Economic benefit of forecasts for a hydro-powered utility and considerations for wind integration

BC Hydro, the primary utility company for British Columbia, is predominantly a hydro-powered utility, with < 1% of its power currently produced by wind. Static cost/loss and decision theory economic models are developed and employed to evaluate the economic benefit of deterministic and ensemble model forecasts for current hydroelectric reservoir operation. Looking ahead, wind power production in the province will increase more than seven-fold by 2015, making it a non-negligible quantity. Economic considerations for integration of wind power into the hydro-dominated grid are discussed.