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At least 217 records · Page 12

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2026

Virtual Power Plant Architecture and Resilient Design

Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) represent a fundamental shift in electric grid operations, aggregating distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar panels and battery storage to deliver utility-scale grid services traditionally provided by centralized power plants. This report examines the unique architectural, operational, and digital assurance considerations that distinguish VPPs from conventional utility infrastructure as they scale from pilot projects to mainstream deployment across the United States. While VPPs offer significant opportunities for grid modernization and enhanced flexibility, their distributed, multi-stakeholder architecture introduces distinct security challenges that differ fundamentally from traditional generation facilities. The analysis identifies risks in VPP operations, including device-level security gaps, platform vulnerabilities, and communication protocol weaknesses that create expanded attack surfaces compared to centralized power plants. Through examination of real-world incidents and emerging threat patterns, the report demonstrates how some VPPs' reliance on consumer-owned devices, public internet infrastructure, and complex vendor ecosystems require new approaches to digital assurance and operational security. The findings provide practical guidance for utilities, regulators, and aggregators to implement robust security frameworks and operational best practices essential for maintaining grid reliability as VPP deployment accelerates under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 2222 and related regulatory initiatives.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS2022

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing the Drivers of Urban Flooding Vulnerability in Milwaukee Using NASA Earth Observations

Milwaukee County has experienced an increase in flooding due to climate change and urbanization. The frequency and severity of flooding vary spatially due to differences in land cover, surface permeability, and infrastructure. Marginalized communities tend to experience disproportionately high flooding and damage due to infrastructural inequalities and limited access to resources. To quantify these differences, we used the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model to calculate and create maps of runoff retention, nominal flood depth, and economic damage to buildings in Milwaukee. Our model inputs included land cover, surface permeability, and rainfall. To inform our precipitation inputs, we used NASA’s Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM IMERG) and National Weather Service (NWS) data. We assessed the relationship between flood risk and social and environmental spatial data including redlining, racial demographics, greenspace, and community resilience. The data demonstrate that flood risk is higher in historically redlined neighborhoods, majority Hispanic and Black census block groups, areas that lack parks and trees, and areas of low community resilience as measured by the Census Bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). These findings will support our partners, Groundwork Milwaukee and Groundwork USA, in their efforts to promote the equitable distribution of resources and support environmental health in urban spaces. The end products of this project provide our partners with tools to assess urban flooding vulnerability, guide future intervention projects, quantify the effects of environmental injustice, and improve stakeholder access to data.

Madeleine Tango↗

DOE OSTI2024

Formally Verified ZTA Requirements for OT/ICS Environments with Isabelle/HOL

The clean energy transformation includes the integration of distributed energy resources with the power grid, which has led to a substantial increase in the complexity of power grids infrastructure and the underlying operational technology environment. Power grids infrastructure represents an operational technology environment that has become a system of systems, integrating heterogeneous devices which are both software-and hardware-intensive; as a result, there are increasing demands to exploit advances in the commodity of software-hardware infrastructures to improve energy systems requirements such as cybersecurity and resilience. In such a setting, system requirements at different levels mix, which leads to vulnerabilities and undesirable outcomes. The use of formal methods to characterize and prove system requirements removes ambiguity, increases automation, and provides high levels of assurance and reliability. In this paper, we contribute a methodology and a framework for the system-level verification of zero trust architecture requirements in operational technology environments. We define a formal specification for the core functionalities of operational technology environments, the corresponding invariants, and security proofs. Of particular note is our modular approach for the formal verification of asynchronous interactions in operational technology environments. The formal specification and the proofs have been mechanized using the interactive theorem proving environment Isabelle/HOL.

formal methods↗

DOE OSTI2026

Addressing Rising Energy Demand Through Innovation

The U.S. is facing a significant increase in energy demand, driven by AI advancements, the rapid expansion of data centers, manufacturing and industrial growth, and the electrification of transportation and buildings. Buildings alone account for approximately 75% of U.S. electricity consumption and 40% of total energy use. To address these challenges, NLR leverages its state-of-the-art research facilities, advanced energy modeling, hardware-in-the-loop emulation, and real-world demonstrations to provide data-driven insights that de-risk emerging energy solutions, increase efficiency and demand flexibility, optimize grid controls, and identify vulnerabilities to enhance energy security. This presentation will highlight our research ecosystem and its role in supporting a more reliable, affordable, and adaptive energy infrastructure in the face of accelerating demand.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2026

Securing The Future: 2026 Manufacturing & Critical Infrastructure Threat Landscape

This report outlines the current state of manufacturing weaknesses introduced by the complexities of modern environments, including cloud services and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, with particular attention paid to the unique vulnerabilities encountered by SMMs. It also highlights CyManII’s strategic initiatives and collaborative solutions to mitigate these risks and strengthen the cybersecurity posture of the manufacturing ecosystem. Utilizing data from 2025 to inform forward-looking mitigation strategies, this report provides manufacturers with a clear understanding of both current and emerging cybersecurity threats, as well as practical opportunities to strengthen their cyber ecosystems. The following sections detail key vulnerabilities and threat vectors, along with actionable mitigation strategies, many of which have been developed or piloted through CyManII-led efforts. A thorough understanding of these risks and mitigation strategies is essential for manufacturers seeking to strengthen the security and resilience of their manufacturing operations.

3D Printing↗

DOE OSTI2020

Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System for Cyber-Intrusion Detection in a Smart Grid

The evolution of the power grid has brought increasing deployment of advance metering infrastructure, penetration of intelligent electronic devices, and integration of physical power system components with information and communications technologies. With the fast-expanding connectivity, cyber vulnerabilities arise due to the use of internet-based communication systems. These systems are targets of cyber-intrusions which attempt to disturb the normal power system functions. Traditional intrusion detection algorithms have been developed without an explicit model of the cyber components. In this paper, an algorithm to detect false data injections in the power system is proposed considering both cyber and physical models of the power system. The algorithm is based on an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) which collects information from state variables of the cyber-physical system to meet the performance requirements of the grid. Simulations of the proposed approach using the IEEE 13-bus test system validate the effectiveness of this artificial intelligence-based algorithm.

Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), cyb↗

DOE OSTI2022

Transport Affordable Clean Hydrogen Energy via Existing Pipeline Infrastructure (CRADA 573)

Our Nation’s vast network of oil pipelines span over 230,000 miles connecting remote energy producing regions to distant markets. The COVID-19 pandemic’s influence on oil prices intensified technical and economic vulnerabilities afflicting the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS, operating below 25% capacity) that may soon resurface as energy demand shifts to low carbon sources. Through the opportunity afforded by the Arctic Advanced Manufacturing Program, I’ve toured the great State of Alaska learning about its culture, unique energy challenges, business ecosystem, research institutions, and regulatory agencies. With encouragement and support from dedicated Alaskans and my professional mentors, I’ve founded Mighty Pipeline for the purpose of developing and commercializing proprietary technology and hardware to convert oil pipelines into clean hydrogen energy transmission systems. Leveraging the advanced technical capabilities of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we’ve demonstrated proof-of-concept (TRL = 3) and are seeking pre-pilot development project opportunities to conduct hardware and system level tests. If we successfully achieve technical and regulatory milestones, Mighty Pipeline’s technology could be available to help facilitate bulk clean hydrogen energy export this decade.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2021

Analyzing the Effects of Cyberattacks on Distribution System State Estimation

Key components of power systems—such as energy management systems, automatic generation control, and state estimation—are under serious vulnerability from cyberattacks. Cyber threats in electric grids have increased significantly because of the increased interconnectivity of supervisory control and data acquisition systems and public network infrastructure. As the penetration level of distributed energy resources increases, it is imperative to employ system-monitoring techniques such as state estimation for the reliable operation of distribution systems. Recently, multiple methods have been developed that exploit the low rank property of distribution system state matrix and are robust to bad data, such as matrix completion. This paper analyzes the impact of various realistic cyberattack scenarios on matrix completion. Realistic cyberattack scenarios are converted into data corruption models that are used in an extensive simulation of a custom IEEE 123-bus system.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

NASA NTRS2016

Building Climate Resilience at NASA Ames

NASA Ames Research Center, located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay (SFB) estuary has identified three primary vulnerabilities to changes in climate. The Ames Climate Adaptation Science Investigator (CASI) workgroup has studied each of these challenges to operations and the potential exposure of infrastructure and employees to an increased frequency of hazards. Sea level rise inundation scenarios for the SFB Area generally refer to projected scenarios in mean sea level rather than changes in extreme tides that could occur during future storm conditions. In the Summer of 2014, high resolution 3-D mapping of the low lying portion of Ames was performed. Those data are integrated with improved sea level inundation scenarios to identify the buildings, basements and drainage systems potentially affected. We will also identify the impacts of sea level and storm surge effects on transportation to and from the Center. This information will help Center Management develop future Master Plans. Climate change will also lead to changes in temperature, storm frequency and intensity. These changes have potential impacts on localized floods and ecosystems, as well as on electricity and water availability. Over the coming decades, these changes are going to be imposed on top of ongoing land use and land cover changes, especially those deriving from continued urbanization and increase in impervious surface areas. These coupled changes have the potential to create a series of cascading impacts on ecosystems, including changes in primary productivity and disturbance of hydrological properties and increased flood risk.The majority of the electricity used at Ames is supplied by hydroelectric dams, which will be influenced by reductions in precipitation or changes in the timing or phase of precipitation which reduces snow pack. Coupled with increased demand for summertime air conditioning and other cooling needs, NASA Ames is at risk for electricity shortfalls. To assess the anticipated energy usage as climate changes, the Ames CASI team is collecting historical energy usage data from Ames facilities, historical weather data, and projected future weather parameters from the CASI Climate subgroup. This data will be incorporated into the RETScreen model to predict how energy usage at Ames will change over the coming century.

climate↗

NASA NTRS2016

Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health

Increased Exposure to Extreme Events Key Finding 1: Health impacts associated with climate-related changes in exposure to extreme events include death, injury, or illness; exacerbation of underlying medical conditions; and adverse effects on mental health[High Confidence]. Climate change will increase exposure risk in some regions of the United States due to projected increases in the frequency and/or intensity of drought, wildfires, and flooding related to extreme precipitation and hurricanes [Medium Confidence].Disruption of Essential Infrastructure Key Finding 2: Many types of extreme events related to climate change cause disruption of infrastructure, including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health [High Confidence].Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding Key Finding 3: Coastal populations with greater vulnerability to health impacts from coastal flooding include persons with disabilities or other access and functional needs, certain populations of color, older adults, pregnant women and children, low-income populations, and some occupational groups [High Confidence].Climate change will increase exposure risk to coastal flooding due to increases in extreme precipitation and in hurricane intensity and rainfall rates, as well as sea level rise and the resulting increases in storm surge.

floods↗

DOE OSTI2020

Analyzing the Effects of Cyberattacks on Distribution System State Estimation: Preprint

Key components of power systems—such as energy management systems, automatic generation control, and state estimation—are under serious vulnerability from cyber attacks. Cyber threats in electric grids have increased significantly because of the increased interconnectivity of supervisory control and data acquisition systems and public network infrastructure. As the penetration level of distributed energy resources increases, it is imperative to employ system-monitoring techniques such as state estimation for the reliable operation of distribution systems. Recently, multiple methods have been developed that exploit the low rank property of distribution system state matrix and are robust to bad data, such as matrix completion. This paper analyzes the impact of various realistic cyber attack scenarios on matrix completion. Realistic cyber attack scenarios are converted into data corruption models that are used in an extensive simulation of a custom IEEE 123-bus system.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

DOE OSTI2024

Safe Operations at Roadway Junctions: Intelligent Roadway Infrastructure as Functional Interlocking

Automated vehicle (AV) technology is quickly maturing, and the corresponding infrastructure systems that evaluate traffic and communicate to vehicles requires sophisticated sensing and perception technologies, referred to as intelligent roadway infrastructure (IRI), to complement emerging AV capabilities. IRI provides signals to vehicles, indicating right-of-way for vehicles and communicating to approaching AVs that no other vehicle is failing to yield. This capability, denoted as safety-affirmative signaling, provides a green light or a green arrow as appropriate and affirms through communication links to connected vehicles when it is safe to proceed. About 36% of collisions occur at intersections, with most occurring upon left turns (22.2%) or crossing over (12.6%), and only a small percentage (1.2%) while turning right at an intersection. Of all intersection crashes about half (52.5%) of those vehicles were traveling through a signalized intersection 2. Safety-affirmative signaling would guarantee safety of AV fleet vehicles, by providing the interlocking principle, a term from automated train control that only allows progression through a railway intersection after affirming no opportunity for a crash exists. IRI through safety-affirmative signaling would bring performance and safety to complex roadway intersections where AV transit fleet service is most needed, as well as safety benefits to traditional, non-automated vehicles and vulnerable road users. The implementation of IRI has functional, programmatic, and technical challenges. Research work performed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in an integrative approach encapsulating these themes, and termed infrastructure perception and control (IPC) is motivated by improved performance (travel time), improved safety (reduced collisions), and improved energy efficiency (less fuel burned and minimized production of greenhouse gases). IPC is intended not only for roadway and intersection applications but also in extension to inform complementary buildings and grid systems to enable better co-management, as vehicles and their charging needs become increasingly integrated into the built environment. The NREL IPC project presents an open-source framework, architecture, and supporting technology to implement IRI, addressing critical issues such as fusion of data, reliability, standardization of data interfaces, and confidence of detection. The framework is informed by previous experience in U.S. Department of Defense research technology, specifically in the use of radar to detect, identify, and track aerial threats. These principles combined with multi-sensor fusion provides for a complete digital twin with known and measurable confidence and accuracy from which safety-affirmative signaling can be developed and deployed.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,MATHEMATICS AND COMPUT↗

DOE OSTI2022

Identification of Intraday False Data Injection Attack on DER Dispatch Signals

The urgent need for the decarbonization of power grids has accelerated the integration of renewable energy. Concurrently, increasing distributed energy resources (DER) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) have transformed the power grids into a more sophisticated cyber-physical system with numerous communication devices. While these transitions provide economic and environmental value, they also impose increased risk of cyber attacks and operation al challenges. This paper investigates the vulnerabilit y of the power grids with high renewable penetration against an intraday false data injection (FDI) attack on DER dispatch signals and proposes a kernel support vector regression (SVR) based detection model as a countermeasure. The intraday FDI attack scenario and the detection model are demonstrated in a numerical experiment using the HCE 187-bus test system.

Kim, Jip↗

NASA NTRS2017

Hydrometeorological Hazards: Monitoring, Forecasting, Risk Assessment, and Socioeconomic Responses

Hydrometeorological hazards are caused by extreme meteorological and climate events, such as floods, droughts, hurricanes,tornadoes, or landslides. They account for a dominant fraction of natural hazards and occur in all regions of the world, although the frequency and intensity of certain hazards and societies vulnerability to them differ between regions. Severe storms, strong winds, floods, and droughts develop at different spatial and temporal scales, but all can become disasters that cause significant infrastructure damage and claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually worldwide. Oftentimes, multiple hazards can occur simultaneously or trigger cascading impacts from one extreme weather event. For example, in addition to causing injuries, deaths, and material damage, a tropical storm can also result in flooding and mudslides, which can disrupt water purification and sewage disposal systems, cause overflow of toxic wastes, andincrease propagation of mosquito-borne diseases.

hydrometeorological↗

DOE OSTI2025

Hawaii Threat Brief

The Digital Energy Transformation is redefining how power systems operate, integrating physical infrastructure with digital technologies to enhance efficiency, visibility, and resilience. For islanded and digitally modernizing systems like Hawai‘i’s, this shift presents both new opportunities and evolving challenges in cybersecurity, supply chain assurance, and environmental resilience. This brief provides an overview of critical infrastructure dependencies and systemic risks associated with increasing digital integration. It summarizes recent energy-sector threat activity and case studies that illustrate adversary tactics and supply chain vulnerabilities, and identifies pathways to strengthen resilience.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA NTRS2022

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing Climate Vulnerability through the InVEST Model on Urban Cooling in Milwaukee Using NASA Earth Observations

Milwaukee’s neighborhoods experience increased social, health, and ecological stress from the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect due to changing land cover and climate. Extreme urban heat disproportionately affects Black and Latine communities due to systematic disinvestment in infrastructure and lack of resources to cope with heat. Our partner, Groundwork Milwaukee, supports Environmental Justice organizing around urban heat in historically redlined neighborhoods. This study explores heat mitigation in Metcalfe Park, one such neighborhood that is a focus area for our partner, as well as across the city and county of Milwaukee. Our team utilized the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Model for urban cooling to model heat mitigation scenarios for Milwaukee in support of Groundwork’s climate resilience and heat mitigation work. The data inputs used in our analysis were Land Use Land Cover (LULC), evapotranspiration, and surface temperature derived from NASA Earth observations, as well as a biophysical table containing land cover class attributes. We developed a heat vulnerability index from American Community Survey datasets and satellite imagery to identify areas in most need of heat mitigation intervention. We found that central and northwest city areas, home to a majority of Milwaukee’s Black and Latine population, have low heat mitigation and high vulnerability to heat impacts compared to the rest of the county. We also found that tree canopy increases across scales are effective in promoting heat mitigation. Our results and end products will bolster the efforts of our partners to make decisions on heat mitigation strategies, build community resilience, and reverse legacies of environmental racism in the face of extreme heat and climate change.

urban heat island↗

DOE OSTI2025

Enhanced Lighting Signals for Safety and Efficiency - Experiments With Addressable LEDs

For enhanced roadway safety, clear and immediate visual cues are essential for preventing accidents between drivers and pedestrians. At intersections, however, the line of sight to other roadway users may be obstructed by vehicles and infrastructure. Additionally, adverse conditions, including low visibility, poor weather, or inadequate lighting can increase the potential for collisions. Distracted drivers and pedestrians can further exacerbate the risk of accidents, particularly when using a smartphone, rather than focusing on roadway surroundings. These issues demonstrate the need for infrastructure upgrades that enhance visibility and awareness at crosswalks. A potential solution is through enhanced lighting signals integrated into the roadway infrastructure. One such example is the use of addressable LEDs, individually controllable lights that can change color and brightness instantaneously through programmable microcontrollers. They can be installed and integrated into crosswalks to maintain visibility in conditions where pedestrians may be difficult to see, while also offering peripheral cues to pedestrians who may be distracted by their phones or other objects rather than the road. Such a system (as one example) that is integrated into a traffic intersection digital twin that tracks all roadway users accurately, has the potential to enhance visibility of vulnerable road users, and thus enhance safety. This paper examines the potential implementation and feasibility of this technology, as well as the safety benefits it could provide. Laboratory experiments with addressable LEDs reveal the capabilities and challenges of this technology for roadway infrastructure safety. These findings could pave the way for more integrated lighting in infrastructure for vehicles and pedestrians at intersections, merge and diverge locations, and other areas where complex interactions present safety hazards. Such lighting solutions, enabled by modern computation and communications, could enhance safety and efficiency in our transportation system and improve overall mobility.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Enhanced Lighting Signals for Safety and Efficiency - Experiments with Addressable LEDs

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗