QRA Map Creation and Analysis Western Renewable Energy Zones Project Technical Committee Meeting

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QRA Map Creation and AnalysisWestern Renewable
Energy Zones ProjectTechnical Committee Meeting

• Black Veatch
• January 13, 2009

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Agenda

• QRA Identification Process
• Draft QRA maps
• Remaining data needs

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Caveat

• Maps shown today are proposed for public comment
• They are indicative of current progress, but not
  final results (after additional exclusions)
• There are a few known holes
• Maps will be revised for public comment package

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Overview of WREZ Zoning Process
Raw Resources
Candidate Study Areas
Qualified Resource Areas
Renewable Energy Zones
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Raw Resources to CSAs
Raw Resources
Candidate Study Areas
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Each states solar CSA includes only the best
solar resource in that state
Lower quality solar may supplement other
resources in some regions
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Each states wind CSAs include the best wind
resources in that state
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Maps

• Wind raw resource and CSA Map
• Solar raw resource and CSA Map

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CSAs to QRAs
Candidate Study Areas
Qualified Resource Areas
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CSAs Transformed into QRA in 5 Major Steps

• Develop exclusions
• Apply exclusions
• Generate a grid
• Identify QRAs
• Quantify other resources
• Biomass, small hydro, undiscovered geothermal and
  EGS, other resources

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Avoid areas developed by EL and ZITAs
exclusions were applied to the CSA maps

• EL provided a number of environmental exclusion
  area types that are excluded from development
• Statutorily excluded areas
• Non-statutorily excluded avoid areas agreed upon
  by the work group members
• New data still coming and being integrated
• ZITA provided technical exclusions that exclude
  certain areas from development in addition to the
  minimum resource criteria
• Slope
• Land use (urban areas, water bodies)
• Military restrictions

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Zone-defining Resources Were Combined to Identify
QRAs
Zone-defining Resources Were Combined to Identify
QRAs

• Wind
• Solar
• Geothermal (Known Hydrothermal)
• Large Hydro (Canada)

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Minimum and maximum QRA size criteria used to
identify QRAs

• Minimum QRA size
• Solar thermal, wind and large hydro (Canada
  only) 1500 MW
• Discovered, conventional geothermal 500 MW
• Maximum QRA size
• A collector system cost of 10/MWh
• Less than 100 miles from collector point

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Map Demonstration

• Draft QRA Map

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Preliminary QRA SummaryQRA-defining resources
onlyQRAs assigned to state/province with
majority of resource
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Remaining data needs

• Decision on the treatment of military lands and
  airspace as exclusion areas
• Most current EL exclude and avoid areas (we are
  still receiving and processing these data)
• Canadian environmental exclusion areas
• Canadian small hydropower projects

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Additional Resources to Be Quantified in QRAs

• Incremental hydropower in the US
• Solid biomass resources
• Undiscovered, conventional geothermal
• Enhanced Geothermal Systems potential
• Non-REZ resources will also be quantified, but
  not part of QRAs