| (a) Application. This section applies to the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) and to generation entities
and transmission service providers (TSPs) in the ERCOT power region.
(1) A generation resource with an ERCOT-approved notice
of suspension of operations for the summer season or winter season
is not required to comply with this section until the return to service
date identified in its notice of change of generation resource designation
required under the ERCOT protocols.
(2) A new or repowered resource scheduled to begin
commercial operations during the summer season or winter season or
a transmission facility scheduled for initial energization during
the summer season or winter season must meet the requirements of this
section prior to either the commissioning date established in the
ERCOT interconnection process for generation resources or initial
energization for transmission facilities, as applicable.
(b) Definitions. In this section, the following definitions
apply unless the context indicates otherwise.
(1) Energy storage resource--An energy storage system
registered with ERCOT as an energy storage resource for the purpose
of providing energy or ancillary services to the ERCOT grid and associated
facilities controlled by the generation entity that are behind the
system's point of interconnection, necessary for the operation of
the system, and not part of a manufacturing process that is separate
from the generation of electricity.
(2) Generation entity--An ERCOT-registered resource
entity acting on behalf of an ERCOT-registered generation resource
or energy storage resource.
(3) Generation resource--A generator registered with
ERCOT as a generation resource and capable of providing energy or
ancillary services to the ERCOT grid, as well as associated facilities
controlled by the generation entity that are behind the generator's
point of interconnection, necessary for the operation of the generator,
and not part of a manufacturing process that is separate from the
generation of electricity.
(4) Inspection--Activities that ERCOT employees, commission
staff, and designated contractors engage in to determine whether a
generation entity is in compliance with all or parts of subsection
(c) of this section or whether a TSP is in compliance with all or
parts of subsection (f) of this section. An inspection may include
site visits, assessments of procedures, interviews, and review of
information provided by a generation entity or TSP in response to
a request by ERCOT, including review of evaluations conducted by the
generation entity or TSP or its contractor.
(5) Major weather-related forced interruption of service
of a resource -
(A) The failure of a resource to start, following one
or more attempts, for 12 or more continuous hours as a result of a
weather emergency; or
(B) The loss of 50% or more of the capacity reflected
in a resource's seasonal net maximum sustainable rating for 12 or
more continuous hours as a result of a weather emergency.
(6) Major weather-related forced interruption of service
of a transmission facility--A non-momentary transmission service outage
caused by damage to, or the inoperability of, a transmission facility
as a result of a weather emergency.
(7) Repeated weather-related forced interruption of
service--Three or more of any combination of the following occurrences
as a result of separate weather emergencies within any three-year
period:
(A) The failure of a resource to start;
(B) The loss of 50% or more of the capacity reflected
in a resource's seasonal net maximum sustainable rating for 30 minutes
or more; or
(C) The loss or derate of 50% or more of a transmission
facility's rating.
(8) Resource--A generation resource or energy storage
resource.
(9) Summer season--June 1 to September 30 each year.
(10) Transmission facility--A transmission-voltage
element inside the fence surrounding a TSP's high-voltage switching
station or substation owned or operated by the TSP.
(11) Weather critical component--Any component of a
resource or transmission facility that is susceptible to fail as a
result of a weather emergency, the occurrence of which failure is
likely to significantly hinder the ability of the resource or transmission
facility to function as intended or, for a resource, is likely to
lead to a trip, derate of more than five percent of the capacity represented
in the resource's seasonal net maximum sustainable rating or of the
transmission facility's rating, or failure to start.
(12) Weather emergency--A situation resulting from
a summer or winter weather event that produces significant risk for
a TSP that firm load must be shed or a situation for which ERCOT issues
an Emergency Notice to market participants involving an operating
condition in which the safety or reliability of the ERCOT system is
compromised or threatened by summer or winter weather.
(13) Weather emergency preparation measures--Measures
that a generation entity or TSP takes to support the function of a
resource or transmission facility during a weather emergency.
(14) Winter season--December 1 to February 28 of the
following year.
(c) Weather emergency preparedness reliability standards
for a generation entity.
(1) Winter season preparations. By December 1 each
year, a generation entity must complete the following winter weather
emergency preparation measures for each resource under its control.
A generation entity must maintain these measures throughout the winter
season and complete any ongoing or monthly requirements at the appropriate
time. If necessary to come into compliance, a generation entity must
update its winter weather emergency preparation measures no later
than one year after ERCOT files a historical weather study report
under subsection (i) of this section.
(A) Implement weather emergency preparation measures
that could reasonably be expected to ensure the sustained operation
of all cold weather critical components during winter weather conditions.
Where appropriate, such measures may be implemented using either personnel
or automated systems. Such measures include, as appropriate for the
resource:
(i) Installation and maintenance of adequate wind breaks
for resources susceptible to outages or derates caused by wind;
(ii) Installation and maintenance of insulation and
enclosures for all cold weather critical components;
(iii) Inspection of existing thermal insulation and
associated forms of water-proofing for damage or degradation, and
repair of damaged or degraded insulation and associated forms of water-proofing;
(iv) Arrange and provide for the availability and appropriate
safekeeping of sufficient chemicals, auxiliary fuels, and other materials
necessary for sustained operations during a winter weather emergency;
(v) Plan for and maintain the operability of instrument
air moisture prevention systems;
(vi) Maintenance of freeze protection equipment for
all cold weather critical components, including fuel delivery systems
controlled by the generation entity, and testing or verifying the
functionality of freeze protection equipment prior to and on a monthly
basis during the winter season; and
(vii) Monitoring of all cold weather critical components,
including circuitry that provides freeze protection or prevents instrument
air moisture;
(B) Beginning in 2023, implement weather emergency
preparation measures by December 1 each year, in addition to the weather
emergency preparation measures required by subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph, that could reasonably be expected to ensure sustained operation
of the resource at the 95th percentile minimum average 72-hour wind
chill temperature reported in ERCOT's historical weather study, required
under subsection (i) of this section, for the weather zone in which
the resource is located.
(C) Review the adequacy of staffing plans to be used
during a winter weather emergency and revise the staffing plans, as
appropriate.
(D) Train relevant operational personnel on winter
weather preparations and operations.
(E) Beginning in 2023, create a list of all cold weather
critical components, review the list at least annually prior to the
beginning of the winter season, and update the list as necessary.
(2) Summer season preparations. By June 1 each year,
a generation entity must complete the following summer weather emergency
preparation measures for each resource under its control. A generation
entity must maintain these measures throughout the summer season and
complete any ongoing or monthly requirements at the appropriate time.
If necessary to come into compliance, a generation entity must update
its summer weather emergency preparation measures no later than one
year after ERCOT files a historical weather study report under subsection
(i) of this section.
(A) Implement weather emergency preparation measures
that could reasonably be expected to ensure the sustained operation
of all hot weather critical components during summer weather conditions.
Where appropriate, such measures may be implemented using either personnel
or automated systems. Such measures include, as appropriate for the
resource:
(i) Identification of regulatory and legal limitations
of cooling capacity, water withdrawal, maximum discharge temperatures,
and rights for additional water supply;
(ii) Arrange and plan for the provision and storage
of adequate water supplies for cooling towers, reservoirs, heat exchangers,
and adequate cooling capacity of the water supplies used in the cooling
towers, reservoirs, and heat exchangers;
(iii) Arrange and plan for the provision and storage
of availability and appropriate safekeeping of adequate equipment
to remove heat and moisture from all hot weather critical components;
(iv) Arrange and provide for the availability of sufficient
chemicals, coolants, auxiliary fuels, and other materials necessary
for sustained operations during a summer weather emergency;
(v) Maintenance of all hot weather critical components,
including air flow or cooling systems, and verifying the functionality
of all components prior to and on a monthly basis during the summer
season; and
(vi) Monitoring of all hot weather critical components.
(B) Beginning in 2023, implement weather emergency
preparation measures by June 1 each year, in addition to the weather
emergency preparation measures required by subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph, that could reasonably be expected to ensure sustained operation
of the resource during the greater of the maximum ambient temperature
at which the resource has experienced sustained operations or the
95th percentile maximum average 72-hour temperature reported in ERCOT's
historical weather study, required under subsection (i) of this section,
for the weather zone in which the resource is located.
(C) Review the adequacy of staffing plans to be used
during a summer weather emergency and revise the staffing plans, as
appropriate.
(D) Train relevant operational personnel on summer
weather preparations and operations.
(E) Beginning in 2023, create a list of all hot weather
critical components, review the list at least annually prior to the
beginning of the summer season, and update the list as necessary.
(3) Declaration of preparedness. A generation entity
must submit to ERCOT, on a form prescribed by ERCOT, the following
declarations of weather preparedness:
(A) No earlier than November 1 and no later than December
1 of each year, a generation entity must submit a declaration of winter
weather preparedness for the upcoming winter season that:
(i) Identifies every resource under the entity's control
for which the declaration is being submitted;
(ii) Summarizes all activities engaged in by the generation
entity to complete the requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection;
(iii) Provides the minimum ambient temperature at which
each resource has experienced sustained operations, as measured at
the resource site or the weather station nearest to the resource site;
(iv) Includes any additional information required by
the ERCOT protocols in effect as of October 1 of the year in which
the declaration is submitted; and
(v) Includes a notarized attestation sworn to by the
generation entity's highest-ranking representative, official, or officer
with binding authority over the generation entity attesting to the
completion of all applicable activities described in paragraph (1)
of this subsection, and to the accuracy and veracity of the information
described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
(B) No earlier than May 1 and no later than June 1
of each year, a generation entity must submit a declaration of summer
weather preparedness for the upcoming summer season that at a minimum:
(i) Identifies every resource under the generation
entity's control for which the declaration is being submitted;
(ii) Summarizes all activities engaged in by the generation
entity to complete the requirements of paragraph (2) of this subsection;
(iii) Provides the maximum ambient temperature at which
each resource has experienced sustained operations, as measured at
the resource site or the weather station nearest to the resource site;
Cont'd... |
