Developing & Investigating Subsurface Storage Potential and Assessing Technical Challenges for Hydrogen (DISSPATCH H2)
AGU24 Annual Meeting Presentation
03 NATURAL GAS↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “technical potential assessments”
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Developing & Investigating Subsurface Storage Potential and Assessing Technical Challenges for Hydrogen
Conference abstract
03 NATURAL GAS↗
An Assessment of Technical Hydropower Potential at Non-Powered Dams in the United States
Historically, dams have been constructed for a variety of purposes, such as providing a more secure and reliable water supply, mitigating impacts from variations in river flow, allowing continuous navigability, and harnessing mechanical power. A relatively small portion of dams have been designed to store or regulate flows for the purpose of generating electricity (roughly 3% of nationally inventoried dams in the US and 17% of the dams included in the World Register of Dams). The remaining population of existing non-powered dams (NPDs) presents both an opportunity to generate renewable energy and a need to modernize aging infrastructure. This report describes an assessment of more than 2,600 NPDs in the US that have a collective potential of nearly 4 GW in new power capacity. Previous national-scale assessments were aimed at evaluating the theoretical maximum power potential at existing dams in the United States. These estimates were based on the best available information at the time for water availability, hydraulic head, and representative regional capacity factors. This study revisits a subset of 3,299 dams identified in the most recent theoretical resource assessment and uses more detailed and updated hydrologic data to produce estimates of technical potential. These improvements in data enable estimates that more realistically reflect what is physically possible given simple assumptions about the existing structure and constraints on flow and head (Figure 1).
13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
Southern Company Services: Project 2: Tall Tower Wind Technical Potential for the Southeast (Modifications 4, 5), Project 4: Offshore Wind Potential for Southern Company Services (Modifications 7, 8)
Project 2: The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) and Southern Company Services (SCS) seek to establish an agreement to assess the technical potential for wind energy in the Southeastern U.S. SCS has requested that NLR conduct a detailed assessment of system performance, available capacity, transmission distance, and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) at turbine hub heights of 100m to 160m within the SCS service territory. NLR will also provide an assessment of utility photovoltaic (PV) technical potential within the SCS service territory. NLR has unique modeling capabilities to assist SCS with high spatial and temporal resolution assessment of wind and PV technical potential, considering geospatial constraints. Project 4: NLR and SCS seek to develop a spatially explicit techno-economic assessment for offshore wind energy in the Southeastern U.S. The analysis aims to characterize the regional sensitivities of offshore wind plant costs and performance, underwater cabling, potential siting constraints, and landfall spur transmission costs.
17 WIND ENERGY↗
Floating PV Potential and Technology Validation [Slides]
This presentation covers, at a high-level, the potential for floating solar PV (FPV) in the United States as well as technology validation approaches and research capabilities at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Evaluation of Rooftop Solar Potential in Chernihiv and Lviv, Ukraine, and Efficacy of High-Resolution 3D Data Digital Twins [Slides]
NREL evaluated rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) siting opportunities in the cities of Chernihiv and Lviv, Ukraine, leveraging very-high-resolution 3D elevation data to calculate technical potential. The study assessed total rooftop solar capacity and annual energy production. In Chernihiv and Lviv, 116,503 buildings were analyzed for their rooftop solar potential. The buildings in the study areas include a mixture of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, characterized by diverse roof shapes and sizes. The total estimated rooftop solar capacity is 332 MWDC in Chernihiv and 873 MWDC in Lviv with annual energy production up to 376.2 GWhDC in Chernihiv and 995.5 GWhDC in Lviv. This accounting provides a clear estimate of the potential rooftop solar installations that could be realized under optimal conditions, considering both technical constraints and the geographic distribution of available rooftop space. Related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NREL estimates loss from buildings damaged or destroyed of 2,754 buildings, 20.15 MWDC of capacity, and 22,869 MWhDC of annual energy production in Chernihiv as well as a loss of 1,316 buildings, 34.49 MWDC of capacity, and 39,369 MWhDC of annual energy production in Lviv. The study also assessed the feasibility of adapting this methodology on a national scale using either simulated digital surface models (DSMs) or a digital twin approach. While the very-high-resolution DSM provided more precise results, the simulated DSM demonstrated reasonable accuracy for broader applications in modeling aggregated distributed solar supply. The feasibility of using a digital twin for Ukraine's national rooftop solar potential is considered promising, with certain limitations in areas with highly variable building stock and heavy war damage.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Technical Assessment of Off-Gas System Technologies for Potential Use in Molten Salt Reactors
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are a class of Generation IV advanced reactor technologies aimed to enhance and improve the safety, fuel utilization and cost-effectiveness of nuclear power generation. MSR concepts are based on using a molten salt mixture as a primary nuclear reactor coolant, while the fuel can be either directly dissolved in the coolant (i.e., fluid-fueled) or can be in a separate solid form (i.e., salt-cooled solid-fueled). MSRs can be operated in either thermal or fast neutron spectra, as simple fissile convertors, or breeder reactors (e.g., utilizing both fissile and fertile fuels), as well as accelerator-driven sub-critical reactors or transuranic element burners. Operation of MSRs will necessitate management and treatment of the off-gas streams released to the headspace of the reactor where, in some designs, a cover gas can be circulated to remove certain fission products and maintain an inert atmosphere. An inert MSR cover gas swept over or sparged into the salt will confine radionuclides emerging from the free surface, including radioactive noble and non-noble gases, aerosols, and volatile species. The elements and compounds of these species will have a wide range of thermochemical and physical properties, some of which will decay to different products in the off-gas stream. Therefore, system components used to manage and treat MSR off-gas streams will need to be robust under dynamic reactor and chemistry conditions to support adequate reactor performance by managing the composition and species in the salt coolant and cover gas space. Off-gas system components would perform as a radionuclide boundary to the reactor vessel and a primary means for preventing radionuclide release; therefore, they are of high safety significance for MSR operations. This report reviews various technologies and materials for potential implementation in the design of an MSR off-gas system per a general conceptual framework. The reviewed technologies operate based on scrubbing, capture, delay, or separation of species in the off-gas stream. These include molten hydroxide scrubbers, solid sorbents, delay off-gas systems, particle traps, and cryogenic distillation. Since aspects of an off-gas system will be design-specific, the approach is to provide general discussions on attributes of these technologies and materials, including target off-gas stream species, operational parameters and conditions of importance to decontamination factors, implementation maturity, system component monitoring, potential off-normal conditions and considerations for waste products. The information aims to support the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in their safety evaluations for MSR designs.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Assessing the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Potential in Puerto Rican Brownfields and Reservoirs: Detailed Results and Methodology Annex [Slides]
This is the technical annex for "Assessing the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Potential in Puerto Rican Brownfields and Reservoirs." This study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) evaluates the potential for solar photovoltaic (PV) development on brownfields and reservoirs in Puerto Rico. Redeveloping these sites offers significant benefits, such as expanding energy infrastructure, supporting environmental remediation, and enhancing community revitalization. The study identifies up to 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV capacity, including 213 megawatts (MW) on closed landfills, 1-2.5 GW on contaminated sites, 78 MW on decommissioned plants, 21-50 MW on transmission line rights-of-way, and 636 MW on waterbodies for floating PV. This research highlights the strategic importance of investments and regulatory support to achieve Puerto Rico's goal of 100% clean energy by 2050.
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
REopt/Microgrid Analysis (CRADA Final Report)
NREL is the only DOE national laboratory solely dedicated to advancing energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) technologies and applications. Since its inception, NREL has supported both the public and the private sectors in implementing EE and RE systems and strategies to lower energy use and to meet remaining energy needs with resources having minimal environmental impact. NREL is now a sought-after resource for EE, RE, and energy systems integration expertise. CU Boulder is a public university located in Boulder, Colorado, with over 30,000 students. CU is committed to environmental sustainability and is interested in partnering with NREL to explore opportunities for RE on campus and evaluate an RE microgrid. The goal of this project is to assess the technical and economic potential for RE generation at CU and evaluate how RE may be incorporated as part of a microgrid to increase energy resiliency on campus.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
Chemical Process Safety at TRISO-Based, Metal-Based, and Salt-Based Fuel Fabrication Facilities: Technical Assessment and Guidance Assessment
As part of efforts to prepare for potential and ongoing safety reviews for licensing of advanced non-light-water reactor fuel cycles, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) tasked Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to prepare an assessment on the state of knowledge of potential chemical processes at fuel cycle facilities supporting the front end of these fuel cycles, and to assess the associated regulatory guidance. This report provides a technical assessment of chemical process safety considerations to support NRC licensing reviews of fabrication processes for tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) based, metallic-based, and salt-based fuels. The assessments involved collecting publicly available information on the fuel fabrication processes to (i) identify the operational process steps, characteristics and chemicals involved, (ii) identify the physical safety considerations and health safety considerations during licensing reviews of the various process steps, and (iii) collect information to support assessments of severity of accidents and potential mitigative measures to be implemented. The assessment provides a foundational basis on chemical process safety considerations for advanced fuel fabrication activities, although it is recognized that licensing reviews may necessitate design-specific considerations. The specific conditions under which chemical hazards emerge will require process-specific considerations, highlighting the importance of process-informed interpretation. The assessment also determined that exposure guidelines and limits to assess the consequences of acute exposures are limited for some chemicals, although alternative limits and supplementary information from databases or safety data sheets provide sufficient information to evaluate consequences of acute exposures. In addition, it was identified that metallic and salt fuel fabrication processes may involve beryllium, which is an exposure hazard. The regulatory framework for the licensing of advanced fuel cycle facilities, per 10 CFR Part 70 Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material, is deemed robust and flexible to address the chemical safety considerations in this report. A review was conducted on various regulatory guidance and technical basis documents. This included reviewing NUREG-1520, Revision 2, Standard Review Plan for Fuel Cycle Facilities License Applications – Final Report and the process descriptions in Appendix A of NUREG/CR-6410, Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facility Accident Analysis Handbook, to address advanced fuel types. As new fuels will involve process-specific chemical uses, process-specific considerations are provided in this report. Additionally, it is noted that the U.S. Department of Energy protective action criteria database includes Temporary Emergency Exposure Limits (TEELs) for process-specific chemicals. This report provides technical information to support chemical safety assessments of new advanced fuel cycle facilities and identifies technical and safety information to support licensing reviews. No regulatory barriers were identified for the licensing of advanced fuel cycle facilities.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
Floating Photovoltaics in Hydropower Reservoirs in the United States
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the feasibility of floating photovoltaics (FPV) in federally regulated reservoirs within the continental United States (CONUS) and to present a methodology for capturing the true costs of deployment, potential environmental impacts, and regulatory pathways for open-loop hydropower reservoirs. It is intended for stakeholders who may not be solar industry experts but who are interested in exploring the potential for FPV in their reservoirs. While there are promising opportunities, particularly in enhancing dissolved oxygen (DO) levels and potentially improving compliance with existing hydropower licenses, the current capital costs of FPV are not yet competitive with traditional land-based solar installations at the utility-scale when comparing the LCOE results. A competitive financial outlook is achievable when applying a 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and considering a 5% reduction from the baseline capital expenditures (CapEx) at the Tuckertown Reservoir in North Carolina case study. The study is structured around three key pillars of research: technical potential, environmental impacts and regulatory considerations, and technoeconomic analysis. This report provides a nationwide assessment of the opportunities for FPV in terms of capacity, measured in direct current megawatts (MWDC), in reservoirs managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Additionally, the report introduces a heuristic model for estimating the CapEx of utility-scale FPV projects (1–100 MW), offering a baseline cost estimate for stakeholders. Finally, the report applies these models to a case study of a hydropower reservoir in North Carolina to present site-specific results.
13 - HYDRO ENERGY↗
Floating Photovoltaic Technical Potential: A Novel Geospatial Approach on Federally Controlled Reservoirs in the United States
Floating photovoltaic generation is a rapidly expanding sector of the solar energy industry, and understanding the quantity that can feasibly be installed is a crucial step to understand its role in future energy systems. This paper presents a novel spatially explicit methology of FPV potential for federally owned and managed reservoirs in the United States that uses site-specific attributes of reservoirs to estimate available area and potential generation capacity. The analysis finds that the proportion reservoir area that is found to be available for FPV development is similar to assumed values used in previous research on average, however there is a wide variability in this proportion on a site by site basis. Potential FPV generation capacity on these reservoirs is estimated to be in the range of 861 to 1,042 GWdc depending on input assumptions, likely representing a significant portion of future US solar generation needs. This work represents an advancement in methods used to estimate FPV potential that presents many natural extensions for further research.
floating solar↗
DISSPATCH H2: Assessing Subsurface Storage Potential for Hydrogen
This project evaluates the technical feasibility of long-term underground hydrogen storage in the Anadarko Basin, integrating subsurface science, reservoir engineering, and system-level analysis to build a cohesive understanding of how hydrogen may be stored and recovered in porous media. Although salt caverns currently dominate commercial-scale hydrogen storage, their limited geographic availability necessitates alternative options that can support a more resilient energy system. Depleted oil and gas reservoirs offer a widely distributed and potentially high-capacity solution, but their suitability depends on formation-specific geologic, petrophysical, microbial, and operational factors. This study provides the first coordinated assessment of these factors within the Simpson Group of Oklahoma.
03 NATURAL GAS↗
MRCI Task 2: Addressing Key Technical Challenges - Executive Summary Report
This report provides a high-level overview of Task 2 products that were developed through defining carbon storage systems, Precambrian basement structure and stress, developing regional technical collaboration, modeling and risk assessment. Subtask 2.1: Defining Sub-Regional CS/CCUS Systems Subtask 2.2: Defining Precambrian basement faulting/stress Subtask 2.3: Developing industrial partnerships and regional technical collaborations Subtask 2.4: Conducting regional/subregional analysis Subtask 2.5: Assessing and managing risk for potential commercial-scale storage complexes
MRCI,Technical Challenges↗
Pumped Storage Hydropower Resource and Deployment Potential
There is growing interest in deploying new pumped storage hydropower (PSH) to meet grid needs for flexibility, reliability, and resiliency. This presentation describes how NLR resource assessment, cost modeling, and capacity expansion modeling are used to identify technical and economic PSH deployment potential and support industry decision-making on PSH investments. NLR's open data and tools demonstrate the vast technical potential of PSH on the order of 80 TW, and modeling shows economic PSH deployment under an attractive cost-value proposition.
13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
Hot Springs and Geysers: Exploring Historical and Modern Impacts of Geothermal Energy Production on Associated Natural Surface Systems and Standardizing Management Practices
Surface thermal features, most notably hot springs and geysers are increasingly being recognized for their importance to ecosystems, indigenous cultures, and in some cases agriculture, recreation, and tourism. Geothermal project development poses a potential risk to these natural features but current regulatory requirements for assessing and managing these risks during exploration, permitting and monitoring are somewhat inconsistent and unpredictable across different geothermal fields. This has resulted in uncertainty and increases in exploration risk for geothermal energy developers that have led to costly project delays, cancellations, or hesitation to commit. Varying regulatory requirements may also influence public perception, fostering confusion, distrust and ultimately opposition to geothermal projects, further contributing to project delays or cancellations. At a time when there is an increasing urgency for reliable baseload clean energy, geothermal is a net-zero, renewable solution that additionally provides access to more equitable and environmentally just clean power. Continued integration of geothermal energy into the national energy roadmap can be facilitated through consistent and predictable permitting, providing regulators the framework they need, developers a clear path forward, and transparency that the public deserves. This project, currently in its beginning phases, seeks to address this important issue by providing a technical basis from which to build a preliminary protocol for assessing and managing potential impacts from new or existing geothermal energy projects to surface thermal features and their associated ecosystems. Development of this preliminary protocol will be informed by (1) a literature review of well-documented case studies in the western U.S. and New Zealand to understand the range of conditions that exemplify geothermal-surface thermal systems; (2) development of generic illustrative conceptual-numerical models to quantify, understand, and predict the first-order controls (e.g., pressure and permeability) on surface flows; and (3) additional independent and scientifically rigorous evaluations of geothermal-surface thermal system case studies from the Basin and Range Province that incorporate publicly available data as well as data provided by industry through data-sharing agreements. Learning from the successes of the process used to develop the Induced Seismicity Management Protocol (ISMP), we ultimately aim to use these initial efforts as a springboard for establishing a surface thermal feature management working group that will work collaboratively to finalize the protocol as well as co-create recommended best practices for implementation. We envision that the working group will primarily be composed of representatives from regulatory entities, government agencies, Tribes, academia, national laboratories, and industry, and will include early and regular engagement with community organizations and environmental groups. This will help ensure broad acceptance and implementation of the protocol, which will facilitate a more consistent, predictable, and standardized regulatory process, and help to ensure that geothermal energy continues to provide a reliable source of clean energy, and a pathway to achieving greater energy equity in the U.S.
Best Practices↗
Unseen Winds: Harnessing High-Altitude Winds in the Southeast USA
This project aims to identify potential sites in the United States for further testing and development of airborne wind energy systems (AWES). Through industry questionnaires and interviews with AWES companies, the study assesses existing test sites' capabilities and gaps, leading to a three-tiered test site strategy: short-duration prototype demonstrations, long-duration technical assessments and power validations, and airspace interaction and deconfliction studies. Notably, the southeastern United States presents significant potential for AWES due to its lack of traditional wind turbines, which is attributed to low wind speeds at lower altitudes. However, wind conditions improve significantly at higher altitudes, making this region a promising candidate for AWES deployment. The project considers factors such as wind resources, infrastructure proximity, social acceptance, and environmental impacts to recommend sites that can support the unique needs of AWES manufacturers and facilitate their commercialization. Early findings suggest rural communities with low grid resiliency could benefit economically and technologically from hosting AWES test sites, especially with operator training centers and potential for long-term skilled employment in future disaster relief and other applications.
17 WIND ENERGY↗
Digitalization mapping and assessment process supporting ION strategic transformation activities
The existing fleet of commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) are an important asset in the nation’s portfolio of electrical generating resources. Their continued safe and reliable operation are critical to providing a large source of carbon-free electricity to power the nation’s economy. The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program develops the scientific bases, methods, and tools, for the continued safe and economical operation of the nation's commercial NPPs. The Plant Modernization Pathway within LWRS Program focuses on providing guidance to industry on the full-scale implementation of modernization solutions for NPPs that significantly reduce the technical and financial risks associated with modernization. This research is focused on helping the nuclear industry understand how to digitize and digitalize their NPPs so that they can design their modernization solutions to be scalable, sustainable, and integrated both laterally and horizontally within their organization. That is, this research creates a digital transformation in NPPs by reshaping cultural mindsets and by identifying business efficiencies. In partnership with industry, and using four previously established guiding principles for digitalization, this research supported NPP modernization through assessing readiness for digitalization as a means to achieve integrated operations for nuclear. Specifically, this research created an assessment to review an entire organization’s work processes to gather information about the digitalization health of the plant. The assessment tools were administered to plant employees, and the results were used to develop a digitalization plan. The survey assessment identified the optimal candidate processes that would most benefit from a digitalization initiative which were revealed through analytical frameworks. One analysis calculated mean digitalization health indicator scores for all endorsed activities which allowed the researchers to rank and color code the results for easy identification. Individual health indicator scores are also provided, should our industry partner wish to understand these findings according to their own organizational priorities, business considerations and desired end-state. The results were also analyzed from the perspective that organizations are comprised of different types of innovators (e.g., generators, optimizers, conceptualizers, and implementers), which differentially affects the organization’s ability to comprehend and adapt to change (i.e., opportunities to innovate). Understanding the relative composition of innovator types at an NPP allows them to gather insights into the strengths and weaknesses they have in innovating how work is performed. For the utility that partnered with this research team, the results showed that implementers make up the largest portion of respondents and conceptualizers the smallest portion. Knowing the proportion of innovator types gave this organization insights on how they can effectively implement their innovation solutions. Additionally, the results were analyzed from a technical, economic, and risk perspective to identify and quantify work reduction opportunities (WROs). Recognizing that not all cost-saving opportunities are the same, a Technical, Economic and Risk Assessment (TERA) was performed to evaluate WROs to identify areas of greatest potential and lowest risk. The key results from TERA included a digitalization opportunity score for each activity, and a calculation of potential cost savings. These two outputs formed the bases for calculating a priority index and rank for the activities/processes assessed. From the prioritization calculations, TERA can then help the utility 1) decide what digitalization priorities to invest money in implementing and then 2) calculates how much should be invested in the digitalization initiatives selected to achieve cost savings and/or an acceptable return on investment. Last, onsite interviews revealed several inefficiencies in the standard work processes that occur cross-departmentally that are due to the absence of digitized and digitalized processes. Examples of these include time spent scanning paper documents and then uploading the documents electronically, obtaining signatures, and searching for desired information. This represents a digital but not digitalized process. Over 15 opportunities to improve work processes were identified through this multi-method digitalization assessment. The various analytical assessments used (e.g., TERA, digitalization health indicator scores), as well as discussions with the utility partner, corroborated that all the opportunities identified had a strong potential to make work processes more efficient and to improve overall performance of the NPP.
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗