Tenaska Power to get energy trading and management system from ABB

A U.S. unit of ABB, the global technology company, has won a contract from Tenaska Power Services Co. to provide them a sophisticated energy trading and information management system. Tenaska Power Services, a nationally known power marketing company based in Dallas, Texas, will use this state-of-the-art system to manage transactions with the independent system operator (ISO) in the Texas power market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The ABB product, QSE in a Box, integrates into a single system various functions important in the energy trading and scheduling process, including bidding, automated XML interface, real-time unit dispatch, and real-time accounting for settlement. Tenaska plans to use the ABB system to manage transactions with Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which is the ISO for Texas. ERCOT has designated Tenaska Power Services a qualified scheduling entity (QSE) for the ERCOT ISO market.

ABB's QSE in a Box integrates ABB Network Management's RANGER system, used around the world to control power delivery, and ABB Energy Information Systems' gimsplus system, which reduces trading risk and streamlines asset management, settlement, and information management activities. QSE in a Box will allow Tenaska Power Services to manage the entire QSE process, including real-time marketing, the settlement process, and the potential filing of notices of disagreement with the ERCOT ISO.

"This combination will provide Tenaska Power Services a significant advantage in the ERCOT market and the ability to add other markets using the same software and hardware," said Terry Sparks, manager of business development for ABB Energy Information Systems. Sparks cited ABB's proven track record with other energy industry leaders, noting that the ABB gimsplus solution is already being used in the New York, New England, and Ontario energy markets.

ERCOT is one of ten regional reliability councils in the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) organization. ERCOT represents a bulk electric system located totally within the State of Texas and serves about 85 percent of Texas' electrical load. It has a generating capability of about 65,000 megawatts. The ERCOT ISO market is expected to open for competition next year.

Edited by Stephen Heiser