POWER May 2015 - 44

GENERATION TRANSITIONS
2. North Dakota wind. Minnesota Power's renewables portfolio includes three phases
of the Bison Wind Energy Center in North Dakota that are linked to Duluth, Minn., via a 465-mile
direct current transmission line. Courtesy: Minnesota Power
tery to hold North Dakota's wind power,
the equivalent of a long-distance pumped
storage project. When Minnesota Power
doesn't need the wind it is generating
in North Dakota, it can send the juice to
Canada and its large hydro reserves. When
Minnesota needs power that it can't supply
from its own system, it can call on Manitoba
Hydro under the terms of its power
purchase agreement.
erative, and is converting its 96-MW Laskin
coal-fired plant to gas.
The utility is bullish on wind, which the
company believes is well-matched to its large
industrial load. The intermittency of wind is
less of a problem for Minnesota Power than
for the typical utility with big residential
loads. The major industrial customers are
running full-out, round-the-clock, and can
take wind power when it is available.
In recent years, the company has added
some 500 MW of utility-owned wind generation
from its Bison Wind Energy Center in
North Dakota (Figure 2), linked to Duluth by
a 465-mile, direct current transmission line.
Brad Oachs, Minnesota Power's chief operating
officer, said, " We are meeting Minnesota's
renewable standard of 25% renewable
energy by 2025, a decade early. "
Minnesota Power also has an innovative
deal with Manitoba Hydro, its Canadian
neighbor and a water power giant. The
U.S. utility will purchase 250 MW of the
Canadian utility's big hydro resource. But
here's an interesting rub. Minnesota Power
is building a 500-kV, 220-mile direct current
line between its North Dakota wind
generation sites and the Manitoba Hydro
system at the Canadian border. The Great
Northern Transmission Line, the company
said in a 2013 filing with the Minnesota
Public Utilities Commission, " will allow
Minnesota Power to effectively store
excess wind energy from the Bison projects
in North Dakota in Manitoba Hydro's
hydro facilities. "
The bi-directional intertie will treat
Manitoba Hydro as a power storage bat " This
is the first example of
a true energy player joining
forces with a true water play.
The energy-water nexus is
coming to fruition. "
-LaMarr Barnes, vice president for marketing
and strategy, U.S. Water Services Inc.
44
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Fuel Diversity, and Beyond
While Minnesota Power is moving away
from coal, the company is not abandoning
the rocks that burn. " We definitely think
there is a place for coal, " said Rudeck, noting
that its BNI mining subsidiary has a longterm
contract with the Milton Young 2 plant
that lasts through 2035. But the company
plans on completely phasing out its power
purchases from the Young plant by 2026. " If
anybody is going to mine coal, we think we
are the best to do it, " he said. Adams added
that while much of the handwringing in the
industry has been about the end of coal, " we
think the future will see as much or more
coal " than today.
The company is now at 75% coal-fired
generation, while it is adding 600 MW of
new wind generation and planning to develop
up to 250 MW of gas combined cycle
generation after 2020. The company's current
gas fleet is mostly combustion turbines
used to meet peak loads. The company is
also investing in conservation, said Adams,
exceeding the year-on-year goal of 2% for
several years.
The proposed Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) plan to clamp down on carbon
dioxide power plant emissions, the Clean
Power Plan, is casting some clouds of doubt
over ALLETE's strategic vision. " We think
the patchwork of emission rate targets [in the
EPA proposal] creates winners and losers, "
said Rudeck. He said the company is working
with state trade associations, the Edison
Electric Institute, the National Association of
Manufacturers, and other groups to make its
points with the EPA.
Rudeck added that he doesn't think the
Clean Power Plan is going to have much immediate
impact. " Look at the mercury and
air toxics rule [MATS], " he said. " It was
first promulgated in 1990. It's finally sticking
in 2015. "
As for the union of ALLETE's power interests
with U.S. Water's liquid focus, U.S.
Water's Barnes noted, " This is the first example
of a true energy player joining forces with
a true water play. The energy-water nexus is
coming to fruition. " ■
-Kennedy Maize is a frequent POWER
contributor.
POWER | May 2015

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POWER May 2015

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