Long-Term Water Management for Nova Scotia Power
Authors: T. Olason, R. Allen, S. Bridgeman, A. MacKenzie
1^st Annual Conference System Stewardship for Dams & Reservoirs - Canadian Dam Association. Nova Scotia; September 1998

Abstract

The Hydroelectric Business Unit (HBU) of Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI) has contracted with Great Lake Acres Energy Optimization Inc. to implement a comprehensive computerized Decision Support System (DSS) to guide long and short term generation scheduling. The system will be used to schedule long-term and short-term generation and reservoir operations for the 35 plants, 381-MW hydroelectric facilities located in 16 river basins throughout the province of Nova Scotia.

The Vista DSS is comprised of a suite of fully integrated Windows-based modules which manage static and real-time data, load forecasts, natural inflow forecasts, long-term water management and short-term unit dispatch schedules, and generation studies. This paper discusses the LT Vista module, which determines the optimum long-term generation schedule. The module is used to manage water storage and releases from significant reservoirs over the long-term (one to four years). It considers a wide range of hydrologic scenarios and energy prices to determine optimum water management decisions and implied value of water in storage. The latter values in turn provide the economic signal to guide the short-term generation scheduling. LT Vista also quantifies the risk of future water oversupply and deficits.