Achieving A Global Perspective Through Interdisciplinary Mini Terms: Electric Power Development In New Zealand

s of three of the research papers follow: Issues in Transmission Grid Management in a Deregulated Electricity Market: The Case of New Zealand In New Zealand’s recently deregulated electricity market, generators can supplement long-term (hedge) contracts by offering electricity to the spot market for dispatch through the national grid. Transpower Ltd is the state-owned enterprise responsible for operating the grid and facilitating and coordinating the transmission of power from P ge 856.4 “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education” generation stations to supply companies (retailers) and major industrial users. In order to ensure the reliability of power supply and the dispatch of power at the lowest possible cost to end-users, Transpower operates a high voltage direct current line that permits large electric energy transfers between the South and North Islands. However, a transmission bottleneck south of Auckland, the country’s main population center, has restricted trade across the grid and resulted in significant price differentials. A major drought in 2001 that caused a spike in spot market prices and the failure of some electricity retailers has motivated calls for further reforms of both the electricity market and the management of the national grid. This analysis focuses on the efficiency impacts of the entry barriers for new retailers and generators and alternative approaches to alleviating the transmission bottleneck. Evidence is drawn from public records and interviews with Transpower management and electricity market participants in December, 2001. Issues in Hydroelectric Energy Resource Management in New Zealand: An Analysis of the Waikato River Power Scheme The Waikato River is one of New Zealand’s most heavily utilized and economically important rivers. Nine hydro stations supply nearly 15% of New Zealand’s electric energy, and the Waikato provides cooling water for three other power stations.7 The River is also a source of municipal and agricultural water supply, a venue for waterbased recreation, and a significant freshwater ecosystem. The country’s reliance on hydroelectric power has forced policy makers to address the conflict between the increased need for electricity and preservation of the natural environment and cultural heritage. Mighty River Power, the state-owned operator of the Waikato hydro scheme, has recently applied to the Waikato Regional Environmental Council for resource consents to continue to utilize the River for electric power generation. In particular, the company has proposed changes in lake levels and flow regime in order to have greater flexibility to meet peak demand in New Zealand’s recently deregulated electricity market.7 This analysis reviews the technological, environmental, and economic issues in the proposed operation of the Waikato power scheme. Evidence is drawn from government documents, company records, and interviews with company management, plant operators, and Environmental Council officials during site visits in December, 2001. Issues in Hydroelectric Energy Resource Management in New Zealand: The Case of Manapouri Power Station Endowed with mountainous terrain and high rainfall levels, New Zealand has relied heavily on hydroelectric power to meet its electric energy needs. However, the development of hydroelectric power has forced policy makers to address the conflict between the increased availability (and lower cost) of electricity and preservation of the country’s natural environment and cultural heritage. The Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station, the largest hydro station in New Zealand, was constructed in a remote wilderness area in the 1960’s to provide power for an aluminum smelter at the tip of the South Island. The design of the plant included a powerhouse 700 feet underground and a six-mile long tailrace tunnel system, in addition to the proposed raising of Lake Manapouri by 100 feet.4 This analysis reviews the technological, environmental, and economic issues that have arisen in the siting, construction, and operation of the original plant and during the recently completed expansion of the tailrace capacity. The impacts of the deregulation of New Zealand’s electricity market and the availability of power from alternative hydro sources are also considered in an overall benefit-cost assessment of the Manapouri project. Evidence is drawn from government records and interviews with plant management during a site visit in December, 2001. (3) Student Journal Requirements In order to assure that students would focus sufficiently on the academic purposes of the trip to New Zealand, they were required to maintain a detailed record of their observations as they traveled around the country. Students were provided with 6.5 x 9.5 inch spiral-bound notebooks, small enough to facilitate note taking during site visits and yet large enough to contain the entire record of their visit. They were given the following set of written guidelines for record keeping and submission of the journals: P ge 856.5 “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education” The journal is supposed to be a complete chronological record of your § observations and impressions of cultural and natural phenomena, social behavior and attitudes, economic/political institutions, and infrastructure in New Zealand. It should include technical notes from presentations at the various sites, as well as your assessment of each of the site visits (what was good about it and what might have made it better). However, it should not include personal experiences on your free time that are not directly related to the focus of the mini-term program. You should keep a [separate] diary if you desire to have such a record. The journal will be spot-checked while we are in New Zealand to determine § whether you are maintaining a timely record of your experiences. You are expected to update the journal at least once per day, i.e., the most recent entries should have been made within the past 24 hours. The spontaneous record of your experiences may be limited to brief (even cryptic) § entries in the journal. However, by leaving adequate space, you will later be able to make more complete entries (e.g., in the evening) when you have more time to reflect on what you have seen or heard. This will preserve the chronology and yet promote legibility and completeness of your observations. The journal (in the original spiral-bound notebook) must be submitted for § evaluation no later than the day you return for the Winter term. There should be no embellishments or corrections to journal entries after your return from New Zealand; however, you may include your overall impressions and assessment at the end. Bases for evaluation of the journals (40% of the course grade) included: Legibility; § Documentation (of dates/times, places, sources of information); § Scope (breadth and depth) of personal observations; § Completeness of technical notes; § Completeness of assessment of site visits, presentations, related activities. § Field Work in New Zealand (Site Visits) The key component of the course is three weeks of field work in New Zealand. The country, renowned for its natural beauty, consists of two islands (about 2/3 the landmass of California) located 1000 miles southeast of Australia. On the tour of power generation sites in December 2001, the group traveled over 2700 miles in two 10-passenger vans. The odyssey began on the North Island in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, and ended in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. In between, we visited the national grid control center and two power company control centers, 9 hydroelectric power stations (including two underground plants), a 1000MW thermal plant that burns both natural gas and coal, three geothermal power stations (using different technologies), and a wind farm with 48 wind turbines on a mountain ridge north of Wellington. The itinerary includes presentations by the operators of the national grid, power company management, plant engineers, electricity market traders, environmental council officials, and representatives of indigenous peoples (Maori). Each of the State-owned enterprises that own and operate the bulk of New Zealand’s generation capacity has been very accommodating in arranging P ge 856.6 “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education” the half-day visits to the various power stations and company control centers and providing information requested about the management of the facilities. Hydroelectric Power Schemes By visiting a variety of hydro stations, the students are able to observe the similarities in the turbines, generator, and control equipment, as studied prior to the visit. However, they also see important differences in how the technology is adapted to the topography, flow, and particular location of a hydro scheme. For example, the students are able to observe the special design, construction, and safety issues with the underground facilities, the operation of different types of surge tanks, turbine bearing disassembly and turbine replacement at a plant down for maintenance, different types of turbine runners with some showing cavitation damage, different penstock configurations, and water being “spilled” to meet environmental mandates. They learn how a second tailrace tunnel will increase the generating capacity at one plant by approximately 13%. A range of generating and control equipment is observed, from museum pieces carefully maintained and still producing power to the most modern turbines, generators, and governors. Students sense the shear power of the water through the vi