Alternatives for Electric Utility Gas Supply Risk Management. Final Report, May1991-March 1992

摘要

There are a number of potential barriers to using natural gas in the electricutility industry. These include price risk, regulatory barriers and load management problems. Sharing techniques for mitigating these risks will aid strategic planning and the successful commercialization of new technologies. Long-term, 15-year, gas supply contracts have been used extensively to mitigate price risk for project-financed combined cycle facilities. Most electric utilities have preferred price risk to paying the premium necessary to reduce this risk. Price risk is less important for dual fired gas and residual fuel oil and gas cofiring in coal plants because of the alternate fuel capability of these facilities and lower incremental capital cost of conversions compared to the cost of a new combined cycle facility. A number of methods for dealing with gas load management problems caused by combustion turbines were identified. Regulators need to be educated concerning the cost and value of risk mitigation.