The Impact of Water Use Fees on Dispatching and Water Requirements for Water-Cooled Power Plants in Texas

Abstract

We utilize a unit commitment and dispatch model to estimate how water use fees on power generators would affect dispatching and water requirements by the power sector in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas' (ERCOT) electric grid. Fees ranging from 10 to 1000 USD per acre-foot were separately applied to water withdrawals and consumption. Fees were chosen to be comparable in cost to a range of water supply projects proposed in the Texas Water Development Board's State Water Plan to meet demand through 2050. We found that these fees can reduce water withdrawals and consumption for cooling thermoelectric power plants in ERCOT by as much as 75% and 23%, respectively. To achieve these water savings, wholesale electricity generation costs might increase as much as 120% based on 2011 fuel costs and generation characteristics. We estimate that water saved through these fees is not as cost-effective as conventional long-term water supply projects. However, the electric grid offers short-term flexibility that conventional water supply projects do not. Furthermore, this manuscript discusses conditions under which the grid could be effective at "supplying" water, particularly during emergency drought conditions, by changing its operational conditions.

Characterizing cooling water source and usage patterns across US thermoelectric power plants: a comprehensive assessment of self-reported cooling water data

“…and the volumetric subset of withdrawn water that is not returned to the source (i.e. consumed via evaporative losses), respectively [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Nationwide, almost half (45%) of annual US water withdrawals and about 3% of total US water consumption is dedicated to cooling thermoelectric power plants [8].…”

“…The water requirements of power plants can vary significantly across different facilities and are influenced by characteristics such as cooling technology, fuel type, prime mover, pollution controls, and ambient climate [6,7,9]. Cooling system configuration is the most significant characteristic governing a power plant's water use.…”

“…Cooling system configuration is the most significant characteristic governing a power plant's water use. Open-loop (or once-through) cooling systems withdraw large volumes of water, used once to condense steam exiting a steam turbine, while closedloop (or recirculating) cooling systems withdraw smaller volumes per unit of generation by recirculating water continuously, at the expense of higher water consumption rates [6,7]. Differences in the combustion (or conversion) characteristics of different primary energies (i.e.…”

Mist Cooling Technology for Thermoelectric Power Plants

“…It is important to distinguish between water 'withdrawal' and water 'consumption'. Withdrawal refers to removing water from a surface or groundwater source, whereas consumption (or 'use') refers to the subset of withdrawn water that evaporates or is not returned to its original source [10]; thus, water withdrawal is always greater than or equal to consumption [5].…”

Marginal costs of water savings from cooling system retrofits: a case study for Texas power plants

“…This is not the first paper to evaluate the waterenergy nexus in the state of Texas. Several previous studies have used power plant models to examine water use for new fossil fuel-fired power plants in the context of changing regulatory environments and future power plant fleets [11][12][13], while other studies have valuated the opportunities for fuel switching or water use fees to mitigate water constraints in the energy sector [14][15][16][17]. Some work has also been done to evaluate cooling system technologies in thermal power plants.…”