NPRR686  Changing the IRR Forecast from Next 48 Hours to Next 168 Hours

The Protocols currently require Qualified Scheduling Entities (QSEs) representing Wind-powered Generation Resources (WGRs) to submit a Current Operating Plan (COP) with a High Sustained Limit (HSL) value that is no higher than ERCOT’s Short-Term Wind Power Forecast (STWPF) for any of the first 48 hours covered by the COP. Nodal Protocol Revision Request (NPRR) 615, PVGR Forecasting, introduced a similar requirement that QSEs representing PhotoVoltaic Generation Resources (PVGRs) must submit an HSL that is no higher than the Short-Term PhotoVoltaic Power Forecast (STPPF) for the first 48 hours of the Resource’s COP. (Implementation of this NPRR is pending.) ERCOT’s supplier of the wind forecasts has recently added capability to provide an extended forecast that covers 7 days, or 168 hours. ERCOT has concluded that requiring QSEs to limit their HSLs to the STWPF and STPFF values for each of the next 168 hours could improve ERCOT’s operational visibility and help inform the Reliability Unit Commitment (RUC) process and the coordination of outages, while imposing little additional cost on QSEs. Additionally there is recognized benefit in publishing these forecast and providing them to all ERCOT particpants. Accordingly, ERCOT submits this NPRR to require QSEs representing WGRs or PVGRs to limit the HSL values submitted for the entire 168-hour range of the Current Operating Plan (COP) to the values provided in the most recent STWPF or STPFF, as applicable. As required by the Protocols, ERCOT will post these extended forecasts to the Market Information System (MIS), just as with the current 48-hour forecasts.