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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 91 records · Page 5

Chapter 9: Impact of Variable Renewable Energy Sources on Bulk Power System Planning and Operations

Wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) have experienced remarkable growth in recent years, with many consequent benefits within and outside of power systems. At the same time, wind and solar PV have unique characteristics relative to the historically dominant dispatchable technologies like coal, gas, and nuclear power plants that have required and will continue to require changes in power system planning and operations. This chapter discusses planning and operational challenges of integrating wind and solar PV into bulk power systems. We first present the key characteristics of wind and solar PV that differentiate it from conventional technologies, such as variable and uncertain electricity generation, asynchronous interconnection to the power system, and near-zero marginal costs. We then link these characteristics to power system planning and operational challenges at low through high wind and solar penetrations. Finally, we discuss near- and long-term solutions to those challenges, such as diversifying the generation mix and wind and solar fleets, improving system flexibility, diversifying ancillary service products, and integrating generation and transmission planning.

bulk power system↗

The Demand-Side Resource Opportunity for Deep Grid Decarbonization

Technological innovations are creating a larger role for demand-side resources in electric grids. The rise of demand-side resources is occurring alongside the efforts to decarbonize grids. The confluence of these two trends has motivated research on the role of demand-side resources in grid decarbonization. Here, we synthesize the demand-side resource literature to develop a coherent and realistic vision for that role. We find that demand-side resources can supplement supply-side approaches to decarbonize grids more quickly and cost effectively. The role of demand-side resources is secondary to that of supply-side resources, and a critical analysis of tradeoffs is required whenever demand-side solutions substitute for supply-side solutions. Nonetheless, our review suggests that demand-side solutions can play a meaningful role, providing around 10%-30% of the resources required for deep decarbonization in domains such as energy, peak capacity, and deployed solar capacity. However, demand-side resources remain underutilized due to several solvable barriers. The urgency imposed by climate change requires that these barriers be addressed to fully realize the demand-side resource opportunity.

decarbonization↗

High-Resolution Synthetic Solar Irradiance Sequence Generation: An LSTM-Based Generative Adversarial Network

The rapid growth of renewable energy resources penetration is bringing more challenges to power system planning and operation. Relevant renewable energy integration studies, such as the capability and dynamic performance of inverter-based resources' primary frequency response and fast frequency response, require high-resolution renewable generation output data that are representative of renewable energy resources. This paper focuses on creating synthetic but realistic solar irradiance data and proposes a long short-term memory-based generative adversarial network to generate high-resolution (second-level) solar irradiance sequences from low-resolution (minute-level) measurements. Combined with a classifier to recognize the solar irradiance patterns, the proposed model is trained using multi-loss functions to accurately capture the temporal correlations among both high-resolution and low-resolution sequences. Verification of the proposed approach is performed on the data set of the Oahu Solar Measurement Grid collected through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The results of the case studies demonstrate the proposed approach's capability to capture the statistical characteristics of different solar irradiance patterns and to generate high-quality synthetic solar irradiance sequences in high resolution.

dynamic scheduling↗

Convex Optimization of Integrated Power-Gas Energy Flow Model With Applications to Probabilistic Energy Flow

Energy flow calculation is a fundamental problem of the integrated power and gas system (IPGS) operation and planning. However, the nonlinear gas flow model introduces major challenges to the energy flow calculation. In this paper, we propose a tractably convex optimization model to solve the energy flow problem in IPGSs. It is demonstrated that the proposed optimization model has the same optimal solution as the original nonlinear steady energy flow model. Also, piecewise linearization is adopted to tightly linearize the nonlinear objective function of the model, which transforms the formulated convex optimization into a linear program one. Thus, the computation complexity of the proposed energy flow model is significantly reduced as compared with the existing methods. In addition, the proposed model can be extended to probabilistic energy flow estimation. Extensive case studies are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed energy flow model using three IPGSs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Planning Roadmap for DER Integration in India: Industry Best Practices and Resource Guide

Ensuring safe, reliable, cost-effective DER integration at scale requires holistic planning, broad stakeholder engagement, and should address key development areas such as standards adoption, equipment testing and certification, interoperability and cybersecurity, interconnection procedures, and advanced forecasting and DER management. Each of these areas currently represent significant challenges for utilities, regulators, OEMs, developers, and even consumers worldwide. India has already seen significant growth of DERs and has announced targets for substantial growth yet to come, with the potential for DERs to make up a non-negligible portion of the country's overall generation capacity. As such, it is of critical importance that Indian stakeholders consider the potential impacts of wide-spread adoption of DERs and take preemptive action related to the five development areas listed here, among others. India should consider strategies including the adoption of key DER standards related to interconnection, testing, and cybersecurity; enabling effective and secure communication channels for DER interoperability; testing and certifying DER equipment in accredited testing laboratories; building robust, streamlined interconnection procedures; and revamping legacy system planning structures to incorporate DERs in a holistic planning framework.

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Power System Planning: Advancements in Capacity Expansion Modeling

This fact sheet focuses specifically on one element of the long-term planning process, the capacity expansion model. It highlights the key advances in these models to enable planning for systems with growing shared of renewable energy and storage.

capacity expansion model↗

Igiugig Comprehensive Energy Plan Implementation Assistance

In 2023, the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) partnered with the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) to provide technical assistance to Igiugig through the US Department of Energy's Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP). The overall objective of this ETIPP project was to provide technical support to help the community achieve their energy goal of reducing diesel fuel for electricity by 50% by 2030 through the implementation of high priority strategies defined in their 2022 Community Energy Plan. Technical support focused on evaluating additional renewables and renewable heating scenarios, identifying heat recovery system design options for high penetration renewables, investigation power quality and line loss issues, and supporting integration of battery energy storage.

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Status Quo and Gap Analysis of Heliostat Field Deployment Processes for Concentrating Solar Tower Plants

In this study, deployment of the solar field of a concentrating solar power plant is one of many factors that are integral to the success of a project. Knowledge transfer from outside the industry is limited due to the unique nature of heliostats, which redirect sunlight to a receiver with high precision while maintaining a high level of reflectivity. Moreover, learning from project to project can be limited due to the site-specific nature of projects, as the market includes several developers, each with their own unique design. In this paper, we discuss the state of the art in heliostat field deployment. We cover all the key aspects of deployment from project assessment to a fully functioning system, which include site selection, layout development, supply chain, assembly, site preparation and construction, calibration, and operations and maintenance. We then perform a gap analysis on field deployment and recommend priorities for future research.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

A Primer on FERC Order No. 2222: Insights for International Power Systems

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order No. 2222 is heralded as a landmark rule on distributed energy resources (DER). Issued in September 2020, it is specifically designed for organized wholesale power markets. The rule is nonbinding for utilities that have not chosen to join an organized wholesale power market. This primer, which analyzes the order, focuses on potential insights for similar changes in the international power systems.

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Power System Wildfire Risks and Potential Solutions: A Literature Review & Proposed Metric

Several fire risk evaluation, fire tracking, and fire response resources are available. The risk metrics and fire response programs are sometimes modified to include a power system context. The risk metrics often evaluate the risk of fires causing power system faults or outages, especially on transmission systems. The response programs are modified to ensure the safety of power system equipment and first responders as well as to coordinate power system outages to both ensure safety during an active fire and prevent fire ignition during high risk periods. Although some aspects of wildfire responses have been adapted to include power system concerns, adaptations to power system operations and maintenance to include wildfire risks and responses are still nascent. In particular, a risk metric that evaluates the potential for power system components to ignite wildfires is needed to help guide power system upgrade efforts and power system fire safety measures. This document serves as a brief literature review of wildfire risk metrics and response programs and how they relate to power systems. It also includes a proposed risk metric and structure for describing the risk of a power system component igniting a fire.

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VPP Participation Models: What is the Objective?

Virtual power plants (VPPs) can provide grid services by aggregating and controlling many distributed energy resources. However, their design, operation, level of participation, and outcomes depend on the regulatory and market environments they operate in, DER owner preferences, grid service value, and technical capabilities (e.g., communications, forecasting, controls, user interfaces). Although VPPs are inherently complex, they could enable high shares of behind-the-meter solar plus storage and reduce the cost of electrifying, e.g., personal vehicles and space heating.

demand response↗

USAID Haiti Training Session #1: Engage Orientation [Slides]

Welcome to Engage! Engage is a capacity expansion modeling tool supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on the Calliope open-source capacity expansion model developed by the ETH Zurich University, maintained at the TU Delft University. Engage is an accessible (free, open-access, web-hosted) and flexible web-based energy system planning application for rapid multiple-energy-form energy system scenario exploration. Its cloud-based, collaborator-sharable data model, intuitive interface and visualization capabilities facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, with experts, and among diverse stakeholder groups exploring energy system implications at from district to national-scale models. This training series was developed under USAID to empower Haitian stakeholders to explore modeling scenarios in Engage to develop a Haiti Energy Master Plan. This training series includes a general overview of how Engage works along with tailored exercises that target Haiti's specific energy needs, such as modeling the capacity expansion of the bulk power system, fuel scarcity challenges, the development of microgrids, and the economic viability of transmission strategies. See NREL/PR-7A40-89366 for the French translation of this document.

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USAID Haiti Training Session #2: Introduction to Engage [Slides]

Welcome to Engage! Engage is a capacity expansion modeling tool supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on the Calliope open-source capacity expansion model developed by the ETH Zurich University, maintained at the TU Delft University. Engage is an accessible (free, open-access, web-hosted) and flexible web-based energy system planning application for rapid multiple-energy-form energy system scenario exploration. Its cloud-based, collaborator-sharable data model, intuitive interface and visualization capabilities facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, with experts, and among diverse stakeholder groups exploring energy system implications from district to national-scale models. This training series was developed under USAID to empower Haitian stakeholders to explore modeling scenarios in Engage to develop a Haiti Energy Master Plan. This training series includes a general overview of how Engage works along with tailored exercises that target Haiti's specific energy needs, such as modeling the capacity expansion of the bulk power system, fuel scarcity challenges, the development of microgrids, and the economic viability of transmission strategies. See NREL/PR-7A40-89369 for the French translation of this document.

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USAID Haiti Training Session #3: Capacity Expansion [Slides]

Welcome to Engage! Engage is a capacity expansion modeling tool supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on the Calliope open-source capacity expansion model developed by the ETH Zurich University, maintained at the TU Delft University. Engage is an accessible (free, open-access, web-hosted) and flexible web-based energy system planning application for rapid multiple-energy-form energy system scenario exploration. Its cloud-based, collaborator-sharable data model, intuitive interface and visualization capabilities facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, with experts, and among diverse stakeholder groups exploring energy system implications from district to national-scale models. This training series was developed under USAID to empower Haitian stakeholders to explore modeling scenarios in Engage to develop a Haiti Energy Master Plan. This training series includes a general overview of how Engage works along with tailored exercises that target Haiti's specific energy needs, such as modeling the capacity expansion of the bulk power system, fuel scarcity challenges, the development of microgrids, and the economic viability of transmission strategies. See NREL/PR-7A40-89365 for the French translation of this document.

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Session de formation de l'USAID en Haiti n1: Orientation de l'outil Engage [Slides]

Welcome to Engage! Engage is a capacity expansion modeling tool supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on the Calliope open-source capacity expansion model developed by the ETH Zurich University, maintained at the TU Delft University. Engage is an accessible (free, open-access, web-hosted) and flexible web-based energy system planning application for rapid multiple-energy-form energy system scenario exploration. Its cloud-based, collaborator-sharable data model, intuitive interface and visualization capabilities facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, with experts, and among diverse stakeholder groups exploring energy system implications at from district to national-scale models. This training series was developed under USAID to empower Haitian stakeholders to explore modeling scenarios in Engage to develop a Haiti Energy Master Plan. This training series includes a general overview of how Engage works along with tailored exercises that target Haiti's specific energy needs, such as modeling the capacity expansion of the bulk power system, fuel scarcity challenges, the development of microgrids, and the economic viability of transmission strategies. See NREL/PR-7A40-88835 for the English translation of this document.

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Session de formation de l'USAID en Haiti n2: Introduction a l'outil Engage [Slides]

Welcome to Engage! Engage is a capacity expansion modeling tool supported by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and based on the Calliope open-source capacity expansion model developed by the ETH Zurich University, maintained at the TU Delft University. Engage is an accessible (free, open-access, web-hosted) and flexible web-based energy system planning application for rapid multiple-energy-form energy system scenario exploration. Its cloud-based, collaborator-sharable data model, intuitive interface and visualization capabilities facilitate collaboration and communication among teams, with experts, and among diverse stakeholder groups exploring energy system implications from district to national-scale models. This training series was developed under USAID to empower Haitian stakeholders to explore modeling scenarios in Engage to develop a Haiti Energy Master Plan. This training series includes a general overview of how Engage works along with tailored exercises that target Haiti's specific energy needs, such as modeling the capacity expansion of the bulk power system, fuel scarcity challenges, the development of microgrids, and the economic viability of transmission strategies. See NREL/PR-7A40-88836 for the English translation of this document.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗