River rises; Northwest wind farms, plants cut back

May 18, 2011 By TIM FOUGHT , Associated Press

(AP) -- Wind farms and fossil-fuel power plants in the Pacific Northwest were all but shut down for five hours early Wednesday as the Columbia River basin's hydroelectric generators ran at full capacity and river managers dealt with one of the largest volumes of spring runoff in years.

The Bonneville Power Administration said last week such a shutdown was likely and may be repeated overnight Thursday. Wind farm operators have objected.

During the shutdown, from midnight to 5 a.m., almost all Northwest power came from dams.

The Bonneville Power Administration says and coal and natural-gas plants reduced output to the minimum needed to protect their equipment and the grid. Customers were not affected.

The agency says the water volume is so great that fish trying to get by the dams are in jeopardy from turbulence and nitrogen in the water.

©2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

rwinners
May 19, 2011

Rank: not rated yet
This indicates to me that more inter-connectivity is needed in the country's electrical grid. Wind farms as well as other renewables should never be shut down because of excess power.
Rank 4 /5 (1 vote)
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Browser wars flare in mobile space

The browser wars are heating up again, but this time the fight is for dominance of the mobile Internet.

Technology / Software

created 32 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

SpotterRF debuts Radar Backpack Kit (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- SpotterRF has announced a special radar backpack kit designed to enhance situational awareness for soldiers on the ground. The company says its special radar is designed for warfighters as part ...

Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation

created 21 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 12 | with audio podcast report

Computers excel at identifying smiles of frustration (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) -- Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have trained computers to recognize smiles, and they have turned out to be more adept at recognizing smiles of frustration ...

Technology / Computer Sciences

created May 25, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast report

HyperSolar shows dirty water no barrier to power world

(Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created May 24, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (15) | comments 17 | with audio podcast report

New inexpensive, environmentally friendly solar cell shines with potential

(Phys.org) -- The limitations of conventional and current solar cells include high production cost, low operating efficiency and durability, and many cells rely on toxic and scarce materials. Northwestern University researchers ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created May 23, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 4 | with audio podcast


Nvidia trumpets Tegra 3 phone design wins for 2012

(Phys.org) -- Nvidia’s competitive war paint has a name, Tegra 3. On the heels of Nvidia announcements about lowering costs of its Tegra 3 processors and Nvidia-enabled tablets running Android Ice Cream ...

Dell tablet leak: 10.1-inch display, two-battery choice

(Phys.org) -- Headline after headline talks about vendors’ tablets in the wings as likely number-one contenders for the iPad. Such claims have justifiably been taken with a grain of salt, considering ...

Scientist: Evolution debate will soon be history

(AP) -- Richard Leakey predicts skepticism over evolution will soon be history. Not that the avowed atheist has any doubts himself.

SpaceX capsule has 'new car' smell, astronauts say (Update)

SpaceX's Dragon cargo vessel smells like a new car, said astronauts at the International Space Station after opening the hatches Saturday following the spacecraft's landmark mission to the orbiting lab.

Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse

(Medical Xpress) -- Regardless of an organism’s biological complexity, every encephalized animal continuously makes under-informed behavioral choices that can have serious consequences. Despite its ubiquity, ...

Is a classical electrodynamics law incompatible with special relativity?

(Phys.org) -- The laws of classical electromagnetism that were developed in the 19th century are the same laws that scientists use today. They include Maxwell’s four equations along with the Lorentz la ...