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DOE OSTI · 1861485

Modeling Power Plant Siting Opportunities and Constraints in the Eastern Interconnection

Kuiper, James A.·Tidwell, Vince C.·Orr, Andrew B.·Quinn, John J.·Quinter, Kayla·Koritarov, Vladimir·Ladner, David A.
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Abstract

The electrical transmission grid is a critical part of the U.S. national infrastructure, and its modernization is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) priority. We describe the Energy Zones Mapping Tool (EZMT), a unique, powerful, and public web-based system with multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) models for more than 20 power plant technologies and many other capabilities. Through a case study on natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants in the Eastern Interconnection (EI), we provide an example of incorporating an EZMT MCDA model into a larger planning context, with projections of interconnection-level capacity expansion, thermoelectric power plant retirements, and water availability. Our results provide insights on candidate NGCC site distributions and the criteria influencing them. The case study provides both an efficient methodology for performing similar analyses and hundreds of candidate NGCC power plant sites that can be studied in more detail as potential project sites.

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20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTINGEastern InterconnectionEnergy Zones Mapping ToolGISgrid planningmulti-criteria decision analysisnatural gas combined cyclewater resourcesweb-based mapping

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Kuiper, James A., Tidwell, Vince C., Orr, Andrew B., Quinn, John J., Quinter, Kayla, Koritarov, Vladimir, Ladner, David A.. 2022-03-01. Modeling Power Plant Siting Opportunities and Constraints in the Eastern Interconnection. https://doi.org/10.2172/1861485

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