Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: July 2021

In this edition, NREL and the Department of Defense explore reliable backup power using high-renewable microgrids with storage, research to help Maui achieve 100% renewable operations, a Q&A on baking cybersecurity and resilience into energy system design, and more.

'Fort Renewable' Shows Benefits of Batteries and Microgrids for Military and Beyond

Microgrids serve military bases throughout the United States, but most rely on diesel generators to serve backup power. To improve resilience in the face of changing environmental threats, the U.S. Department of Defense is supporting new approaches to reliable backup power using high-renewable microgrids with battery storage. NREL is helping validate advanced microgrid designs with a replica military environment and real-scale energy hardware. Industry leaders and early-stage companies are collaborating and competing at NREL's "Fort Renewable" to design resilient microgrids, providing a model for critical microgrid applications everywhere.

Read the full story on "Fort Renewable."

NREL Assists Maui in Approaching 100% Renewable Operations

Maui is pushing to ever higher percentages of renewable energy—multiple solar and storage investments will soon distinguish the island system as the first interconnected electric transmission system to operate with 100% wind and solar. But for Maui's grid operators, the substantial increase in renewables means increased uncertainty in system stability and resource planning, and there are few examples to work from.

To help Maui and future systems handle the challenges of high-renewable operation, NREL is developing an operational toolkit and validation environment. These resources will capture best practices and support demonstration in the lab of renewables' ability to provide reliable power at various timescales.

Read the full story on Maui.

Q&A With Dane Christensen: Advancing NREL's Capabilities in Cybersecurity and Grid Communications

As the manager of NREL's Secure Cyber-Energy Systems group, Dane Christensen asks, "How can we design energy systems not only for improved control and efficiency but also for improved security and resilience?" His team studies the communication networks that connect the interdependent components of an integrated energy system to look for vulnerabilities and mitigate consequences of potential disruptions, such as a cyberattack or a storm.

Read our full Q&A with Dane Christensen.

Workshop Presents New Approaches to Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Supply Chains

On July 1, the Department of Energy convened stakeholders from the national labs, U.S. counterintelligence staff, and the renewable energy industry to share their perspectives on securing power systems with increasing numbers of renewables and distributed energy resources. They discussed potential vulnerabilities in the "seams" between multiple interdependent systems, how to support manufacturers in the early phases of product design, and the availability of raw materials and component parts.

Read on for more insight on supply chain management and guidance from Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelly Speakes-Backman and Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response Puesh Kumar.

Can We Predict How Many People Will Install Rooftop Solar? dGen Explained

Lots of communities are setting goals for high levels of renewables, making rooftop solar an important part of conquering climate change and planning future power systems. NREL analysts have developed the Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) model to simulate how customers make decisions about rooftop solar. A recent NREL video explains what factors impact customer decisions and how the dGen model takes them into account.

Job Postings

Interested in joining NREL? We are growing quickly and looking to fill a variety of positions. Check out the NREL Careers page to explore a future with NREL!

R6570 – DevOps Engineer
R7252 – Postdoctoral Researcher – Demand Response Modeling
R7270 – Research Technician I/II - Cybersecurity
R7275 – Information Systems Security Officer – Cybersecurity Response Team
R7311 – Research Engineer – REopt Energy Optimization Model Development
R7329 – Demand Response Researcher/Modeler
R7330 – Year Round Graduate Internship – Electrical Engineering
R7369 – Innovative Grid-Connected Energy Systems Modeler/Developer
R7389 – Business Support II – Administrative Associate
R7397 – Data Full-Stack Developer
R7413 – Network Architect/Engineer – Cyber
R7417 – Postdoctoral Researcher – Power Electronics Design and Control for Power Systems
R7436 – Senior Electrical Engineer – Support Systems Design, Integration, and Implementation for Ports and Airports
R7441 – Advanced Distribution Modeler and Analyst
R7447 – Federal Agency/FEMP Engineer
R7464 – Federal Energy Project Manager
R7496 – Researcher – Innovative Bulk Power Flow, Dynamics, and Contingency Modeler
R7507 – Life Cycle Assessment Graduate Intern
R7520 – Group Manager – Modeling and Analysis
R7530 – Energy Engineering Intern (Year Round)
R7540 – Administrative Assistant/Business Support

NREL Follows Up LA 100 Study With New Equity Strategies Initiative

Following the release of the groundbreaking Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100), NREL will again team up with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on a comprehensive, community-driven effort to achieve a just and equitable 100% carbon-free future. The new phase of the study, LA100 Equity Strategies, picks up where LA100 left off by applying cutting-edge modeling and analysis to answer: How can Los Angeles ensure its transition to 100% clean energy, with high levels of electrification, will improve energy justice as measured by metrics including reduced energy burdens, increased access to energy services such as cooling, and improved quality of life?

Read more about the new initiative.

2021 Annual Technology Baseline Adds Technologies, New Data Features To Support High-Impact Energy Analysis

With the current push for U.S. electric sector decarbonization, high-quality data is more important than ever for utility planners and grid operators to make informed decisions. The 2021 Annual Technology Baseline offers new and improved generation cost and performance data to inform U.S. electricity-sector analysis. The Annual Technology Baseline integrates current and projected data from various sources into one user-friendly format for energy analysts, modelers, and system planners.

Read more about the Annual Technology Baseline and full data.

NREL Publishes Energy Guidebook for Forestry Nurseries

In sunny, climate-controlled greenhouses, 25 million seedlings sprout to life each year under the care of the U.S. Forest Service. The agency asked NREL to study how to reduce the nursery facilities' electricity, fuel, and water use.

The resulting Nurseries Best Practices Guide for Energy and Water Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Resilience identifies 20 improvements, sorted by low-cost solutions such as programmable thermostats and reclaimed water to higher-cost modernization of motors in the nursery's seed freezers. The guide provides a tool to calculate the economic viability of installing renewable energy technologies, such as solar PV, factoring in potential savings from state and federal incentives. Nurseries can also use NREL's resilience matrix to identify threats, mitigate risk, and maintain critical equipment during a power outage or disruption.

Publications Roundup

Informative Background on the Interoperability Requirements in IEEE Std 1547-2018

The revised Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 Standard builds on one of the foundational documents for safely integrating distributed energy resources onto U.S. electrical grids. This NREL technical report provides information to help stakeholders apply the newest interoperability requirements in the standard as well as a high-level summary of the context and background concepts for requirements related to interoperability.

Battery Storage for Resilience

This fact sheet, developed under the USAID Resilient Energy Platform, examines how battery storage, along with additional generation sources, can be used to provide cost savings while grid-connected and backup power when the grid goes down. The fact sheet explores technical solutions and value streams for distributed battery storage and utility-scale storage and considerations for selecting and sizing storage technologies for resilience.

Electrical Systems of Pumped Storage Hydropower Plants: Electrical Generation, Machines, Power Electronics, and Power Systems

While the concept of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is not new, adjustable-speed pumped storage hydropower (AS-PSH) is equipped with power electronics, therefore improving the ability of PSH plants to integrate with modern power systems. This NREL technical report examines the electrical systems of AS-PSH plants—including the generator, power converter, and the grid integration aspects—to demonstrate how these electronics help create more agile and flexible PSH plants.

Storage Futures Study: Economic Potential of Diurnal Storage in the U.S. Power Sector

This NREL technical report, the third in the Storage Futures Study publication series, explores a set of cost-driven scenarios that used the NREL ReEDS model for power sector planning to examine both grid-scale storage deployment as well as relationships between this deployment and variable renewable energy penetration. The report assesses the economic potential for utility-scale diurnal storage and the effects that storage capacity additions could have on power system evolution and operations.