6a20-67084
Subject(s)
Other Subject(s)
Note
Published through SciTech Connect.
12/01/2016.
"nrel/tp--6a20-67084"
James McCall; Jordan Macknick; Jordan Macknick.
Funding Information
AC36-08GO28308
View MARC record | catkey: 23779095