Authors: B. Rauscher, T. Olason, F. Welt, S. G. Bridgeman
Abstract
A decision support system has been implemented for detailed hourly scheduling of generation and reservoir operations for 12 hydroelectric facilities on the Menominee River on the Michigan Wisconsin Border. The hydroelectric facilities are owned and operated by We Energies (formerly Wisconsin Electric), and are controlled from the Iron Mountain Dispatch Center. Ten of the facilities are in a cascade, and two are on mid-basin tributaries. Two of the ten projects on the main river system create seasonal storage reservoirs. In addition to the 12 We Energies projects, Sturgeon Falls, a municipally owned facility, is included in the Vista model. Sturgeon Falls operates to flatten out peaking flows from upstream plants under an operating agreement with We Energies. We Energies provide the daily operating direction for re-regulation of the upstream peaking flows.
