Thursday, Oct 27, 2016

EE's Lee Helping Formosa Utilities Increase Power Plant Efficiency

Thursday, October 27, 2016

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Wei-Jen Lee, a professor in UTA’s Electrical Engineering Department, will help Formosa Utility Venture, Inc., buy and sell electricity more efficiently and comply with regulations on the market side, with the help of a $181,000 grant.

Lee, who has consulted with the company previously, will upgrade a dynamic power-monitoring system at the company’s plant in Point Comfort, Texas, that will help Formosa Utility Venture participate in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s demand/response program. ERCOT operates the state’s electric grid and manages the deregulated market for 75 percent of the state. He will also look at the Formosa’s power system protection to ensure that it meets the reliability standards set forth by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, which assures the reliability of the North American bulk power system.

“The goal is to help Formosa participate in the ERCOT market by buying and selling energy in the most energy-efficient manner possible,” Lee said. “I will monitor the entire 900 megawatt energy-generating plant to help them reduce consumption and, in turn, make money by selling the power that they don’t use in times of demand.”

According to Lee, when developing a smart grid, the load side becomes an important consideration. If demand rises and causes a deficiency on the load side, electricity providers must choose between cutting power to reduce the load or starting a generator to bolster their ability to support the demand. Cutting power immediately decreases the load but negatively impacts users. A generator takes time to catch up and produce enough power.

By reducing consumption and increasing efficiency, a provider can use whatever power it needs or choose not to use as much. In times of high demand, ERCOT will pay the company for its excess power until the demand is met, so the company makes money either way.

Lee joined UTA in 1985. He is the director of the university’s Energy Systems Research Center. He is a Fellow of IEEE and serves as the project manager of the IEEE/NFPA Collaboration on Arc Flash Phenomena Research Project.