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DOE OSTI2021

Business Models for Coal Plant Decommissioning

Aging coal-fired power plants are retiring across the United States. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studied coal-fired power plant decommissioning business models to support program development for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) to engage with communities affected by power plant retirement processes. Evaluating and reducing the impact on coal-dependent communities from phasing out coal production is a crucial piece of nationwide economic development and community-directed engagement in the clean energy future. This report describes the steps in the typical coal-fired power plant decommissioning process, including analysis of the following key factors: Drivers including policy and regulations, competition with other fuels, and corporate responsibility goals; Types of coal plant decommissioning including plant retirement without full decommissioning, repurposing with fuel switch, redeveloping to utilize existing transmission, and decommissioning and repurposing with other commercial activities; and, Costs of coal plant decommissioning, including variations across regulated and deregulated markets and the funding resources to support decommissioning activities. The details described in this report relied heavily on the availability of local news reports and communications regarding plant retirements, as the researchers identified a lack of formal literature surrounding business models for coal plant decommissioning and a need for a more robust source material collection. In addition, a lack of oversight entities responsible for decommissioning processes may have led to this shortfall of information. Future research regarding coal plant decommissioning can include quantitative studies on power plant retirement drivers, procedures, and costs, qualitative assessments on affects decommissioning has on surrounding communities, investors, and other stakeholders, and identifying best practices to engage community stakeholders in the decommissioning process.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

DOE OSTI2022

U.S. Solar System Decommissioning Policies

In the United States, cumulative installed utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity reached more than 60 gigawatts (GW)dc at the end of 2020. Federal and state renewable energy and net-zero emissions policies will continue to drive solar development in the United States with installed utility-scale PV projected to quadruple (240 GWdc) by 2030. Although more than 75% of all U.S. installed utility-scale PV came online in the last 5 years, federal, state, and local governments are planning for system decommissioning. Our research found that as of April 2021, one federal agency, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 15 U.S. states have solar decommissioning policies in place. North Carolina is also in the process of drafting solar decommissioning regulations, and at least 4 states (Maine, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas) proposed solar decommissioning bills in the 2021 legislative session. This presentation looks at U.S. federal and state solar decommissioning policies who they apply to, when they apply, the requirements/responsibilities, and what the impacts are.

circular economy↗

DOE OSTI2020

Community Engagement - A Citizen-Centric Approach to Seeking a Social License - 20017

The long regulatory road has finally been completed-after years of effort a Record of Decision has been signed and a Permit to Construct has been granted or a Permit to Operate has been obtained. But what about the other road that should be taken in parallel-community engagement? Working with the public is not a sequential activity, rather it is a consequential one and needs to be integrated with overall project planning. Unless you have effectively, meaningfully, and patiently engaged with the project's communities of impact, you may find your project trying to obtain a social license or a social license to operate (SLO). The SLO has its origins in the mining industry and its roots in the business model of corporate social responsibility and sustainability. These latter practices are well known to the US DOE and its contractor community. Aspects of the SLO are emerging as individuals and communities are becoming more informed and have increased expectations for being able to influence and shape decisions. When local community issues are not sought out, listened to, or addressed early, and questions are left unanswered, they can become agenda items for larger unaffiliated groups, and project loss (through delays and/or cancellation) can occur. Issues can transition from resolvable to intractable, a type of SLO face-off. Social media campaigns, serial negative media coverage, and protest signs at project sites opposing regulatory decisions already made are no longer anomalies. These types of incidents demonstrate the increasingly delicate relationship between approved regulatory/technical decisions and public acceptance of those decisions. A SLO is not a requirement. However, the building-blocks of a SLO - working with members of affected communities to build understanding, potentially to obtain and maintain community acceptance or even gain approval or support - are evidence of leadership by project sponsors. Actions taken, or not taken, by project sponsors truly have the ability to influence an outcome. While projects are not assured of success or failure, engaging the community in an empowered process is an investment of time and resources toward success for the project and thus for the communities of impact. Authors Note: Extensive literature searches were performed in developing this paper. The majority of the published literature on SLO as a 'movement' was found from sources in Canada, the European Union (Germany and France in particular), South Asia, South Korea, and many Latin American countries. The literature addressed resource development (mining), infrastructure, and energy projects. Articles written by US sources often spoke to origins and structural theory, specific project issues such as Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) and to protests/demonstrations related to those projects, rather than systemic opposition/conflict phenomena. For these reasons many international SLO experiences and sources are cited in the discussion. The authors recognize these non-US experiences with SLO as having a 'forecast' value to US projects, especially those related to nuclear projects of any type, waste treatment and disposal, energy development (especially fossil fuels as well as alternative sources), mining, and infrastructure. The body of future SLO experiences in the US will shape the future responses to it. (authors)

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Climate Influences on Capacity Expansion Planning with Application to the Western U.S

Electric power system planners utilize a variety of planning tools to inform decisions concerning generation and transmission additions to the electric grid, the need for operational changes, and to evaluate potential stressors on the system. Numerous factors contribute to the planning process including projected fuel and technology costs, policy and load profiles. There is also a growing recognition of the interdependency of the electric grid with other natural and engineered systems. Here we explore how future climate change and hydropower operability might influence decisions related to electricity capacity expansion planning and operations. To do so we assemble a multi-model framework. Specifically, water resource modeling is used to simulate climate impacts on future water supply for thermoelectric and hydropower generation. Separately, temperature impacts on electricity load are evaluated. Together, these climate factors spatially constrain a capacity expansion model that projects generation and transmission additions to the grid. The projected new capacity-builds are then evaluated on their operations, reliability, and cost under average and extreme climate conditions using production cost modeling. This coupled framework is demonstrated on the electric grid in the Western U.S., supporting capacity expansion planning by WECC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) regional entity responsible for reliability assurance of the Western Interconnection. This region was selected in part because the West is unique in that it has high potential for renewable penetrations and is experiencing large retirements/displacements of baseload resources, primarily coal, leading to possible operational challenges in terms of changing resource mix and the need for resource flexibility. Toward this challenge, planning scenarios encompass a range of alternative energy, climate and drought futures. In this context we explore answers to two strategic questions: 1) How does changing climate influence electricity expansion planning (generation and transmission) and future operations, including type and capacity of new builds, system reliability, cost and environmental impacts? 2) How does the representation of hydropower in the modeling framework influence the evaluation of bulk power system operations? Results indicate that climate has a measurable influence on recommendations concerning the capacity, type and location of new generation and transmission additions, with up to 17 GW additional capacity needed by 2038 to meet peak loads (~6.6% increase over capacity-builds based on historical climate). The extent of additional infrastructure needs is strongly influenced by future water availability for hydropower and the potential deployment of demand response technologies. Systems designed for future climate conditions were found to maintain high system reliability under a range of electricity and water availability scenarios (including significant drought), with minimal system curtailments. Additional capacity needs due to higher load tend to increase cumulative 20-year investment and operating costs by $\$$5-$\$$17 billion and generation costs increase by 9 to 19%. Finally, changing the representation of hydropower flexibility has a relatively small influence on capacity expansion in the Western Interconnection through 2038, but hydropower flexibility impacts generation costs to a similar extent as climate.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Final Scientific Technical Report for "Microgrid RD&D and Testing of PIDC and PWD Systems"

Alstom Grid Inc’s (ALSTOM Grid) Research Design and Development (RD&D) project, “Microgrid RD&D and Testing for PIDC and PWD” was conducted in partnership with Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) in its role as owner’s representative and manager of a vibrant commercial and industrial community, involving critical loads in one of the nation’s largest unregulated, non-military electric distribution systems. PIDC needed to develop solutions to address the planned considerable growth in Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Combined Heat Plan (CHP), Renewables, Distributed Generation (DG), Demand Response (DR) and Storage. In supporting the corporate objective, PIDC needed a new class of control systems for achieving enhanced energy resilience of their critical infrastructure operation during adverse conditions together with carbon emission reduction and optimization of the overall system operation economics through system energy efficiency during normal and emergency operating conditions. Additionally, PIDC anticipated the need to support a new class of commercial agreements with tenants, such as those for Urban Outfitters, for guaranteed one hundred percent (100%) grid resilience and electric power supply in case of utility outage conditions. The project was designed to address the challenges for the commercial & industrial (C&I) communities. But more importantly, the project included development of scalable and replicable solutions intended to target a multitude of the nation’s electric distribution communities. The project researched and developed a fully comprehensive prototype consisting of microgrid operation and control functions including islanding, synchronization and reconnection, protection, voltage, frequency, and power quality management, dispatch, and system resiliency. The project provided the foundation required to significantly enhance the overall national objectives set by the DOE for energy resilience, emission reduction and system energy efficiency improvement, including protection of critical infrastructure and public resources.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Organizational Conflicts of Interest Disclosure Update Statement (FY2019)

The National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC (NTESS) Prime Contract department manages an organizational conflicts of interest (OCI) program that is designed to provide NTESS employees an accessible means to assist in identifying potential OCI risk and providing development support services to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate the risk. The OCI program is responsible for maintaining a regulatory infrastructure, such as corporate OCI policy and training content, to comply with NTESS's obligations set forth in prime contract clauses H-4: ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST (OCI) — SPECIAL PROVISION and Section I Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation 952.209-72, Organizational Conflicts of Interest, Alternate I, paragraph (c)(1), Disclosure After Award. Risk identification is a key OCI program priority. Providing employees with a straight-forward, accessible and navigable mechanism to identify potential OCI risk will assist the OCI program in meeting this priority.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2026

Comparison of theory with the experimental characterization of the spatial frequency response of interferometers using a binary pseudo-random array sample

Experimental evaluations of the surface height response of an interference microscope using a binary pseudo-random array test sample are compared with a theory based on a Fourier optics model. Measurements of key instrument characteristics, including the illumination, imaging, and obscuring apertures of three different Mirau objectives, support the theoretical calculations. Agreement between experimental and theoretical modeling confirms the predictability of the spatial frequency response for the purpose of specification and optimization of instrument configuration for specific metrology tasks. The results also provide confidence in methods of compensating for the decrease in instrument response with spatial frequency.

Calibration↗

DOE OSTI2024

An Ethics-Based Review of Generative Artificial Intelligence: Assuring Responsible Use (Version 1.0)

The rapid expansion of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has generated excitement regarding its potential benefits and concern over its ethical implications. Governments, corporations, and standards organizations have described ethical principles to direct GenAI's development and use; however, practical guidance for implementing these principles is limited. Addressing this gap is critical, especially considering the array of risks associated with GenAI, such as legal liabilities, privacy concerns, security threats, and potential misuse. Robust policies and procedures are critical to support responsible deployment of GenAI. This report examines Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)’s approach to promoting responsible GenAI use. Proposed initiatives include developing policies based on ethical principles, creating a governance process to review projects relative to those principles, and implementing onboarding processes for training staff. The governance framework described in this report adapts the structure and principles of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), traditionally used in human subjects research, for GenAI ethical review, providing oversight. Ethical principles guiding responsible GenAI usage include transparency and accountability, privacy, fairness, safety, security, and validity and reliability. To operationalize these principles, we propose forming a GenAI Assurance Council (GAC) that mirrors the IRB's structure. The GAC will evaluate GenAI projects across privacy, accountability, transparency, safety, security, fairness, and validity dimensions. Complementing policy and governance is AI literacy training to support staff understanding of GenAI's ethical implications. An initial training effort for AI Incubator Chat—a GenAI tool deployed at PNNL—showed promising results, underscoring the importance of clear guidelines and user accountability. Collaborative efforts and the dissemination of best practices are also discussed. The proposed GAC model and AI literacy training provide a blueprint for establishing ethical GenAI use and governance, offering practical tools to bridge the gap between ethical principles and real-world applications. The responsible integration of GenAI at PNNL entails a multifaceted approach involving policy development, ethical governance, and AI literacy training. The positive initial feedback and collaborative opportunities position PNNL to lead by example in GenAI's responsible use, reflecting a proactive stance in addressing the ethical, legal, and societal challenges associated with this emerging technology. PNNL's systematic and ethical approach to GenAI offers a model for other institutions to emulate, promoting safe and responsible technological advancements in the AI domain.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2023

The role of corporate investment in start-ups for climate-tech innovation

Enabling and accelerating the full potential of energy innovation is a critical component of the global policy response to climate change. Incentivizing start-ups advancing climate-tech (i.e., products and services related to clean energy and climate change), has become central to innovation policy because start-ups are nimble (compared to incumbents), can quickly focus on bringing new technologies to market, and simultaneously create new jobs and catalyze local industries. Public policies to support climate-tech start-ups and efforts such as Mission Innovation tend to focus on increasing government spending (e.g., grants for research and development) or on creating demand pull for new technologies (e.g., feed-in-tariffs). But to go from research and development to widespread adoption of new products and services, start-ups need to grow and scale, and this requires support from private investors. Yet, research on how different investors can shape the direction of climate innovation—and how public policy can incentivize private investment in climate-tech start-ups to support the public good—is surprisingly sparse.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2021

An economic assessment of behind-the-meter photovoltaics paired with batteries on the Hawaiian Islands.

Due to natural variability and uncertainty, the ever-increasing penetration of solar generation in Hawaii presents challenges to power grid operators to maintain reliable system operation. Demand response (DR) has the potential to be a cost-effective tool for Hawaii to reach its aggressive renewable energy goals while maintaining the reliability of power grids. The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has approved the Hawaiian Electric Company's revised portfolio of DR programs. The companies have released a grid services purchase agreement and subscribed an initial tranche of load into their DR programs. This paper presents innovative analytical methods and comprehensive economic assessment for distributed photovoltaics (PV) paired with battery energy storage systems (BESSs) for two new DR programs, including fast frequency response and capacity grid service. Optimal dispatch and sizing methods are proposed for the paired system considering different tariff schedules and PV compensation programs across five islands. It was found that while the best resource configuration and potential economic benefits vary with tariff structure, a BESS paired with PV can be optimally dispatched to generate multiple value streams simultaneously. Compensation from DR programs is an important value stream to help increase the cost-effectiveness of the integrated system.

Battery energy storage system↗

DOE OSTI2025

Harnessing Virtual Power Plants Reliably: Enabling tools for increased observability, controllability, operation, and aggregation of distributed energy resources

Harnessing virtual power plants enhances the integration of distributed energy resources into utility grids for a sustainable energy future. Virtual power plants (VPPs) aggregate DERs to enhance resource adequacy and reduce emissions. U.S. utilities are exploring various technologies to manage DERs effectively. FERC Order 2222 allows DERs to participate in both wholesale and retail markets. Enhancing observability and controllability of behind-the-meter (BTM) DERs is essential for reliable grid operations. A hierarchical control architecture can improve coordination among residential energy resources. Field tests showed nearly 20% energy savings and 30% peak power reduction during grid events. Effective management of DERs requires enhanced situational awareness to prevent grid congestion. Integrating DER management systems (DERMS) with existing planning tools can improve operational security. Near-real-time grid models can validate optimal resource set points against resource uncertainty. Traditional uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) can be upgraded to support grid services and become part of VPPs. Upgrading UPS systems can reduce costs by 75% and unlock significant battery capacity. New battery management systems and grid-aware controllers are essential for optimizing UPS performance. Continued research and development are necessary to address challenges in integrating DERs into utility grids. Encouraging customer participation in pilot programs is vital for the evolution of VPPs. Here, the shift towards price-responsive DERs and VPPs is expected to enhance energy distribution efficiency.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2024

Offline Power Systems Applications Enabled by Phasor Measurement Units: Technical Assistance to the Power Sectors of Southeast Asia

This report provides a brief overview of several offline (non-real-time) applications facilitated by high-resolution time-synchronized measurements recorded by phasor measurement units (PMUs). The high reporting rate and time-synchronization of PMU records provide a detailed view of power system dynamics, enabling electric utilities to obtain a better understanding of their systems. In this report, the following applications have been reviewed: Power plant model validation, System model validation, Ringdown oscillation analysis, Frequency response analysis, Postmortem analysis of disturbance events Along with a brief technical background of the applications above, applicable North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards have been discussed, and examples of implementation in North American organizations have been provided. Implementing several of the discussed applications may need a preliminary stage of data gathering from multiple entities, and several frameworks and process flows have been formulated by organizations around the world for this purpose. However, the data-gathering stage has not been considered in the scope of the present report.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Regulatory Protection and Control Standards Applicable to The Vietnam Grid Under High Inverter-Based Resource (IBR) Penetration: A Review of Standards Applicable for Vietnam Grid

This report provides a review of the current standards and practices followed by regulatory authorities for interconnection of inverter-based resources (IBR). With the increased penetration of IBRs into the transmission and distribution networks, the legacy protection methodologies are getting challenged. Due to the lack of regulations on IBR operations under a fault it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the present-day interconnection standards to ensure proper IBR operations. A focus is placed on the regulation and standards enforced by the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE), Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and other regulations proposed by the responsible commissions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2021

Economic Impact of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on the State of Washington in Fiscal Year 2020

The FY 2020 Economic Impact Report details several of PNNL’s economic indicators, including PNNL’s total economic output, annual spending, jobs, number of employees, purchased goods and services, companies with roots in PNNL, STEM support and corporate charitable contributions. It also explains the economic impact of PNNL operations on the state of Washington—all within the context of PNNL’s response to the COVID pandemic and the effect of COVID-19 on PNNL’s economic impact within the state and local community during FY 2020. The results are impressive. Our response to COVID allowed for the majority of our staff to transition to telework, stay productive, avoid furloughs, and even hire new staff. COVID had minimal impact on our ability to positively effect economic impact in the state and community. Additionally, we directly and indirectly supported more than $1.59B through PNNL payroll and domestic purchased goods and services, and we generated 7,580 jobs in Washington State. PNNL’s annual spending was more than $1.1B. Battelle and PNNL contributions to philanthropic and civic organizations totaled $1.08M, many of which are outlined within the report. This information is intended to answer questions we often get from stakeholders who believe in the power of science and technology institutions to help sustain vibrant, educated communities in our state.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Metaevaluation Final Report: Sandia National Laboratories Recorded Information Management Training Program Evaluation

For my internship project, I chose to evaluate the training program for the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Recorded Information Management (RIM) Program. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify: Where the current training meets federal and corporate requirements and if not, what gaps exist; If the training is accessible in a consistent location; If the training contains a consistent message about the responsibility of managing documents; If the training is organized by records management subject areas.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

DOE OSTI2020

A Detailed Vehicle Simulation Process to Support CAFE and CO 2 Standards (MY 2021–2026 Final Rule Analysis)

In 1975, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), requiring standards for corporate average fuel economy (CAFE), and charging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) with the establishment and enforcement of these standards. The Secretary of Transportation has delegated these responsibilities to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA has contracted the DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) to provide analytical support for NHTSA’s regulatory and analytical activities related to fuel economy standards. Unlike long-standing safety and criteria pollutant emissions standards, fuel economy standards apply to manufacturers’ overall fleets rather than to individual vehicle models. In developing the standards, NHTSA made use of the CAFE Compliance and Effects Modeling System (the “CAFE model”), which was developed by DOT’s Volpe Center for the 2005-2007 CAFE rulemaking and has been continually updated since. The model is the primary tool used by the agency to evaluate potential CAFE stringency levels by applying technologies incrementally to each manufacturer’s fleet until the requirements under consideration are met. The CAFE model relies on numerous technology-related and economic inputs such as market forecasts and technology cost and effectiveness estimates; these inputs are categorized by vehicle classification, technology synergies, phase-in rates, cost learning curve adjustments, and technology “decision trees.” The Volpe Center assists NHTSA in the development of the engineering and economic inputs to the CAFE model by analyzing the application of potential technologies to the current automotive industry vehicle fleet to determine the feasibility of future CAFE standards, the associated costs, and the benefits of the standards.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Detailed Vehicle Simulation Process to Support CAFE Standards for the MY 2024–2026 Analysis

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo): Project Icebreaker TM

Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo) began early‐stage development of Project Icebreaker (Icebreaker), a 20 Megawatt (MW) offshore wind project 8 miles north of Cleveland, OH in Lake Erie, in 2009. Icebreaker’s objective was to promote and accelerate responsible offshore wind development in Lake Erie and the Great Lakes. It is an ideal location that offers over 56,000 MW of gross potential in close proximity to 2,800 MW of underutilized substations as well as large load centers. Offshore wind energy in Lake Erie would help the Midwest reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, diversify its energy supply, provide cost‐competitive electricity, and stimulate economic revitalization of key sectors of the economy.

17 WIND ENERGY↗