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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Today's Energy Challenges, Tomorrow's Solutions: Integrated Energy Pathways: Modernizing Our Energy Systems

Integrated Energy Pathways Today's electric grid was built for century-old needs, not the needs of tomorrow's emerging system. As the cost of generating electricity falls, products and systems that previously operated on other types of fuels are becoming increasingly "electrified." Instead of a one-way flow of electricity to systems that operate independently from one another, we are seeing more bi-directional connectivity between the grid and multiple end points. Integrated Energy Systems require a fundamental rethinking of grid infrastructure and the path electricity takes from the source of generation to the end point of use. Inevitably, the way the grid is managed today won't be the way it is managed 10-15 years from now. NREL is pioneering the fundamental research needed to guide this transition through renewable energy fuels and low-carbon electricity generation. Working with industry partners, we can collaboratively develop a fresh approach to energy generation, security, resilience, and advanced mobility.

energy security↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fidelity Analysis of Complex Large-Scale Simulation Models of PEs (MARS) in Future Power Grids

With the proliferation of power electronic (PE)-based resources in the electric grid, there have been numerous different kinds of simulation models developed and studied to understand their dynamic behavior. Study of PE-based resources using each simulation model has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Therefore it is very important to carefully select the appropriate model for the evaluation of the PE-based resources. In this paper, one such effort is made to analyze the different types of models in the case of a multi-port autonomous reconfigurable solar power plant (MARS). The MARS integrates a hybrid photovoltaic (PV)-energy storage system (ESS) plant to high-voltage direct current (HVdc) system and transmission alternating current (ac) grid. The dynamic models are evaluated under different test cases varying the short-circuit ratio (SCR) and control algorithms. Recommendations are provided on the equipment study needs based on the analysis completed.

Marthi, Phani Ratna Vanamali↗
DOE OSTI2021

Performance of a Hybrid HVAC-Integrated Thermal Storage Device

Thermal equipment in buildings is a primary contributor to peak loads on the electrical grid. Thermal energy storage is a cost-effective strategy to decouple electric use from thermal loads, thus reducing grid peak costs for building owners. One method for storing thermal energy in a building is to integrate a phase change material (PCM) directly into the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system. These systems often require additional glycol loops, pumps, valves, and heat exchangers to couple the storage to the cooling system and building space, which increases the complexity and cost. This work will discuss an alternate approach where the storage is added directly into the heat pump evaporator. A detailed two-dimensional finite difference heat transfer model of a PCM-refrigerant-glycol heat exchanger was developed to simulate the performance of this component. The fluid stream was discretized along the flow direction to capture changes in the fluid properties and local heat transfer rates, and the phase change material was discretized in both the x and y directions to capture the movement of the melt front. The model was used to understand the impact of different material and geometric properties on the charge and discharge characteristics of the device. Finally, a Ragone framework analogous to that used for electrochemical batteries was used to maximize the energy density and round-trip efficiency of the device while supplying loads appropriate for space cooling in buildings.

buildings↗
DOE OSTI2024

Explained: Reliability of the Current Power Grid

Maintaining reliability of the bulk power system, which supplies and transmits electricity, is a constant focus of electric grid planners, operators, and regulators. Based on the standards set by power system reliability entities, the U.S. grid has been and continues to be very reliable. Over the past decade the average U.S. customer has only experienced about 15 minutes of outages per year due to supply limitations, with most of those outages occurring due to failures on the distribution system. However, there have been a few notable incidents in recent years tied to extreme weather events. The fact sheet provides and introduction to reliability of the bulk power system in the U.S.

power grid↗
DOE OSTI2022

Using Energy Storage-Based Grid Forming Inverters for Operational Reserve in Hybrid Diesel Microgrids

In remote arctic communities, where access to a bulk electrical grid interconnection is not available, the implementation of islanded microgrids has been the most viable way to produce and distribute electricity services to their inhabitants. Historically, these islanded grids have relied primarily on diesel generators or hydropower resources to supply the baseload. However, this practice can result in increased expense due to the high costs associated with fuel transportation and the significant amounts of on-site storage necessary when fuel transportation is unavailable during winter months. In order to mitigate this problem, arctic microgrids have started to transition to a hybrid-source operational mode by incorporating renewable energy sources that are inherently variable in nature, such as wind or solar. Due to their highly stochastic behavior, these hybrid-source islanded microgrids can pose potential issues related to power quality due to introduction of rapid net load fluctuations and inability of diesel generators to respond rapidly. In addition, non-firm stochastic sources can require significant idling diesel generator resources to serve as spinning reserves, which is inefficient and wasteful. This work studies the problems that may arise in the transient dynamics of a real-world hybrid diesel microgrid when subjected to a loss of wind generation. Moreover, this work proposes a transition from a diesel spinning reserve to a battery energy-storage system (BESS) operating reserve scheme. The study of the proposed transition is important in establishing the fundamental implication of transient dynamics and the potential benefits of integrating a BESS as a spinning reserve in terms of stability, frequency nadir, and transient voltage deviation. The methods to investigate and validate the transient dynamics relied on both electromagnetic simulation models of GFMIs and a commercially available GFMI in an experimental power hardware-in-the-loop setup. The simulation results showed that the proposed operating reserve scheme improves the power quality of the system in terms of voltage deviation and frequency nadir when the microgrid is subjected to a loss of wind generation scenario. Depending on the simulation cases, adding a GFMI reduced the frequency nadir between 65.3% and 86.7%. Moreover, the reductions in the voltage deviations improved between 3.6% and 23.0%. From these results it can be concluded that the integration of a GFMI can reduce the frequency nadir in a hybrid diesel microgrid, and in turn, reduce diesel consumption, which improves system reliability while reducing fuel expenses. Furthermore, the novelty of this work relies on the fact that the offline simulation results were validated using a power hardware-in-the-loop platform that incorporated a 100 kVA commercially available GFMI as the device under test.

Hernandez-Alvidrez, Javier↗
DOE OSTI2025

EUREICA: Efficient UltRa Endpoint IoT-enabled Coordinated Architecture

The electricity grid has evolved from a physical system to a cyber-physical system with digital devices that perform measurement, control, communication, computation, and actuation. The increased penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) that include renewable generation, flexible loads, and storage provides extraordinary opportunities for improvements in efficiency and sustainability. However, they can introduce new vulnerabilities in the form of cyberattacks, which can cause significant challenges in ensuring grid resilience. The purpose of this project was to develop a framework ((Efficient, Ultra-REsilient, IoT-Coordinated Assets, or EUREICA)for achieving grid resilience through suitably coordinated assets including a network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and a local electricity market (LEM) to identify trustable assets and carry out this coordination. Situational Awareness (SA) of locally available DERs with the ability to inject power or reduce consumption is enabled by the market, together with a monitoring procedure for their trustability and commitment. Experiments conducted during this project demonstrated that, with this SA, a variety of cyberattacks can be mitigated using local trustable resources without stressing the bulk grid. The demonstrations were carried out using a variety of high-fidelity co-simulation platforms, real-time hardware-in-the-loop validation, and a utility-friendly simulator.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Resilient Information Architecture Platform for Smart Grid (RIAPS)

A number of emerging trends will substantially alter the operation and control of the electric grid over the next several decades. These trends include ensuring resiliency under severe weather events, increasing integration of renewable electricity generation, supporting changing electricity demand patterns, and the improving cost effectiveness of distributed energy resources. To address these challenges, the future “Smart Grid” management will need to transition from centralized to coordinated distributed control paradigm. Reliable operation of the Smart Grid depends on distributed intelligence realized through software applications that run on distributed computing devices attached to the power system to collect data and collaboratively manage resources. However, much of the existing software for Smart Grid-enabled devices is either proprietary or developed with custom solutions, which limits interoperability among the heterogeneous devices and hinders the ability to manage system-level reliability, security, and resiliency requirements. Additionally, this approach makes Smart Grid applications hard to maintain, evolve, verify, and replace; resulting in high development and deployment costs. Further development of the Smart Grid requires a reusable software base-layer to move from hard-coded functionality to a plug-and-play architecture capable of managing system-level objectives and constraints in addition to providing consistent common services across heterogeneous devices and applications. Vanderbilt University, in collaboration with North Carolina State University and Washington State University has developed a foundation ‘software platform’ for developing and deploying robust, reliable, effective and secure software applications for the Smart Grid. The Resilient Information Architecture Platform for the Smart Grid (RIAPS) provides core services for building effective and powerful smart grid applications. It offers unique services for real-time data dissemination, fault tolerance, and coordination across apps distributed over the network.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

GridSTIX

SF-25-112 Grid-STIX is a comprehensive extension of the STIX (Structured Threat Information Expression) 2.1 ontology specifically designed for electrical grid cybersecurity applications. This ontology provides a standardized, machine-readable framework for modeling grid assets, operational technology devices, threats, vulnerabilities, supply chain risks, and security relationships in electrical power systems. ## Key Features - **Comprehensive Grid Coverage**: Physical assets, OT devices, grid components, sensors, and energy storage systems - **Zero Trust Architecture**: Policy decision points, enforcement points, trust brokers, and continuous monitoring - **AMI Infrastructure**: Advanced metering networks, head-end systems, mesh gateways, and MDM systems - **Advanced Security Modeling**: Attack patterns, vulnerabilities, mitigations, and supply chain risks - **Critical Grid Relationships**: Power flow, protection, control, and synchronization relationships - **Supply Chain Security**: Supplier modeling, country of origin tracking, and risk assessment - **Protocol Support**: DNP3, Modbus, IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104, OPC-UA, and IEEE standards - **Python Code Generation**: Automated STIX-compliant Python class generation from ontologies - **Interactive Visualization**: Enhanced HTML network graphs with grid-specific categorization - **STIX 2.1 Compliance**: Full compatibility with STIX threat intelligence ecosystem

Blakely, Benjamin [Argonne National Laboratory (AN↗
DOE OSTI2021

Climate-Induced Tradeoffs in Planning and Operating Costs of a Regional Electricity System

Electricity grid planners design the system in order to supply electricity to end users reliably and affordably. Climate change threatens both objectives through potentially compounding supply- and demand-side climate-induced impacts. Uncertainty surrounds each of these future potential impacts. Given long planning horizons, system planners must weigh investment costs against operational costs under this uncertainty. Here, we developed a comprehensive and coherent integrated modeling framework combining physically-based models with cost-minimizing optimization models in the power system. We applied this modeling framework to analyze potential tradeoffs in planning and operating costs in the power grid due to climate change in the Southeast U.S. in 2050. We find that planning decisions that do not account for climate-induced impacts would result in a substantial increase in social costs associated with loss of load. These social costs are a result of under-investment in new capacity and capacity deratings of thermal generators when we included climate change impacts in the operation stage. Finally, these results highlight the importance of including climate change effects in the planning process.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Adapting Grid Criticality for Data Centers

This presentation explores the evolving definition of “critical load” in the electric grid, emphasizing the growing importance of digital infrastructure—particularly data centers—in grid resilience, restoration, and modernization. As utilities increasingly rely on AI-driven analytics and software-defined control systems, data centers have shifted from passive electricity consumers to essential computational hubs that enable National Critical Functions (NCFs) and support real-time grid operations. The deck examines the scale and impact of digital loads, the need for grid modernization to manage rapid load growth, and the diverse computing paradigms required for AI deployment. It introduces a tiered taxonomy for classifying critical loads, highlights operational dependencies between the grid and digital infrastructure, and discusses policy implications for integrating data centers into emergency planning and restoration protocols. Through case studies and practical frameworks, the presentation provides actionable insights for utilities, regulators, and planners navigating the digital transformation of the power sector.

29 - ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Accelerating Transitions to Zero Carbon Power Systems

As power systems evolve, becoming increasingly renewable, distributed, dynamic, and digital, managing them becomes ever more challenging and complex. System operators serve as the "air traffic controllers" for electricity grids, working to balance supply and demand, manage evolving electricity markets, and ensure the safety and reliability of electricity systems. To adapt to the rapidly changing energy landscape and support the transition to modern, zero carbon power systems, system operators must develop and adopt new technologies, approaches, and frameworks. The Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium is a network of system operators, research institutions, and industry partners working to accelerate and scale the technical solutions required to transform our world's power systems. By developing and sharing robust models and tools, research and demonstration results, knowledge, and innovation, the G-PST Consortium is empowering system operators to transition to 100% renewable energy while ensuring the reliability, safety, and cost-effectiveness of grid operations.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,POWER TRANSMI↗
DOE OSTI2022

FY2021 Isolated Grids and Grid-Connected Turbine Reference Systems

For individuals, businesses, and communities focused on building resilient electrical grid infrastructure, wind energy can provide an affordable, accessible, and compatible distributed energy resource option that also enhances the capabilities of local grid operations. However, there are technical barriers to realizing the market value and resilience benefits of distributed wind, and there is little to no ability to quantify those benefits so that stakeholders can compare grid investment options. The central aims of this report are: (1) to drive technology transfer of the methods and technologies developed under the Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL) project and (2) increase the number of referenceable case studies available to stakeholders interested in additional value-added capabilities of wind systems beyond bulk energy supply. We achieve this aim by applying three major methods developed under MIRACL to two real-world distributed wind reference systems. The two real-world distributed wind reference systems are the isolated grid of St. Mary’s, Alaska, and the two 10.5-megawatt (MW) front-of-the-meter wind turbine deployments owned and operated by Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative (ILEC).

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Energy Storage and Power Plant Decommissioning

The report examines three fossil-fuel power plant decommissioning strategies to assess the role of energy storage in enabling an equitable clean energy transition future. The analysis showed how storage could enable reduction of fossil-fuel sources from the grid while enabling increased renewable energy integration into the electric grid. The report offers recommendations for future work, including the need to further develop the non-energy benefit attributes of energy storage systems with a focus on the benefits accrued to local communities to understand past decisions and inform future decision-making tools that account for environmental, economic, and social impacts, particularly those on disadvantaged communities.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cybersecurity Certification Recommendations for Interconnected Grid Edge Devices and Inverter Based Resources

Escalating deployment of PV and grid-edge devices on the distribution grid has increased the sustainability and efficiency of the electric grid. However, the increasing number of distributed energy resources (DERs) deployed creates a heightened cyber-physical interdependency on the distribution grid and thus creates more vectors for cyber-attacks to exploit through information and communication technology (ICT) systems and networks. For example, control signal packets can be modified, intercepted, or corrupted due to vulnerabilities in communication protocols used by microgrid controllers and grid edge devices for power control. Therefore, to mitigate and prevent cyber-attacks on grid edge devices and the inverter-based resources connected to the distribution grid, the U.S. Department of Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) awarded funding to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to research, develop, and harmonize cybersecurity standards for Photovoltaic (PV) systems and for other kinds of DERs. To help develop a standard for DER cybersecurity, NREL established certification recommendations and test cases, in consensus with the solar industry and UL, for ensuring intrinsic design security for DERs. These recommendations were developed to bolster the cybersecure functionalities such as TLS, MAC, CRL, session resumption/renegotiation, and password, system, and service security management within the DER devices. The proposed test cases verify authentication, authorization, confidentiality, and data integrity for data and communications of DERs that use Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). They were also developed to protect DER communications from eavesdropping, replay, man-in-the-middle, denial of service (DoS), spoofing through security certificates, least-privilege violation, and brute-force credentials. This report, which has been validated and reviewed by UL, expands upon those test cases to provide DER cybersecurity certification recommendations which increase DER resiliency and help to mitigate cyber-attacks. UL's collaboration with NREL and approval of this document will accelerate the adoption of a UL standard for DER cybersecurity.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optical Fiber Sensor Technology Development and Field Validation for Distribution Transformer and Other Grid Asset Health Monitoring

Power transformers are critical pieces of infrastructure in the electric grid that are both extremely expensive and difficult to replace. These transformers often have long lead times for replacement, and failures can create long service disruptions. This project has developed a new suite of sensors designed to give early warning of the impending failure of these important power transformers before it is too late and a major failure occurs. By using novel fiber optic sensors instead of conventional existing technologies, we are able to measure transformer characteristics indicative of impending failures in ways that were not previously possible. These new optical fiber-based sensors are completely immune to the strong magnetic fields present in power transformers, as well as being capable of using distributed measurement techniques. Distributed measurement techniques enable the fiber to return information all along its length as opposed to only collecting data at a single point; as would a thermocouple or standard pressure sensor.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Securing Grid Communications Infrastructure: Addressing Gaps Beyond NERC CIP Facility Perimeters

The North American electric grid relies on a complex communications infrastructure that extends beyond facility perimeters traditionally covered by NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards. While CIP requirements have significantly strengthened cybersecurity within Electronic Security Perimeters, many operational communications—such as those between control centers, substations, and third-party networks—fall outside current regulatory scope. As grid modernization introduces new technologies and connectivity models, these external pathways present evolving security challenges. This brief explores the nature of these challenges, including emerging attack vectors and supply chain considerations, and highlights how ongoing grid transformation increases exposure to sophisticated threats. It outlines practical strategies and policy options to complement existing standards, such as expanding secure communications practices, enhancing supply chain transparency, and fostering collaboration among federal, state, and industry stakeholders. Near-term actions like encryption, authentication, and contractual safeguards can help reduce risk while longer-term frameworks are developed to ensure resilient and secure grid operations.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of Energy Storage: Cost models

Energy storage technologies offer a promising solution to electric grid stability issues associated with the integration of variable renewable generators. The capability to match the electrical power output to instantaneous fluctuations in grid demand is crucial to ensure continuity of service. Including energy storage capability in an integrated energy system (IES) can provide the flexibility needed to meet variable electric demand and reduce the load following demands place on the reactor. In this report, economic data collected for energy storage (ES) technologies are described to support the objective of assessing the profitability of ES integration within the IES framework. In particular, there is a growing interest in thermal energy storage (TES) given its unique capability for long-duration storage for improving electricity reliability at a low levelized cost. It is common practice to evaluate the total lifetime cost and profitability before commercializing new technologies. In this report we identify and examine the models needed to better understand the economics of thermal energy storage. We extend the TES cost model in RAVEN in the context of a balance of plant (BOP) that incorporates thermal storage. To focus the discussion, following a general overview of the most promising TES technologies, we consider a use case that involves a sensible heat, two-tank, molten-salt system. Structural and operational details are reported to identify the source of construction capital expenditure and operation and maintenance cost. A detailed description of the different cost items is provided as well as the cost scaling with different storage capacity and power ratings for capacity optimization purpose. In addition, the capital expenditure and the recurring cost of representative two-tank, molten salt coupled with concentrated solar plants are provided for readers’ reference. The ES use case is noteworthy as it is in the pilot stage of commercialization. We identify those areas that would benefit from an increased economic focus to obtain a more complete compilation of cost data. We also describe the thermal coupling issues that arise from integration of the two-tank molten salt thermal energy storage system with a BOP, which is the subject of our current research. Some components of costs will need to be evaluated through dedicated technoeconomic analysis in future modeling activities using modeling procedures proposed in this report. With the data presented and the procedures described in this report, sufficiently accurate models can be implemented for the solution of both the power dispatch and the capacity expansion problems within the RAVEN-based HYBRID framework.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Stabilizing the Grid and Reducing Utility Bills Through Price-Responsive Controls for Heat Pump Water Heaters

The electricity grid is facing increasing challenges in cost-effectively balancing supply and demand. These challenges are exacerbated by increased penetration of photovoltaics, which causes mid-day overproduction, and electrification of gas appliances, which increases peak-period electricity demand. Decarbonization requires shifting building loads from fossil-intensive high-cost times to renewable-intensive low-cost times while maintaining quality of service to occupants. Utilities and ISO’s are investigating new ways of incentivizing this load shifting. One promising method is the use of Highly Dynamic Prices (HDPs). HDPs feature continuously changing prices that reflect real-time grid generation and distribution costs and capacity constraints, and thus incentivize consumers to shift their loads. California’s CPUC CalFUSE proposal and Hawaii’s recent changes demonstrate that electricity tariffs are moving towards this model. For this to work however, loads must have the capability to respond to these prices. Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) are an ideal device for this purpose because their storage tanks decouple delivery of domestic hot water from electricity consumption. The storage enables control strategies that consume midday solar power to increase the energy stored in the tank, then provide evening peak domestic hot water services using the stored energy. Berkeley Lab's CalFlexHub project is pioneering price-driven load flexibility by developing and deploying cost-minimizing controls for many flexible loads - including HPWHs - in response to HDP. Control development is based on simulations using the Flexible Heat Pump Water Heater Performance Predictor which captures the control decisions of the on-board controller in a residential, integrated HPWH . The price-responsive controls a) shift load in ways that consume additional midday solar power to help stabilize the grid and reduce overall emissions, b) ensure that occupants receive equal or better hot water delivery service, and c) minimize the operating cost for each home in the fleet. On the grid level, the resulting shift will reduce utility operating costs and emissions, and can avoid expensive system capacity expansions. The control approach is customized to each home based on typical hot water consumption patterns. HPWH controllers, whether on the device or remotely, will receive a schedule of CTA-2045-B signals or set temperature adjustments customized to the current HDP price schedule and home. Simulation results for a fleet of 148 HPWHs on a summer day in Berkeley, California show cost savings of 29% and high price electricity consumption reductions of 80%, while maintaining full quality of service.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗