Ventyx and EnerNex Lead Charge on Wind Development and Integration Study for Nebraska...

Ventyx and EnerNex Lead Charge on Wind Development and Integration Study for
Nebraska Power Association

ATLANTA and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Ventyx(R) and
EnerNex(R) Corporation announced today that they have been selected to conduct
a yearlong study, in collaboration with the Nebraska Power Association (NPA,
www.nepower.org) and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL, www.nrel.gov), to advance the understanding and development
of wind energy in the state of Nebraska.

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The Nebraska Power Association (NPA) is a voluntary organization that
represents all segments of the Nebraska power industry: municipalities, public
power districts, public power and irrigation districts and cooperatives
engaged in generation, transmission or distribution of electric energy in the
state. NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and is operated by the
Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. As such, DOE and NREL have an interest
in advancing understanding of wind integration impacts in the Western Area
Power Administration's (WAPA) service area and among consumer-owned electric
power cooperatives. Federal funding of the study is matched by an equal
contribution provided by the participating NPA utilities.

NPA views this program as an opportunity to advance statewide wind development
and increase the level of understanding among state leaders concerning wind
integration and operational issues for Nebraska. "Nebraska benefits from a
diverse generation resource mix today that helps provide the state with some
of the lowest electric rates in the nation," said Clint Johannes, assistant
general manager of the Nebraska Electric G&T and chairperson of the NPA's
Joint Planning Subcommittee. "Results of this study will give Nebraska's
electric utilities, customers and policymakers information on how we best
integrate significant amounts of wind into the state's existing electric
generation mix and meet future energy requirements."

The objectives of this integration study include ascertaining the impact of
wind energy on system operations and potential mitigation approaches that may
include innovative markets, institutional arrangements within or between
balancing areas or physical response on an economic basis. Using synchronized
wind and load data, Ventyx's industry-leading market simulation and portfolio
modeling system and state-of-the-art analysis techniques, Ventyx and EnerNex
will forecast expected wind integration costs and impacts, as well as capital
costs for new transmission and generation. Various scenarios will be assessed,
including wind energy penetration of 20 percent of the state's forecasted
needs and beyond.

Ventyx Executive Vice President Will Dailey said, "Wind energy is not a fad;
it is an operational reality in the generation mix today. Nebraska offers
great potential as a resource for wind power and is the perfect location to
conduct this study. The question of how we can integrate wind resources into
the grid and how new wind plants can work together with traditional sources of
generation is a top-of-mind issue in the industry. We are very excited to have
the opportunity to use our state-of-the-art software to analyze the broader
potential of wind energy as a resource."

According to EnerNex Cofounder and Principal Consultant Bob Zavadil, "Electric
utilities in Nebraska are in a relatively unique situation, with their
geographical location at the western boundary of the Eastern Interconnection,
the high quality of the wind resources in the state and their standing as the
only 100-percent public power state in the U.S. The study will build on recent
efforts to assess wind energy issues and impacts for larger geographical
footprints, such as the current wind integration study for the entire Eastern
Interconnection sponsored by DOE through NREL, but incorporate to the extent
possible the unique challenges and opportunities faced by the Nebraska Power
Association membership."

Stakeholder and expert technical input will be obtained through a Technical
Review Committee (TRC) scheduled to meet six times throughout the study. The
Committee consists of representatives from NREL, the NPA utilities, the
consultants, Utility Wind Integration Group, Western Area Power
Administration, Southwest Power Pool, University of Nebraska, Nebraska
Department of Energy and Energy Office, Nebraska Wind Working Group, Nebraska
Power Review Board, American Wind Energy Association and Community-Based
Energy Development representation, and invitations have been given to five
area Native American tribal organizations. For more on the TRC, visit the NPA
Website at http://www.nepower.org/wind_study.asp.

According to NREL Project Technical Monitor Brian Parsons, "The Technical
Review Committee is vital to the success and effectiveness of this study. The
Committee will add tremendous value through public education for our
stakeholders, as well as helping the utilities and consultants grasp the
public attitudes and interests that will have a major impact on our
initiatives going forward."

Study results will be available for public distribution as documents and in
the form of oral presentations made at local and national conferences.

About NPA

Leaders of Nebraska's public power industry formed the Nebraska Power
Association (NPA) in 1980 to address industry-wide concerns and interests.
This voluntary organization represents all segments of the power industry:
municipalities, public power districts, public power and irrigation districts,
and cooperatives engaged in generation, transmission or distribution of
electric energy in the state. It is the policy of the State of Nebraska to
provide its citizens with adequate, reliable and low-cost electric service,
consistent with sound business practices. The agencies responsible for
providing electric service to citizens of the state work through NPA to
implement this policy. For more information, visit http://www.nepower.org/.

About Ventyx

Ventyx is a leading business solutions provider, delivering asset management,
mobile workforce management, energy portfolio management and customer care
solutions to more than 1,250 energy, utility and communications customers, as
well as to asset-intensive customers in selected commercial markets. Ventyx
delivers best-of-breed business solutions that maximize operational and
financial performance, backed by the industry's deepest available
industry-specific domain expertise. For more information, visit our Website
at www.ventyx.com.

About EnerNex

EnerNex Corporation provides engineering and consulting services, along with
software solutions and customization, for the electric power industry. EnerNex
focuses on providing services around the development and application of new
and emerging electric power technologies to engineer a cleaner, smarter energy
system of the future. For more information on EnerNex, visit www.enernex.com.

Ventyx is a registered trademark of Ventyx Inc. Other company and product
names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are
associated.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Will
Daileyhttps://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=86480

SOURCE Ventyx

Gary Frazier of Ventyx Corporate Communications, +1-770-989-4188,
gary.frazier@ventyx.com; or Carrie Parks of EnerNex Corporation,
+1-865-218-4600, carrie@enernex.com