Southwest Power Pool sets new wind records

Houston (Platts)--18 Feb 2016 517 pm EST/2217 GMT

The Southwest Power Pool Wednesday set a new wind peak record as well as a wind-penetration-level record, according to the grid operator.

The wind peak record was set at 10,439 MW around 10:30 pm CST Wednesday, while the wind penetration level record was set at 43.3% with load at 23,740 MW, according to SPP.

Wind was forecast to peak just below 10,725 MW Wednesday, SPP data showed.

SPP North Hub on-peak LMP was about $17/MWh Wednesday, with off-peak near $12/MWh, compared with February-to-date averages of $18.75/MWh and $14.50/MWh, respectively.

South Hub on-peak was around $18.75/MWh Wednesday and off-peak near $16.25/MWh, compared with February-to-date averages of $21.50/MWh and $18/MWh, respectively.

The previous wind peak record, 9,948 MW was set December 19. The previous wind penetration level record, 39.1%, was reached 5:29 am CST January 31.

SPP wind output throughout February has averaged roughly 5,925 MW, up roughly 2,600 MW or 79% from the February 2015 average of about 3,300 MW.

Wind-powered generation accounted for about 13.5% of the fuel mix last year, said SPP spokesman Derek Wingfield.

Total installed and available wind capacity in SPP is 12,397 MW, Wingfield previously told Platts. At of the end of last year, SPP had 33,819 MW of wind capacity in development, including projects under study, those with executed interconnection agreements and those under construction, he added.

--Kassia Micek, kassia.micek@platts.com
--Edited by Valarie Jackson, valarie.jackson@platts.com

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