The Bonneville Power Administration inked two new power purchase agreements with Portland General Electric Co. with five-year terms for the supply of up to 200 MW of surplus hydroelectric power, the two companies said in a March 7 news release.
The electricity will be generated from the Federal Columbia River Power System and is expected to fill a projected shortfall in PGE's power supply after 2020 when its coal-fired Boardman power plant ends operations.
The new power contracts will begin in January 2021 and will allow PGE more time for new dispatchable resource technologies to mature. However, the contracts will not count toward Oregon's renewable portfolio standard, which requires PGE to serve 50% of power demand from qualifying resources by 2040.
PGE is also preparing to issue a request for proposals in late spring for an additional 100 MW of qualifying renewable resources to be available in 2020-2021.
