Keephills 3 Interconnection and Edmonton Region 240 kV Line Upgrades

As part of our commitment to stakeholders, the AESO provides regular updates on projects underway within our jurisdiction. The system upgrades associated with the Keephills 3 Generator Interconnection project are now complete. However, the work associated with the Edmonton Region 240 kV line upgrades has been extended from the previously stated in-service date of March 2012 to March 2013 due to Transmission Facility Owner consultation issues.

Until the project’s completion, reliable operation of this area will require interim operating limits which will continue to be posted in the table below. Single line diagrams will also be published throughout the project to provide a snapshot of the expected topology of the project based on information available at the time of publication.
Outages related to the ongoing 240 kV system upgrades will require careful coordination in order to maintain reliable operation during the lifespan of the project and to minimize any disruption to market participants.

Stakeholders are reminded that over the lifespan of this complex project, information regarding operating limits, transmission line outages and generator curtailments, and single line diagrams is subject to change. Therefore stakeholders are encouraged to keep apprised of the project status by checking this page, as well as the AESO’s two outage reports:  Long Term Critical Outages and Approved Outages which can be found on the AESO website under Grid Operations > Outages.

This page will be updated as necessary throughout the project in order to provide, to the best of our ability, updated information to stakeholders in a timely, comprehensive and transparent manner.

For more information on the AltaLink Edmonton 240 kV project please click here.

Keephills-Ellerslie-Genesee (KEG) area outages & interim operating limits

Transmission Line
Outages 		Scheduled Start Scheduled End

Total KEG Cut Plane
(KGC) Limit (MW)

 Comments
System Normal (no KEG transmission elements out of service) and SOK flow less than or equal to 1850 MW OR BC-AB import less than or equal to 500 MW   April 30, 2012 2520 MW Based on system studies. Also, refer to expedited OPP-517.
System Normal (no KEG transmission elements out of service) and SOK flow greater than 1850 MW AND BC-AB import greater than 500 MW April 30, 2012 2450 MW Based on system studies. Also, refer to expedited OPP-517.

Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO)
Effective December 16, 2011

For further information contact:

Cam Bush
Manager - Operations Coordination
ph: 403-705-5204

 

An October 14, 2010 project update letter advised stakeholders of the possibility of transmission congestion due to line outages resulting in curtailments to the Keephills, Genesee and Sundance generating plants. The transmission line outages that would affect the Keephills and Genesee plants are noted in the table above and are similar to situations that would have previously been documented in OPP 517 KEG Area Operation. Issues affecting Sundance, however, are due to an interim system configuration and are not noted in previous operating policies. The concern regarding the Sundance plant is the overloading of various transmission lines which is significantly influenced by real-time conditions. These conditions include, but are not limited to, load distribution, line outages and generation dispatch.

If any of the following transmission lines are out of service (either planned or forced), situations might be encountered where a subsequent transmission line outage would cause power flow on the remaining lines to exceed their operating limits and require the curtailment of Sundance generation as a pre-emptive strategy. Due to the variability of conditions, any line on the list below being out of service could result in transmission congestion that the AESO system controller will manage in real time.

Transmission Lines Possibly Impacting Sundance Generation Output
922L (310p Sundance - 17s Benalto)
926L (310p Sundance - 17s Benalto)
902L (310p Sundance - 19s Wabamun)
908L (310p Sundance - 816s Petrolia)
1202L (320p Keephills - 89s Ellerslie)
1209L (330p Genesee - 89s Ellerslie) 

 

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