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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 55 records · Page 3

Data-Driven Reliability Assessment for Marine Renewable Energy Enabled Island Power Systems

Marine renewable energy (MRE) resources are highly predictable and persistent sources of energy, when compared to other renewable sources like wind and solar. These lend them favorably for potential grid applications, particularly for coastal/island power systems where their generation potential is high. Island power systems, on the other hand, are either supported by onsite generation or by transported energy from the mainland grid. Therefore, robustness of grid operations depend heavily on the diversity of onsite generation resources and the reliability of the power transportation medium. Issues relating to either of these two factors may lead to impediments in smooth and reliable operation of the power system. Analyzing and quantifying operational risks for such island power systems with diverse non-conventional generation portfolios through conventional techniques can also prove to be cumbersome, often requiring multiple different inputs. Therefore, in this paper, we firstly present a novel, purely data-driven formulation which quantifies the operational reliability of such island power systems through minimal input data. Specifically, our proposed methodology only relies on historical knowledge of typical hourly load and generation profiles to quantify associated operational risks. Subsequently, we use our proposed formulation to evaluate the effectiveness of MRE resources (over other renewable resources like wind and solar) in providing resilience benefits to island power systems. The proposed formulation is demonstrated with a case study for an island power system in Nantucket, MA.

Chalishazar, Vishvas H.↗

Urban Combined Heat and Power with Integrated Renewables and Energy Storage

This project demonstrated how incorporating a diverse generation and storage portfolio allows an urban district energy system to improve its efficiency by at least 50% and increase its backup power by at least 40% with a return on investment of at least ten years. The improvement was evaluated against the baseline operations for two urban district energy systems (DESs): a synthetic DES and a George Washington University DES. The DES techno-economic framework we developed yields reliability, resilience, and vulnerability indices for urban DESs (including generation and storage) with designation of which technologies improve the security and resiliency metrics by at least 20% compared to the status quo. The indices are benchmarked against baseline scenarios, and cost projections (capital cost and return on investment) to achieve the 20% improvement are reported. The energy management system we developed to conduct these analyses was incorporated into a user-friendly interface that can be used for decision-making by a user with no technical or programming background.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Mental Models for Managing Grid Cybersecurity Risk - ARC Industry Forum, Cybersecurity and Energy Transition

A proper mental model of the concepts of cyber risk and its components of threat and exploitability and consequence is necessary to allocate limited resources to different security activities, especially when considered alongside reliability and regulatory and economic risks. Understanding the consequence and frequency different risks are realized also helps align the right mitigations to the right risks. Cyber-informed engineering (CIE) is an emerging method to “engineer out” cyber risk across product and system lifecycles, and INL has a portfolio of programs operationalizing CIE’s principles for the energy sector.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Advanced Computing Annual Report 2024

In fiscal year (FY) 2024, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) took a major leap forward with the completed full buildout of Kestrel, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's newest high-performance computing (HPC) system. Kestrel is already supporting science across the portfolio, bringing roughly 44 petaflops of computing power, which is more than five times the capacity of our previous supercomputer, Eagle. By delivering greater GPU capacity, Kestrel enables faster progress in artificial intelligence (AI) and opens new avenues in energy research - from defining long-term planning scenarios to accommodate a growing power system to material discovery to improving energy efficiency in photovoltaics (PV). Across the portfolio, research is being accelerated by Kestrel's impressive power. During FY24, 427 projects and more than 700 researchers used NREL's HPC, supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy across 13 funding areas. Through these collaborations, researchers produced more than 450 technical outputs, including 195 articles in peer-reviewed publications, pushing the boundaries of science and engineering. This year's report features new sections spotlighting the expanding roles of Artificial Intelligence and Accelerated Computing. We also introduce an early career section to celebrate the accomplishments of our up-and-coming researchers, whose pioneering work is shaping the future of energy. We hope you enjoy the new insights and discoveries highlighted in these pages.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Data-Driven Exploration of Climate Attractor Manifolds For Long-Term Predictability

Focal Area: This white paper responds to Focal Area 3. We seek to gain insight into decadal-scale climate predictability by applying novel manifold-finding probabilistic AI techniques to the complex data produced by Earth System models (ESMs) such as E3SM. The associated portfolio of research activities leverages DOE’s asset mix of HPC platforms, climate expertise, climate simulation codes, and AI expertise. Science Challenge: Climate and climate models are dynamical systems exhibiting properties that are interpretable through chaos theory. The theory contains an important concept that is relevant to multi-decade-scale climate prediction: a chaotic attractor. While the space containing all the possible states of the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean, the possible weather, is large, the realized states tend to stay near the smaller-dimensioned attractor. This behavior is responsible for the “order behind the irregularity” [1] of climate phenomena. Climate change can be thought of as a change in the properties of the attractor, and predicting the climate over years to decades is equivalent to predicting how those properties will change. To date, the attractor has been a useful conceptual tool, but has not been amenable to direct characterization. A new development is the advent of efficient high-dimensional manifold-finding probabilistic AI techniques, which permit a data-driven characterization of the ESM attractor and its probability distribution over weather states. Such a characterization would result in a natural dimensional reduction — a “non-linear Principal Components Analysis (PCA) adapted to climate simulation data” — leading to important advances in scenario-based long-term climate prediction, long-term prediction of water cycle extremes, ESM verification, inter-model comparison, and process model development.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Energy Management Information Systems Technical Resources Report

Guide supports federal facility staff in understanding, designing, procuring, and implementing Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) as a valuable component of their portfolio-level energy and water planning and management strategies. As a broad and rapidly evolving family of tools that monitor, analyze, and control building energy use and system performance, EMIS tools present significant opportunities for federal sector energy savings and improved operational performance. EMIS are at the forefront of transforming energy management best practices by providing building owners and operators with well-organized building performance and energy consumption data, enabling a host of analytic capabilities. These capabilities include portfolio-wide energy benchmarking, data visualization, and key performance indicator tracking; automated fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD); artificial intelligence for predictive analytics and control; automated measurement and verification of energy conservation measures; and supervisory control enabling automated system optimization and demand management.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Integrating Energy-Efficient Computing with Computational Research to Accelerate Energy Technology

NREL's computational sciences center hosts the largest high performance computing (HPC) capabilities dedicated to energy research while functioning as a living laboratory for energy-efficient computing. NREL's HPC capabilities support the research needs of the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). In ten years of operation, HPC use in EERE-sponsored research has grown by a factor of 30, including work in electricity generation, energy efficiency, transportation, and energy system modeling. This paper analyzes this research portfolio, providing examples of individual use cases. The paper documents NREL's history of operating one of the world's most energy-efficient data centers while examining pathways to reduce economic and environmental impact beyond reduction of Power Usage Efficiency (PUE). This paper concludes by examining the unique opportunities created for accelerating improvements in data center efficiency created by combining an HPC system dedicated to energy research and a research program in energy-efficient computing.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Holistic fleet optimization incorporating system design considerations

The methodology described in this article enables a type of holistic fleet optimization that simultaneously considers the composition and activity of a fleet through time as well as the design of individual systems within the fleet. Often, real-world system design optimization and fleet-level acquisition optimization are treated separately due to the prohibitive scale and complexity of each problem. Importantly, this means that fleet-level schedules are typically limited to the inclusion of predefined system configurations and are blind to a rich spectrum of system design alternatives. Similarly, system design optimization often considers a system in isolation from the fleet and is blind to numerous, complex portfolio-level considerations. In reality, these two problems are highly interconnected. To properly address this system-fleet design interdependence, we present a general method for efficiently incorporating multi-objective system design trade-off information into a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) fleet-level optimization. This work is motivated by the authors' experience with large-scale DOD acquisition portfolios. However, the methodology is general to any application where the fleet-level problem is a MILP and there exists at least one system having a design trade space in which two or more design objectives are parameters in the fleet-level MILP.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fusion Energy Research at Idaho National Laboratory: Experimentation and Simulation to Support Safety and Rapid Technology Development

Research into fusion energy is growing rapidly, responding to a call for sustainable sources of energy to replace fossil fuels and mitigate climate change. Within the United States, at least, researchers are also responding to the “Bold Decadal Vision” proposed by the White House, seeking to have a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant deployed within a decade. Before this can become a reality, many Fusion Science & Technology (FS&T) gaps remain. For over 45 years, Idaho National Laboratory has been at the forefront of addressing these FS&T gaps in the context of fusion safety and technology via the operation of world-leading experimental facilities within the Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) Facility. Here, INL focuses on the tritium fuel cycle, conceptual system design studies, risk assessment, waste management, and materials safety. Modeling and Simulation (M&S) has also been a component of this portfolio of research, but, early on, focused on individual systems. Since 2019, active development and research on integrated whole device modeling tools based on the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework has been undertaken. This has culminated in a MOOSE-based version of the Tritium Migration and Analysis Program (TMAP), an INL code historically focused on tritium permeation and trapping within fusion systems. More recently, INL Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds have been used to create the Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X (FENIX) code focused on scrape-off layer plasma physics and the first wall of a magnetically confined fusion device. This talk will focus on an overview of INL activities in the FS&T research area, with a particular focus on recent M&S activities and results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Enabling Floating Solar Photovoltaic (FPV) Deployment: Exploring the Operational Benefits of Floating Solar-Hydropower Hybrids

The Southeast (SE) Asia region is undergoing rapid energy sector transitions and exploring the potential role of renewables - including solar photovoltaics (PV) - as it becomes increasingly competitive as a result of technological advances and falling capital costs. Low-cost solar PV provides countries in the region with an option to meet increasing energy demand and diversify generation portfolios, complementing hydropower and thermal-dominant systems and strengthening energy security throughout the region. Floating solar PV (FPV) has emerged as an attractive application of solar PV that allows for systems to be floated on water bodies. Pairing FPV in hybrid systems with hydropower may also provide significant value for power systems in the region, beyond oft-cited co-benefits of stand-alone FPV. Despite growing interest in FPV systems, few applications of hybrid FPV-hydropower systems exist in SE Asia, and limited information is available about the co-benefits these systems may provide for potential adopters. This work, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia, explores the value that hybrid FPV-hydropower systems may provide to the power systems of SE Asian countries. This work on the value of hybrid FPV-hydropower systems is accompanied by a recent report, Creating an Enabling Policy and Regulatory Environment for Floating Solar Photovoltaics: Review of Barriers to FPV Deployment in Southeast Asia, also focused on SE Asia.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Low Carbon Technology Strategies: Supermarket

This document includes steps that building owners and operators can implement to achieve smart, healthy, and low-carbon supermarkets within their existing building portfolios. Supermarkets include built-up refrigeration systems and refrigerated display cases and often use packaged rooftop units for heating, cooling, and ventilation.

analytics↗

High temporal resolution generation expansion planning for the clean energy transition

As power systems integrate increasing quantities of wind, solar and energy storage resources, it is important to revisit power system capacity expansion modeling methods and assumptions that have been utilized in thermal- dominated systems. We conduct a series of case study analyses using a simplified representation of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system to demonstrate how least-cost capacity expansion outcomes are impacted by changes in model resolution across two temporal dimensions: 1) the number of considered representative periods, and 2) the system dispatch interval. First, we find that the least-cost generation portfolio can differ significantly for small changes in the number of representative days, but largely converges to the 365-day result once 104 representative days are considered. Furthermore, systems with wind, solar and storage resources were more sensitive to changes in the number of representative days than a thermal-dominated system. Second, we find that considering five-minute dispatch resolution consistently results in least-cost generation portfolios with less solar capacity and more energy storage capacity than corresponding scenarios with hourly dispatch intervals. This suggests that hourly dispatch representation fails to capture the intra-hour volatility of solar generation, and therefore also overlooks opportunities for storage resources to provide system value by balancing this volatility. Collectively these results indicate that capacity expansion modelers should revisit conventional approaches to temporal representation when conducting analyses of deeply decarbonized power systems to ensure that such analyses are robust and actionable. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze capacity expansion outcomes with five-minute dispatch resolution in this manner.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Behind-the-Meter Solar Accounting in Renewable Portfolio Standards

If a behind-the-meter solar photovoltaic (BTM PV) system is adopted, how does that influence the total amount of renewable electricity in its state in the long run (i.e., after the existence of the generator is reflected in the relevant utility's generation mix)? Would we expect the total amount of renewable generation to increase on a 1:1 basis with the BTM PV's generation? Or could it be something more, or something less? We show in this paper that the answer can depend on two key elements of how BTM PV is accounted for in a state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS): (1) whether renewable energy certificates (RECs) from BTM PV can be used for RPS compliance, and (2) whether load served by generation from BTM PV counts as load covered by the RPS. These two elements combine into four possible accounting options, and we characterize the implications of each under the simplifying assumptions that the RPS is binding and the BTM PV RECs are used for compliance when allowed. For example, if load served by BTM PV generation counts toward the RPS load and BTM PV RECs cannot be used for compliance, the presence of BTM does not change the amount of RECs that the utility is required to retire, and yet additional RECs will be retired by the BTM PV owner - therefore, the total amount of renewable generation would increase on a 1:1 basis with the BTM PV generation. In contrast, under a common RPS design in which BTM PV RECs can be used for compliance and the load served by BTM PV generation is not covered by the RPS, the presence of BTM PV and transfer of RECs for compliance can actually decrease the total amount of renewable generation in the state, relative to a situation in which there is no BTM PV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Distributed water desalination and purification systems: perspective and future directions

Distributed water treatment and desalination (DWTD) systems are critical for the development of a diverse water portfolio of the desired quality and intended use at the target location. Widespread adoption of DWTD has been hampered given the need for round-the-clock monitoring and the lack of local technical expertise for system management. However, self-adaptive operation, real-time remote monitoring, supervisory control, and asset management of DWTD systems are now feasible with the implementation of advanced local system control, cyberinfrastructure that facilitates real-time cloud-based analytics, data management, and artificial intelligence–powered decision support. Such an approach will introduce transformative virtual networks of DWTD systems to provide needed water to locations that are not served by centralized and satellite water treatment and desalination systems.

Cohen, Yoram [University of California, Los Angele↗

On the impact of tidal generation and energy storage integration in PV-rich electric distribution systems

Deep decarbonization of power system operations requires the maximal utilization of available renewable resources. At distribution-level operations, however, grid operators can face numerous challenges in integrating renewables at scale owing to the inherent intermittence of renewable energy resources. These include phenomena such as voltage fluctuations, which are typically mitigated through control actuators such as on-load tap changers (OLTC) as well as energy storage devices, such as battery energy storage systems (BESS). On the one hand, high intermittence of the available renewable portfolio may require increasingly aggressive control of actuators, thereby accelerating the probability of equipment failure. On the other hand, integrating BESS operations and having a diverse renewable generation portfolio can typically help stagger power/energy flow to mitigate the aforementioned adverse impacts. In this paper, we employ a Bayesian framework for equipment lifetime estimation to understand the impact of including tidal energy resources and BESS in distribution system operations for feeders having substantial distribution photovoltaic generation. Our results indicate that while tidal energy alone may slightly decrease equipment reliability, the adverse impact on reliability is significantly magnified by a generation portfolio consisting of tidal generation and photovoltaic generation. Here, we also study the tidal and photovoltaic hosting capacity problem with and without energy storage systems using equipment reliability as an added constraint. We conclude that energy storage increases the reliability-constrained hosting capacity of the distribution system.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Integrated Energy Systems Program Management Plan

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) initiated the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology Program, which includes the Crosscutting Technology Development (CTD) portfolio of subprograms, to conduct research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) to support existing, new and advanced reactor designs and fuel cycle technologies. This program plan describes the Integrated Energy Systems (IES) Program, an element of the CTD portfolio since 2016 that seeks to improve the economic competitiveness, efficiency and environmental performance of nuclear energy systems by expanding their potential application space beyond electricity and optimizing their utilization in the context of the larger U.S. electric and non-electric energy system.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Evaluating Offshore Infrastructure Integrity

Drilling in the offshore environment involves a complex network of infrastructure including pipelines, platforms, rigs, subsea installations, ports, and terminals. Government and industry partners have developed this network over many decades and it remains a critical part of the United States (U.S.) energy portfolio. Many of the major components of this system have been designed with a 20- to 30-year lifespan, yet consistent and growing energy demands support the need to extend the design life of existing infrastructure or repurpose it for secondary needs (i.e. enhanced oil recovery, carbon storage, and new wells). As a result, a growing portion of the offshore infrastructure in the U.S. is approaching or has exceeded its original design life. A critical step in ensuring the continued safe and effective operation of offshore infrastructure is developing a comprehensive understanding of the state of offshore infrastructure and the factors that effect it. The purpose of this project is to assess the current state of existing infrastructure and identify the factors involved in infrastructure degradation through the development and application of big data analytics, machine learning, and advanced spatio-temporal analysis. The project leverages existing data at NETL and combines it with new information on offshore oil and gas structures and the ambient offshore environment in an effort to identify patterns associated with infrastructure integrity. Building on the identified trends and patterns, this project incorporates exploratory analytics and spatial analysis tools in conjunction with machine learning and statistical models to characterize the condition of existing platforms in the offshore environment and predict their risk of failure.

02 PETROLEUM↗

Resilience Assessment: Cape Cod National Seashore

The NPS partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2019 to develop resilience plans at specific high-risk parks as well as a resilience planning guide to inform resilience planning decisions by NPS and other federal land management agencies. The purpose of this project is to further examine the vulnerability of coastal park infrastructure specific to energy, communications, transportation, and water systems, for future operational resilience across the NPS portfolio. Leveraging previously compiled vulnerability assessments and renewable energy analyses, NREL has completed resilience plans at specific high-risk pilot parks to serve as a foundation for more comprehensive assessments and resilience planning activities. This report is a summary of the efforts at Cape Cod National Seashore (CACO), which outlines the methodology used and the results of the analysis, with the intention of serving as a case study for other parks interested in replicating the process.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗