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DOE OSTI2026

Generator Interconnection Costs to the Transmission System in non-ISO Balancing Authorities [Slides]

Electric transmission system operators—including Independent System Operators (ISOs), Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), and utilities—require proposed power plants to undergo a series of interconnection studies before connecting to the grid. These studies assess what transmission upgrades or new infrastructure may be necessary and assign the associated costs to the project. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has compiled, aggregated, and cleaned interconnection cost data, originally for ISOs/RTOs, and now for five non-ISO Balancing Authorities: PacifiCorp, Bonneville Power Authority, Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Florida. Insufficient transparency in interconnection cost data may contribute to rapidly expanding interconnection queues, with active queue capacities tripling between 2020 and 2024 in the studied BAs. Most projects withdraw after receiving high interconnection cost estimates. Interconnection costs have increased since the early 2000s, with average costs for "complete" projects reaching $194/kW between 2018 and 2024. Active queue projects and withdrawn projects incur substantially higher costs, primarily due to rising network upgrade costs. Recent interconnection costs in non-ISO balancing authorities are higher than in ISO regions, potentially due to a greater willingness to pay among developers. Utility-scale solar, wind, and storage projects have interconnection costs that exceed those for natural gas. However, when focusing on projects that do not withdraw from the queue, the interconnection costs for these technologies are more similar to natural gas projects. Other key findings include: (1) Larger generation projects benefit from lower proportional interconnection costs, (2) capacity transmission service (NRIS) often requires additional network investments, and (3) projects with high network upgrade costs are often clustered geographically. The dataset includes results from 2,104 interconnection studies conducted between 2000 and 2024, covering projects that are operational, withdrawn, or still progressing through the study process. The Excel file contains (a) the complete project-level interconnection cost dataset, and (b) seven additional tabs summarizing cost metrics across dimensions such as time, market structure, cost category (point of interconnection vs. broader network upgrades), fuel type, service type (ERIS vs. NRIS), generator size, and geography.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Insights from Initial Engineering Designs of Point Source Capture at Industrial Facilities

Initial engineering design studies examining the application of state-of-the-art carbon capture technology at industrial plants contain generally overlooked real-world design considerations for near-term deployment of point source capture (PSC). The implementation of PSC across a wide range of industrial applications presents unique challenges associated with fluctuating CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations, flue gas composition, and utility and land availability. In this article, seven recent industrial retrofit PSC projects are reviewed to investigate the impact of site-specific factors on project design and cost. Across the seven projects, three capture technology classes and four industrial applications are considered, allowing insight into industry-specific opportunities for PSC technology synergy. Common challenges across projects and proposed design solutions are highlighted to propagate ideas and solutions to close the technology gaps and accelerate learning rates.

FEED Studies↗
DOE OSTI2026

Feasibility and strategic implications of deploying nuclear power reactors in Africa

This report assesses the feasibility and strategic implications of deploying nuclear power reactors, including large-scale plants, advanced small modular reactors (SMRs), and microreactors, in African countries. Case studies focus on South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, examining nuclear energy’s role in Africa’s rapidly evolving energy landscape, marked by fast-growing demand, significant electricity access gaps, increasing renewable penetration, and strong policy commitments to industrialization and energy security. Several U.S. reactor technologies and designs are considered based on their development status and readiness for deployment. The analysis finds that nuclear power can provide reliable, clean baseload and flexible generation, as well as high-temperature process heat for desalination, hydrogen production, and industrial applications. However, suitability is highly country-specific, depending on grid size and stability, transmission capacity, cooling water availability, regulatory readiness, and fuel supply chains. Near-term deployment opportunities are strongest for light-water reactors (such as NuScale, BWRX-300, AP300, and SMR-300) that use low-enriched uranium and build on proven technology. More advanced concepts, including gas-cooled, sodium-cooled, molten-salt cooled reactors, and microreactors, will likely be relevant for African deployment in the 2030s or later, contingent on demonstration projects, high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel availability, and mature international licensing frameworks. Economic analysis shows that SMRs are capital-intensive, with projected overnight costs for 300 MWe units in 2025 ranging from approximately 1.4 to 2.6 billion USD per module. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is highly sensitive to the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Given typically higher financing costs and utility balance-sheet weaknesses in many African countries, bankable project structures will require sovereign guarantees, robust offtake arrangements, and layered financing from export credit agencies, development finance institutions, and vendor nations. Comparisons with recent large nuclear projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt underscore the central role of state-backed loans, long tenors, and concessional terms. Country case studies illustrate a spectrum of readiness and opportunity. South Africa operates two 920 MWe pressurized light water reactors (totaling 1,840 MWe) at Koeberg and has the most mature regulatory and industrial base, positioning it as a prime candidate for both large reactors and SMRs to replace coal, support desalination, and anchor industrial hubs. Egypt is constructing four VVER-1200 units at El Dabaa with strong state leadership and could later complement this fleet with SMRs for coastal and industrial applications. Kenya and Ghana are advancing through IAEA Milestones with growing institutional capacity and clear interest in SMRs that match their smaller grids and industrialization plans. Nigeria has the largest demand potential but faces acute constraints in grid reliability, project bankability, and regulatory capacity; targeted deployments of large reactors and SMRs near coastal or industrial sites could have high impact if accompanied by major grid upgrades and institutional reforms. The report identifies cross-cutting challenges such as financing, political continuity, public acceptance, nonproliferation and security, waste and back-end management, regulatory capacity, grid adequacy, and long deployment timelines for first-of-a-kind designs, and ANL/NSE-26/3 ii proposes broad directions for resolution. These include stronger multifaceted financing for nuclear, long-term national energy strategies that transcend electoral cycles, proactive stakeholder engagement, strengthened regional and national regulators, and systematic workforce development through centers of excellence and expanded training. The United States should develop partnerships with African countries and offer end-to-end nuclear package similar to those used effectively by competitors: coordinated project development, state-backed financing, long-term fuel services, and durable in-country support through regional offices and sustained workforce/regulatory training. With timely planning, sustained political commitment, and appropriate financing and institutional support, nuclear energy, both large reactors and advanced SMRs, can become a meaningful, though not dominant, pillar of Africa’s future power mix, enhancing energy security, enabling industrial growth, and supporting climate goals.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

COGIHTO: Comprehensive Geothermal Integrated HVAC Retrofits in Disadvantaged Communities

Geothermal heating and cooling (GHC) systems offer one of the most efficient approaches to provide space conditioning and water heating in buildings. Due to the relatively stable temperature of the ground year-round, these systems can provide an efficient solution to decarbonize heating systems. Yet this technology has faced limited market adoption due to its high first cost. This project seeks to address this barrier by designing a community GHC system at a public housing development in New York, taking advantage of load diversity (in terms of the timing and amount of heating / cooling used per person) that a larger community offers to reduce the size and thus first cost of a GHC system. Project success would result in societal benefit from reduced energy and fossil fuel use, reduced local emissions, and improved comfort, which would positively impact the health and well-being this community. This report presents the findings from Phase 1 project supported by the Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office and includes the technical design of a GHC at a public housing development in New York. To support the success of a potential deployment of a GHC system, the team conducted community engagement and prepared an assessment of the local workforce needs. The project team, led by EPRI, considered a subset of NYCHA housing developments that were previously identified by NYCHA as suitable for GHC retrofits. This report presents the site selection criteria the team developed and the overall score assigned to each of the eight developments considered. One site was selected for focus of the technical design: Stapleton Houses in Staten Island, a mid-size development with roughly 700 apartments across 6 buildings. The site has an existing hot water hydronic loop served by natural gas boilers for space heating and water heating. The technical design partner assessed baseline energy consumption at the site and established thermal models of the apartment buildings to assist in the design. The team considered several GHC system configurations and selected a hybrid geothermal design fed from water-source heat pumps with auxiliary gas boilers in a central plant. This design best leveraged the existing site configuration and minimized costs due to additional electrical infrastructure upgrades. The report also details the feedback received from community engagement efforts and the findings from the workforce needs assessment and workforce transition plan. Members of the site maintenance staff and the resident advisory council were interviewed for their input and feedback about both the site’s existing heating/cooling infrastructure and how a construction project would impact resident life. This feedback was taken into consideration when completing the geothermal system design. Research was conducted into existing workforce development opportunities available to NYCHA residents. A workforce development plan was established using information from NYCHA’s resident economic empowerment and sustainability group, along with training material and curriculum from the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA).

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Techno-Economic Evaluation of Electrified Vehicle Options in Drayage Fleets

The electrification of drayage fleets offers potential economic and operational benefits, but the financial viability of electrified vehicles remains sensitive to battery cost, energy price, and fleet usage patterns. While total cost of ownership (TCO) is a useful benchmark, fleet operators and investors are equally concerned with investment performance metrics such as payback period (PB) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), which better reflect financial risks and investment return timelines. This study develops a unified techno-economic framework that jointly evaluates TCO, PB, and IRR to determine when electrified trucks become cost-effective alternatives to diesel trucks. Building on a previously developed cost modeling tool and using real-world telematics data from a Class 8 drayage fleet at the Port of Savannah, the analysis incorporates projected battery cost trajectories, electricity and diesel price trends, vehicle efficiency improvements, and multiple battery capacities. Parameter ranges reflect widely cited projections and observed drayage-duty-cycle variability. A surrogate-modeling method approximates economic performance across thousands of battery cost–electricity price combinations, enabling high-resolution identification of conditions that achieve TCO parity, acceptable PB thresholds, and target IRR levels. Additionally, the study estimates the evolving share of the fleet that can feasibly electrify over time under multiple economic metrics. This integrated framework offers a novel, data-driven approach to inform risk-aware decision-making for fleet electrification and supports investment planning under evolving cost and operational conditions.

Sun, Ruixiao [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000341768676)↗
DOE OSTI2025

The National Solar Radiation Database Final Report: Fiscal Years 2022-2024

The National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) is the leading public source of high-resolution solar resource data in the United States, with more than 400,000 users annually. This database represents the state of the art in the satellite-based estimation of solar resource information and uses a unique physics-based modeling approach that enables improvements in accuracy with the deployment of the next-generation geostationary satellites. Making the highest-quality, state-of-the-art, regularly updated datasets available on a timely basis for users reduces costs of solar deployment by providing accurate information for siting studies and system output prediction and thereby reduces project financing costs and risks.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Guideline for Characterizing and Evaluating a Candidate Project Site for Solar Thermal Applications

This document presents a structured procedure for characterizing and evaluating candidate project sites for concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar heat for industrial processes (SHIP) applications. The objective is to provide project developers, researchers, and other stakeholders with a consistent, technology-agnostic framework for early-stage site assessment, enabling informed decision-making prior to significant investment in project development. Site selection is a critical factor in project success or failure for both CSP and SHIP projects. Key factors such as solar resource availability, land characteristics, environmental and regulatory constraints, infrastructure availability, and community context are determined by the choice of project site and can materially impact project performance, cost, schedule, and overall viability. This procedure is designed to systematically evaluate these factors, identify potential fatal flaws, and prioritize the most favorable candidate sites for further development. The process begins with rapid screening-level evaluation, using publicly available data to assess solar resource, land availability and suitability, zoning and land-use compatibility, and exclusion zones such as protected lands or sensitive habitats. Sites that meet the minimum screening criteria advance to a more detailed characterization. Subsequent sections of this report provide guidance for a next-level assessment of the most important technical and environmental parameters, including: 1) Solar resource quality, variability, and uncertainty using multiyear datasets and, where appropriate, on-site measurement campaigns; 2) Meteorological conditions such as wind, temperature, extreme weather events, and soiling impacts; 3) Land characteristics including slope, shading, and geotechnical conditions; and 4) Environmental and regulatory considerations, including permitting processes, endangered species, cultural resources, and visual impacts. The procedure also addresses infrastructure and integration considerations, including: 1) Grid interconnection requirements for CSP power generation projects; 2) Electrical and operational integration for SHIP facilities; 3) Water availability, quality, and permitting constraints, which are particularly critical for CSP in arid regions; and 4) Site access, construction logistics, and availability of workforce and supporting services. Recognizing the importance of social and economic context, the procedure includes evaluation of community engagement factors, such as stakeholder sentiment, proximity to sensitive visual receptors, workforce development opportunities, and local economic incentives. The outputs of these assessments are synthesized in a cost and risk evaluation, translating site characteristics into expected impacts on capital cost, operating cost, schedule, and technical risk. This is complemented by screening-level performance modeling, including 8760 simulations and long-term projections, to quantify expected energy or thermal output, assess variability thereof, and support comparison between candidate sites. Finally, the procedure provides high-level guidance on a structured go/no-go decision framework, categorizing sites based on identified risks and constraints, and outlining a clear path forward to feasibility studies and front-end engineering design for viable projects. By standardizing the site characterization process across both CSP and SHIP applications, this guideline aims to: 1) Improve consistency and transparency in early-stage project evaluation; 2) Reduce development risk and avoid investment in nonviable project sites; 3) Support collaboration between developers, researchers, and public agencies; and 4) Accelerate successful deployment of concentrating solar technologies for both power generation and industrial process heat.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Prototype Development for MBSE-Driven Digital Environment at Fermilab

Complex projects like Fermilab s accelerators and detectors involve thousands of interdependent components and requirements, making traditional documentation hard to keep consistent and often causing rework. Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tackles this by representing the system as a digital, queryable model. While widely used in aerospace and safety-critical industries, MBSE adoption has been limited elsewhere due to steep learning curves and high costs. This project investigates how a web-first, low-code MBSE stack can reduce those barriers and offer an accessible, unified source of truth for engineers and physicists.

Valle, Diego Pedro (ORCID:0009000865900663)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Investigation of a high-temperature combination heat pump for lower-cost electrification in multifamily buildings

The development of space and water heating combination heat pumps capable of generating water temperatures high enough for convective heat emitters will enable more cost-effective and equitable decarbonization solutions for electrifying multifamily buildings. Here, in this paper, multifamily building models and a charge-sensitive mechanistic cycle model of a combination heat pump are developed, and the system performance is predicted based on the models. Unlike other state-of-the-art residential heat pumping equipment, the modeled combination heat pump using an economized, fluid-injected variable-speed compressor can achieve higher temperature lifts of 40° - 85°C, with lower installation costs and complexity. The model predicted heating coefficient of performance (COP h ) is 2.1 at an ambient temperature of -15°C with a high-temperature lift of nearly 85°C, and a seasonal coefficient of performance in heating mode (SCOP h ) ranges from 2 - 4 for different locations. The system shows 30% - 90% lower CO 2 eq emissions over a condensing gas boiler and 9% - 13% lower projected installation costs than two separate space and water heat pumping appliances.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

RAFT: Reconfigurable Array of High-Efficiency Ducted Turbines for Hydrokinetic Energy Harvesting

Diversifying the energy harvesting portfolio is crucial to achieving the ambitious goal of transitioning to clean energy by 2030. Marine hydrokinetic energy has garnered renewed interest due to its high harvesting potential in the U.S., and the resource's reliability and predictability—remaining relatively constant on a daily basis and available 24/7. However, there are currently few commercial devices capable of harnessing the energy from flowing water. This project aims to bridge that gap by designing and evaluating a novel hydrokinetic turbine concept that can efficiently harvest energy from both rivers and tidal streams. The RAFT (Reconfigurable Array of High-Efficiency Ducted Turbines) concept introduces a duct surrounding the turbine rotor and creates an array of small 5-kW units. The duct serves two primary purposes: (1) it enhances hydrodynamic efficiency by accelerating flow to the rotor, and (2) it functions as a structural component, facilitating the formation of modular arrays that lower costs. This project focuses on demonstrating this concept and validating these benefits through simulations and scaled prototype testing. The project team includes 8 faculty members and over 20 students from 3 universities, organized into three core areas: hydrodynamics, electrical systems, and structural analysis, with additional teams dedicated to system integration, environmental assessment and risk management, and tech-to-market strategy. The team successfully demonstrated the increased hydrodynamic efficiency of a ducted turbine compared to an unducted version using high-fidelity simulations and prototype tests. Moreover, design optimization efforts led to surpassing the SHARKS program's goal of 60% reduction of the levelized cost of energy with a significant margin.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating GHG Mitigation Potential from ESPC Projects [Slides]

This report explores the impact of implemented ESPC projects on the projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in the U.S. buildings sector, and the associated projected annual cost savings and marginal abatement costs. It is important to investigate the role that energy retrofits can play in achieving GHG emission reduction targets given the use of ESPC by public agencies to reduce emissions from energy use in addition to the historical use of ESPC to to achieve cost/energy savings and ancillary benefits (e.g., addressing deferred maintenance, aging infrastructure, etc.). The analysis draws from LBNL’s eProject Builder (ePB) database, which contains approximately 3,000 energy retrofit projects implemented by energy service companies (ESCOs), mostly energy savings performance contract (ESPC) projects. This is the first report to model GHG emission reductions from ongoing ESPC projects in the U.S public sector based on ePB project data. It is intended for policymakers, federal, state and local government officials and other potential ESPC customers, the ESCO industry, researchers, and other energy policy professionals.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Reduced‐Order Modeling of Energetic Materials Using Physics‐Aware Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks in a Latent Space (LatentPARC)

Physics-aware deep learning (PADL) has gained popularity for use in spatiotemporal dynamics simulations, such as those in computational modeling of energetic materials (EM). We show that the challenge PADL methods face while learning complex field evolution problems can be simplified and accelerated by decoupling it into two tasks: learning complex geometric features in evolving fields and modeling dynamics over these features in a lower-dimensional feature space. We build upon our previous work on physics-aware recurrent convolutional neural networks (PARC). PARC embeds knowledge of underlying physics into its neural network architecture for more robust and accurate prediction of evolving physical fields. PARC was shown to effectively learn complex nonlinear features such as the formation of hotspots and coupled shock fronts in various initiation scenarios of EMs, as a function of microstructures, serving effectively as a microstructure-aware burn model. Here, we further accelerate PARC and reduce its computational cost by projecting the original dynamics onto a lower-dimensional invariant manifold, or “latent space.” The projected latent representation encodes the complex geometry of evolving fields (e.g., temperature and pressure) in a set of data-driven features. The reduced dimension of this latent space allows us to learn the dynamics during the initiation of EM with a lighter and more efficient model. We observe a significant decrease in training and inference time while maintaining results comparable to PARC at inference. This work takes steps towards enabling rapid prediction of EM thermomechanics at larger scales and characterization of EM structure–property–performance linkages at a full application scale.

Mathematics and Computing↗
DOE OSTI2024

Zero-Emissions Roadmap for Oakland County

This document outlines a strategic pathway for Oakland County, Michigan to achieve zero emissions by 2050 under the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) Program. The report encompasses analyses and high-level modeling to guide Oakland County in its emission reduction goals. Key methods include establishing an emissions inventory baseline with ongoing evaluation of future projects’ emissions impacts. Core elements include decommissioning old infrastructure, enhancing energy efficiency, deploying hybrid and ground-source heat pumps, and transitioning to electric fleets. It is proposed to structure the planning process into 5-year strategic plans to make the decarbonization process manageable. The document also emphasizes the need for reassessment of goals and periodic updates to remain adaptive to technological advancements and funding considerations. A matrixed approach for evaluating projects by cost and emissions savings is suggested to optimize decision-making given finite resources.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing Solar PV Deployment in Manufacturing: A Morphological Matrix and Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach

The growing energy demand of the industrial sector and the need for sustainable solutions highlight the importance of efficient decision making in solar photovoltaic (PV) implementation. Selecting optimal PV configuration is complex due to the interdependent technical, economic, environmental, and social factors involved. This study introduces an integrated decision-making method combining a morphological matrix and fuzzy TOPSIS to systematically select and rank optimal PV system configurations for manufacturing firms. While the morphological matrix exhaustively examines possible design solutions based on sensing, smart, sustainable, and social (S4) attributes, the fuzzy TOPSIS method ranks the alternatives by handling uncertainty in decision making. A case study conducted in a Mexican manufacturing company validates the methodology’s effectiveness. The optimal PV configuration identified comprehensively addresses operational and sustainability criteria, covering all lifecycle stages. This approach demonstrates quantitative superiority and greater robustness compared to existing fuzzy TOPSIS-based methods for solar PV applications. The findings highlight the practical value of data-driven, multi-criteria decision making for industrial solar energy adoption, enhancing project feasibility, cost efficiency, and environmental compliance. Future research will incorporate discrete event simulation (DES) to further refine energy consumption strategies in manufacturing.

Briceño, Citlaly Pérez↗
DOE OSTI2024

Delivery of a Solar-Powered Forward Osmosis Seawater Desalination Plant: Trevi’s 500 m3/day Zero-Carbon FO Seawater Desalination Plant at NELHA

This paper presents an account of Trevi’s delivery of a 500 m3/day solar powered forward osmosis (FO) seawater desalination plant at the Ocean Science and Technology Park of the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA). The project aimed to demonstrate the viability of solar thermal-powered desalination for agricultural applications through the integration of a 2MW micro-dish solar thermal array with a state-of-the-art FO system. Highlighted in the paper are the three distinct project phases; Planning and Design, System Construction, Installation & Testing followed finally by System Operation and Optimization. Results and decisions which led to the final plant design will be shared, highlighting how Trevi Systems succeeded in producing a zero-carbon FO seawater desalination plant with a projected Levelized Cost of Water (LCOW) estimate competitive with existing carbon-intensive RO technologies (based on some assumptions and the cost of heat which is required for FO.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Powering Data Centers with Clean Energy: A Techno-Economic Case Study of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Dependability

Rising data demands from artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) generating images, videos, and text have prompted increased need for larger and more robust data centers in the United States. Major companies interested in these larger data centers face the choice of linking them to existing regional grids, building stand-alone power supplies onsite, or a combination of both. The request, review, and approval process for new transmission lines to grids in the United States, however, has grown in recent years to times spans rivaling those of new construction for nuclear power plants. Building an islanded power supply for each data center is therefore becoming a prominent option. In this case study, several technologies are modeled in techno-economic simulations for long-term system costs subject to fixed electricity demand from a singular data center. A 250 MWe data center is assumed with additional 50 MWe for resiliency. Techno-economic simulations are conducted using the Holistic Energy Resource Optimization Network (HERON) software, which is a part of the Framework for Optimization of Resources and Economics (FORCE) tool suite. Technologies considered include solar, wind, lithium-ion batteries, and several types of nuclear reactors: large-scale reactors, small modular reactors, and microreactors. A low- and high-cost estimate for each technology is assumed to develop a range of expected economic performance. Low-cost estimates included several clean energy production tax credits. Different combinations of renewable energy generators with nuclear reactors are considered, ranging from a fully renewable-powered data center to a fully nuclear-powered data center. Historic time series of wind and solar availability from the Texas grid are used to train a reduced order model; this model then generates unique time series with similar characteristics of the training dataset. Multiple scenarios of weather and subsequent operations are simulated for each renewable-nuclear combination to determine total costs throughout the project lifetime. Fully renewable-powered configurations required large amounts of installed capacity (GW scale) in the simulations to meet the fixed demand of the data center. This is due to some scenarios in the historical dataset which captured low-wind and low-solar days, requiring over-building of these technologies as well as batteries to compensate for the low amounts of electricity generation. Fully nuclear-powered configurations outperformed the fully renewable and mixed renewable-nuclear configurations in terms of cost, with ranges between $1B and $10B in 2023 USDs compared to $40B+ for fully renewable configurations. Of the nuclear technologies, small modular reactors performed better economically than large-scale nuclear models due to lower projected capital costs, and both performed better than the microreactor models. These results demonstrate the applicability of firm, dispatchable electricity resources from baseload generators like nuclear power plants for operating facilities that run at constant power without daily variability.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Self-Heating Conductive Ceramic Composites for High Temperature Thermal Energy Storage

The absence of affordable and deployable large-scale energy storage poses a major barrier to providing zero-emission energy on demand for societal decarbonization. High temperature thermal energy storage is one promising option with low cost and high scalability, but it is hindered by the inherent complexity of simultaneously satisfying all of the material requirements. Here we design a class of ceramic–carbon composites based on co-optimizing mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Further, these composites demonstrate stability in soak-and-hold tests and direct self-heating up to 1,936 °C and 750 thermal cycles from 500 to 1,630 °C without degradation. This thermal performance derives from their composition and microstructural design as verified by in situ high-temperature transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. They offer both higher energy density and lower cost than conventional storage technologies with a projected system Levelized Cost of Storage below the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2030 target 5 ¢/kWh (electric).

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

SMART Task 6: Evaluation of the Costs of Geologic CO2 Storage for the Illinois Basin Decatur Project Site Using the NRAP/SMART Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) Model

This is a presentation featuring an analysis related to SMART Task 6 in which CO2 storage costs are presented. The National Energy Technology Laboratory has developed the NRAP/SMART Technoeconomic and Liability Evaluation for Storage (TALES) model to provide quantitative cost-based insights to support developers planning CO2 injection and storage projects. TALES calculates the revenues, costs, and financial performance of candidate CO2 saline storage project based on site-specific activity costs and financial parameters. TALES is being integrated as a module pertaining to storage cost as part of the broader SMART Visualization and Decision Support Platform (SVDSP). In this study, the TALES model was applied using real activity cost data associated with the development and operations at the Illinois Basin Decatur Project (IBDP) CO2 storage project site. Scenario analysis was implemented in which crucial operational and cost attributes were varied and the associated cost implications observed. Key results data and project cost summary metrics like first-year breakeven price of CO2 ($/tonne) and net present value (NPV) are presented in similar fashion to how they will appear in the SVDSP.

Vikara, Derek↗