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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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DOE OSTI2023

Chapter 11: Renewable Microgrids as a Foundation of the Future Sustainable Electrical Energy System

Renewable microgrids are an integral part of the future sustainable energy system. This chapter focuses on the role of renewable energy-based microgrids in the electricity system transformation. It is seen as a foundation that complements large-scale generation plants and high-voltage transmission lines by providing additional flexibility and resilience. This flexibility and resilience are crucial for balancing the energy system and ensuring its long-term sustainability, given the changing supply and demand patterns due to rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV), battery storage, electric mobility, and heat pumps. It is also an opportunity for residential and commercial consumers to become active participants in the energy market. Innovation, new technologies and business models will act as the key enabler for this transformation. The regulatory restructuring of the energy market will be crucial for successful integration of prosumers and aggregated energy communities. The chapter presents the vision of a sustainable, decentralized, and digitized energy future including market potential, most innovative case study projects and start-up companies, and the shifts needed in the regulatory landscape.

battery storage↗
DOE OSTI2022

Small Hydropower Interconnections: Best Practices

Small hydropower projects have been the predominant source of capacity growth of U.S. hydropower for more than a decade, and they present the most cost-effective and environmentally permissible avenues for hydropower growth (DOE 2016; Johnson et al. 2018). However, interconnection to electricity distribution and transmission grids is a persistent barrier due to cost surprises and schedule overruns. As a culmination to research into the status and requirements of small hydropower interconnection across the United States, this paper presents the best practices for setting interconnection standards that can improve the process for small hydropower developers. As part of the analysis, the interconnection costs are compared between small hydropower, solar, and wind. The analysis of the small hydropower interconnection landscape across the United States was carried out by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office. The research team was guided by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and gleaned data from publicly available sources, such as the HydroSource database (ORNL 2020) and interconnection queues hosted by utilities, balancing authorities, independent system operators (ISOs), and regional transmission organizations (RTOs). The results of this work are shared in a series of papers detailing the state of small hydropower in the United States (“Small Hydropower Interconnections: Small Hydropower in the United States”), the variety of state interconnection processes to connect power generators with the grid (“Small Hydropower Interconnections: State Interconnection Processes”), and an analysis of the interconnection processes (“Small Hydropower Interconnections: Analysis of Interconnection Processes”). In this, the final paper in the series, best practices for interconnection processes (“Small Hydropower Interconnections: Best Practices”) are identified from the solar energy and distributed wind energy industries that are transferrable to small hydropower development. This information will help overcome barriers to future small hydropower development.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Retail Rate Projections for Long-Term Electricity System Models

Electricity prices reported in most electricity-system planning studies leave out many price components and do not translate into retail rates, making it difficult to interpret how projected electricity system changes will impact costs to consumers. Full transmission costs are left out of many studies; distribution and administration costs are similarly excluded or highly simplified. Here, we present a detailed bottom-up accounting method for projecting future retail electricity rates in the United States. Making the simplifying assumption that each state is served by an investor-owned utility (IOU), we translate projected generation and transmission capacity and costs from the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity-expansion model into IOU balance sheet expenditures, accounting for depreciation, taxes, and the breakdown between operating and capitalized (rate-based) expenses. Distribution, administration, and intra-regional transmission costs are projected forward based on empirical trends over the past decade. Modeled bottom-up electricity rates are compared to historical rates from 2010-2019, and the sensitivity of modeled rates to a range of financing and modeling assumptions is explored. Distribution and administration rate components account for roughly 40% (4.4 ¢/kWh) of the projected national-average retail rate over 2020-2050 under central assumptions.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Opportunities for Renewable Energy, Storage, Vehicle Electrification, and Demand Response in Rajasthan's Power Sector

To support the government of Rajasthan and inform state policy makers, regulators, planners, and system operators on power system trends, NREL undertook a long-term capacity expansion planning study. We used NREL's flagship capacity expansion planning tool for the power sector called the Regional Energy Deployment System India (ReEDS-India) to understand the generation and transmission needs of Rajasthan through 2050. NREL's modeling framework includes co-optimized decisions about generation, energy storage, transmission, and reserves investments needed to meet future demand while maintaining reliable electricity supply. Scenario analysis was conducted to assess a range of potential future scenarios, providing insight for planning agencies, utilities, and local stakeholders about key trends and sources of uncertainty.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Storm-DEPART (Damage Estimate Prediction and Recovery Tool)

Storm-DEPART (Damage Estimate Prediction and Restoration Tool): Each year hurricanes and tropical storms in the United States damage critical infrastructure assets, disrupt the services they provide, and cause millions to billions of dollars in economic impacts due to extended recovery times. The Storm-DEPART tool and analytical output enable more impactful data-driven decision-making capabilities and strengthen national-level disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Storm-DEPART, built through multi-month collaboration between Entergy and INL, combines Entergy’s critical infrastructure inventory data with weather forecasts to predict damages to Electric utility’s assets due to natural disasters and the estimated recovery support needed, including time, materials, and resource allocation. In the event of an approaching hurricane, this innovative solution can assess potential damage to power generation capacity, transmission grids, distribution networks, and communications assets from wind bands, storm surge, and flooding. With more effective predictions, Entergy can more efficiently allocate resources to mitigate impacts and optimize recovery for customers. Storm-DEPART also allows Electric utilities the ability to apply a planning scenario and model expected damage to better inform infrastructure restoration needs leading to enhance system resiliency. The technology is fully transferrable to other electric utilities with the same damage estimating challenges. The INL team is working on the evolution of Storm-DEPART to include ice event damage prediction framework.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Results for Voisin et al. 2020 [Data set]

These data files provide contemporary (2010) bulk electricity grid operations and transmission flow as simulated by PLEXOS and informed by historical and future generation constraints scenarios as informed by historical and future water availability at hydro and thermoelectric plants. Contact: Ana Dyreson , Nathalie Voisin Authors: Nathalie Voisin, Ana Dyreson, Tao Fu, Matt O'Connell, Sean Turner, Tian Zhou, Jordan Macknick

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Assessing the Key Requirements for 450 GW of Renewable Capacity in India by 2030

In this policy brief, we assess the prerequisites for India to achieve 450 GW of solar and wind cumulative installed capacity by 2030. We examine requirements such as availability of land, new transmission buildout, financing and pace of deployment, as well as the impact on grid reliability and cost of generation. We also examine the impact of policies promoting domestic manufacturing. Deploying 307 GW of solar and 142 GW of wind capacity would use only about 1.25% of land that is categorized as barren or waste, which is equivalent to about 0.22% of the total land area in India. Because of the good solar resource across large swaths of India, the solar energy buildout—and thus the land use—potentially can be spread out. India would need about 280 GW of new interstate transmission capacity by 2030, a little over double the transmission expansion that has already been planned through 2025. However, most of the new transmission buildout is driven by the near doubling of electricity demand between 2020 and 2030. The total investment needed (in generation and storage resources) to realize this target is around USD 26.5 billion annually, which is 20% lower than the annual investment in India’s power sector across all generation resources between 2015 and 2019. We estimate that using domestically manufactured panels instead of imported panels may increase solar PPA prices by about 10%–15% in the medium term, but solar power would still be a cost-effective way to meet growing demand instead of building new fossil fuel-based power plants, because the price of electricity from solar plants has fallen below the variable cost of most existing coal units. To reach this target, India would need to build about 35–40 GW of solar and wind capacity every year in this decade. India’s power sector achieved a pace of capacity addition of 22 GW per year in the previous decade (including thermal and renewable). Policy and regulatory measures would be needed to increase the pace of deployment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Performance of Hybrid Renewable Energy Power System for a Residential Building

Using fossil fuels as the primary way to generate electricity causes a significant effect on the environment. In 2019, more than 64% of the electricity in the United States of America was generated using fossil-fuel resources, while renewable energy (RE) resources contributed to only 17% of the U.S. electricity generation for the same year. Additionally, due to the complex terrain distribution of many states in the U.S., a massive opportunity of utilizing RE resources in rural and remote areas can reduce the cost of electrical grid installation for such areas. In this study, a typical residential building with an average energy utilization of 30.25 kWh/day with a demand peak of 5.34 kW was considered a case study in each state to optimize a hybrid RE system and find the best alternative electrical grid system. This study presents the best configuration between solar and wind energy with different types of energy storage. It was discovered the photovoltaic (PV) solar panels—diesel generators with battery best services in all states. The daily radiation and diesel prices substantially affect the levelized cost of energy (COE) values in each state.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Rewarding Grid-Friendly Behavior: Estimating the Potential Bill Reduction and Load Shifting Benefits of Dynamic Prices

Shifting electric load from times of peak demand can be a key strategy to slow price growth as reducing peak demand avoids the cost of upgrading generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. Utilities are releasing time-varying prices, such as time of use rates or dynamic prices, to incentivize grid-friendly load shifting. New dynamic price programs provide insight into the true cost of operating electricity grids and the potential economic benefits of load shifting. Program developers and device manufacturers need to understand the economic opportunities in terms of 1) the variation in prices across hours, days, and seasons; 2) the change in utility bills for customers who don’t shift load; and 3) the potential load shifted and economic value of different technologies if manufacturers or aggregators deploy price-responsive controls. This paper estimates possible impacts of dynamic price adoption and load shifting controls if customers paid the dynamic rate from one pilot program. Statistical analysis of historical prices identified annual and seasonal metrics as well as representative price curves for each circuit in the pilot. Simulations for residential technologies with price-responsive controls including unitary heat pump water heaters, central multifamily heat pump water heaters, heating & cooling + storage systems, and pool pumps estimated the potential impacts of highly dynamic prices both with and without load shifting controls. Results showed the potential to reduce electricity costs on representative days by 42-94% and reduce consumption during times of high electricity prices by 63-100% compared to baseline operation for those flex-friendly devices.

Grant, Peter↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the Low Risk of SSR in Type III Wind Turbines Operating in Grid-Forming Control: Preprint

We have shown in a previous work that the risk of sub-synchronous resonance (SSR) between a wind power plant with Type III wind turbines and series-compensated transmission lines is low when the wind turbines in the plant are operated in grid-forming mode, instead of the standard grid-following mode. The fundamental mechanism behind the improved damping characteristics is explained in this paper by modeling the positive and negative sequence impedances of Type III wind turbines for GFM operation mode. It is discovered that the GFM control naturally acts against the negative resistance of Type III wind turbines that results from an interaction between the proportional gain of the rotor-side converter current controller and negative slip. The developed sequence impedance models and improved damping behavior are verified using PSCAD simulations of a 2.5-MW Type III GFM wind turbine. The modeling predictions are also supported by experimentally measuring the sequence impedance response of a 2.5-MW Type III wind turbine during operation in GFL and GFM modes.

grid-following turbine↗
DOE OSTI2021

Long-Run Marginal CO 2 e Emission Rates for End-Use Electricity Consumption in the State of Washington [Slides]

This analysis contains an estimate of the long-run marginal emission rate for the electric sector in the state of Washington. The long-run marginal emission rate is an estimate of the rate of emissions that would be either induced or avoided by a long-term (i.e., more than several years) change in electrical demand. The metric explicitly takes into account both the underlying evolution of the electric grid, as well as the potential for an incremental change in electrical demand to influence the structural evolution of the grid (i.e., the building and retiring of capital assets, such as generators and transmission lines). It is therefore distinct from the more-commonly-known short-run marginal, which also identifies a marginal emission rate but treats the grid assets as fixed.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Predictive-Maintenance Practices: For Operational Safety of Battery Energy Storage Systems

Changes in the Demand Profile and a growing role for renewable and distributed generation are leading to rapid evolution in the electric grid. These changes are beginning to considerably strain the transmission and distribution infrastructure. Utilities are increasingly recognizing that the integration of energy storage in the grid infrastructure will help manage intermittency and improve grid reliability. This recognition, coupled with the proliferation of state-level renewable portfolio standards and rapidly declining lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery costs, has led to a surge in the deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESSs). Additionally, although BESSs represented less than 1% of grid-scale energy storage in the United States in 2019, they are the preferred technology to meet growing demand because they are modular, scalable, and easy to deploy across diverse use cases and geographic locations.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Monte Carlo-based Transmission and Subtransmission Recovery Simulation of Hurricanes

High-impact low-probability (HILP) events can wreak havoc on electric power systems without appropriate preparedness. In this paper, the recent development of a tool, named Recovery Simulator and Analysis (RSA), is described and demonstrated. While there are many issues to consider when recovering electric power systems, the focus of RSA is on the coordination of transmission and subtransmission recovery with generation dispatch to minimize unserved energy. RSA focuses on recovery simulation to evaluate resilience as part of a planning process. RSA is demonstrated on an approximately 1400-bus Puerto Rican power system for 100 simulated instances of Hurricane Maria. Analysis of the recovery determines how many lines are critical to the recovery and which loads may experience delayed recovery. The results demonstrate the potential uses of RSA for identifying recovery decisions with low unserved energy and for identifying assets critical to recovery which can then be hardened prior to a HILP event.

Maloney, Patrick R.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Development of Hydrogen Mitigation for the Nevada Solar One Power Plant

Acciona Solar Power and NREL agreed to a collaborative effort (CRADA) to develop and implement a method to reduce hydrogen levels in the circulating HTF at the NSO power plant. The project was planned as a three-year effort, and work started in June 2015. The CRADA's goal was to solve the long-standing lost efficiency problem caused by the buildup of hydrogen in the HTF, which significantly impacts the efficiency, electricity generation, and revenue from parabolic trough power plants.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Long-run Marginal Emission Rates for Electricity - Workbooks for 2021 Cambium Data

These workbooks contain modeled estimates of long-run marginal emission rates (LRMER) for the contiguous United States. The LRMER is an estimate of the rate of emissions that would be either induced or avoided by a long-term (i.e., more than several years) change in electrical demand. It incorporates both the projected changes to the electric grid, as well as the potential for an incremental change in electrical demand to influence the structural evolution of the grid (i.e., the building and retiring of capital assets, such as generators and transmission lines). It is therefore distinct from the more-commonly-known short-run marginal, which treats grid assets as fixed. The Levelized LRMER worksheet within each workbook is set up to produce a levelized long-run marginal emission rate based on user-provided inputs. These levelized LRMER values are intended for analysts to use when estimating the emissions induced (or avoided) by a long-term change in end-use electricity demand. There are two workbooks that supply the data at two different geographic resolutions: states and GEA regions (20 regions that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, the US EPA's eGRID regions). For more data underlying these emissions factors, see the Cambium 2021 project at https://cambium.nrel.gov/. For more details on the inputs into the scenarios available in the workbooks, see the Standard Scenarios 2021 Report (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/80641.pdf). This data was produced as part of the Cambium project. For more details about the methodology, see the Cambium Documentation: Version 2021 (https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/81611.pdf). This data is planned to be updated annually. Information on the latest versions can be found at https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/cambium.html.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Cost of Floating Offshore Wind Energy in California Between 2019 and 2032

California’s energy planning is centered around meeting the emissions reduction and renewable energy requirements of Senate Bill 350 by 2030. However, state power system planning is expected to eventually address California’s requirement to achieve 100% of total retail electricity sales from renewable energy and zero-carbon resources by 2045, as mandated by Senate Bill 100. To comply with these directives, California needs to investigate the further development of energy efficiency, storage, and a diverse range of renewable energy, zero-carbon emission, and transmission resources, including offshore wind. Wind resources off the coast of California have the potential to generate a significant portion of the state’s electric energy as it moves toward a zero-carbon economy and can help diversify its energy mix. Floating offshore wind technology, which is suitable for the deep waters along the California coast, is currently in a precommercial phase, with approximately 84 megawatts (MW) installed worldwide at the end of 2019. Globally there are over 7,000 MW in planning and permitting phases of development, with the first commercial-scale projects expected to be operational in 2024. This study provides site-specific cost and performance data for floating offshore wind to inform California’s long-term energy planning. The identification of new resources to meet California’s policy goals at least cost is part of the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process, which is coordinated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). In 2019–2020 IRP modeling, offshore wind was included for the first time as a candidate resource in some sensitivity cases (CPUC 2019). The data and information presented in this report can be used to update offshore wind inputs in future IRP cycles. The authors conducted a geospatial cost analysis over portions of the offshore wind resource area of California. The analyzed spatial domain includes sites with a mean wind speed of at least 7 meters per second and water depths between 40 meters (m) and 1,300 m. Costs and energy production vary across this analysis domain. We calculated these parameters on a grid layout with over 750 sites, with each site representing a 1,000-MW commercial offshore wind power plant. Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was calculated at each site over the analysis domain. The resulting variation in LCOE across the analysis domain is illustrated through heat maps in this report. Five study areas were selected within the analysis domain where more detailed cost analysis was conducted and cost parameters, such as annual energy production, capital cost expenditures (CapEx), operational cost expenditures (OpEx), and net capacity factors are reported. These five study areas include Morro Bay, Diablo Canyon, Humboldt, Cape Mendocino and Del Norte.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Long-run Marginal CO2 Emission Rates Workbooks for 2020 Standard Scenarios Cambium Data

This dataset has been superseded by a new set of workbooks that can be found here: https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/183 These workbooks contain modeled estimates of long-run marginal CO2 emission rates (LRMER) for the contiguous United States. The LRMER is an estimate of the rate of emissions that would be either induced or avoided by a long-term (i.e., more than several years) change in electrical demand. It incorporates both the projected changes to the electric grid, as well as the potential for an incremental change in electrical demand to influence the structural evolution of the grid (i.e., the building and retiring of capital assets, such as generators and transmission lines). It is therefore distinct from the more-commonly-known short-run marginal, which treats grid assets as fixed. In addition to year-over-year data, the Levelized LRMER worksheet within each workbook is set up to produce a levelized long-run marginal emission rate based on user-provided inputs. These levelized LRMER values are intended for analysts to use when estimating the emissions induced (or avoided) by a long-term change in end-use electricity demand. Three future scenarios are provided in separate workbooks: A Mid-case (i.e., business-as-usual), and two scenarios with relatively higher or lower renewable energy costs. For more details on these scenarios, see the Standard Scenarios 2020 Report ( https://www.nlr.gov/docs/fy21osti/77442.pdf ). For more data underlying each scenario, see the Standard Scenarios 2020 project (Cambium data) at https://cambium.nlr.gov/ . This data was produced as part of the Cambium project. For more details about the methodology, see the Cambium Documentation: Version 2020 ( https://www.nlr.gov/docs/fy21osti/78239.pdf ). This data is planned to be updated annually. Information on the latest versions can be found at https://www.nlr.gov/analysis/cambium.html .

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗