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DOE OSTI2016

Evaluating the Feasibility to Use Microgrids as a Resiliency Resource

Regulated electricity utilities are required to provide safe and reliable service to their customers at a reasonable cost. To balance the objectives of reliable service and reasonable cost, utilities build and operate their systems to operate under typical historic conditions. As a result, when abnormal events such as major storms or disasters occur, it is not uncommon to have extensive interruptions in service to the end-use customers. Because it is not cost effective to make the existing electrical infrastructure 100% reliable, society has come to expect disruptions during abnormal events. However, with the increasing number of abnormal weather events, the public is becoming less tolerant of these disruptions. One possible solution is to deploy microgrids as part of a coordinated resiliency plan to minimize the interruption of power to essential loads. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using microgrids as a resiliency resource, including their possible benefits and the associated technical challenges. A use-case of an operational microgrid is included.

Schneider, Kevin↗

DOE OSTI2015

Critical Assessment of the Foundations of Power Transmission and Distribution Reliability Metrics and Standards

The U.S. federal government regulates the reliability of bulk power systems, while the reliability of power distribution systems is regulated at a state level. In this article, we review the history of regulating electric service reliability and study the existing reliability metrics, indices, and standards for power transmission and distribution networks. We assess the foundations of the reliability standards and metrics, discuss how they are applied to outages caused by large exogenous disturbances such as natural disasters, and investigate whether the standards adequately internalize the impacts of these events. Our reflections shed light on how existing standards conceptualize reliability, question the basis for treating large‐scale hazard‐induced outages differently from normal daily outages, and discuss whether this conceptualization maps well onto customer expectations. We show that the risk indices for transmission systems used in regulating power system reliability do not adequately capture the risks that transmission systems are prone to, particularly when it comes to low‐probability high‐impact events. We also point out several shortcomings associated with the way in which regulators require utilities to calculate and report distribution system reliability indices. We offer several recommendations for improving the conceptualization of reliability metrics and standards. We conclude that while the approaches taken in reliability standards have made considerable advances in enhancing the reliability of power systems and may be logical from a utility perspective during normal operation, existing standards do not provide a sufficient incentive structure for the utilities to adequately ensure high levels of reliability for end‐users, particularly during large‐scale events.

Nateghi, Roshanak↗

DOE OSTI2021

REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS, GUIDANCE, AND REVIEW OF EMBEDDED DIGITAL DEVICES IN SAFETY SYSTEMS

Interest in embedded digital devices (EDDs) for monitoring and providing control of components is increasing in the nuclear power market as more and more users both within and outside the nuclear sector are employing EDDs. EDDs in other industries or countries may be known by the related terms as smart devices, devices of limited functionality, or intelligent devices. EDDs can sometimes perform a safety role when embedded in components such as temperature transmitters, pressure transmitters, voltage regulators, gas analyzers, boiler controllers, relays, and radiation monitors. The introduction of EDDs can affect safety by creating new hazards, vulnerabilities, failure modes, triggering mechanisms, and other potential safety concerns at both the component and system levels. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) existing regulations and guidance cover the use of EDDs in safety-related and important to safety systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs). In addition to potential future challenges, the nature of EDDs being implemented in similar or identical manners between different plants and industries opens up the potential of leveraging the reviews of other regulators or utilization of industry certifications.Key words: embedded digital device, firmware

Halverson, D. S.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Growth on ATP elicits a P-stress response in the picoeukaryote Micromonas pusilla

The surface waters of oligotrophic oceans have chronically low phosphate (P i ) concentrations, which renders dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) an important nutrient source. In the subtropical North Atlantic, cyanobacteria are often numerically dominant, but picoeukaryotes can dominate autotrophic biomass and productivity making them important contributors to the ocean carbon cycle. Despite their importance, little is known regarding the metabolic response of picoeukaryotes to changes in phosphorus (P) source and availability. To understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate P utilization in oligotrophic environments, we evaluated transcriptomes of the picoeukaryote Micromonas pusilla grown under P i -replete and -deficient conditions, with an additional investigation of growth on DOP in replete conditions. Genes that function in sulfolipid substitution and P i uptake increased in expression with P i -deficiency, suggesting cells were reallocating cellular P and increasing P acquisition capabilities. P i -deficient M. pusilla cells also increased alkaline phosphatase activity and reduced their cellular P content. Cells grown with DOP were able to maintain relatively high growth rates, however the transcriptomic response was more similar to the P i -deficient response than that seen in cells grown under P i -replete conditions. The results demonstrate that not all P sources are the same for growth; while M. pusilla , a model picoeukaryote, may grow well on DOP, the metabolic demand is greater than growth on P i . Lastly, these findings provide insight into the cellular strategies which may be used to support growth in a stratified future ocean predicted to favor picoeukaryotes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Business Models for Scaling Demand Flexibility Volume III – Stakeholder ecosystem management challenges, and lessons learned from U.S. programs

Load growth at the grid edge is driving increased attention to the distribution system and its ability to enable customer technology adoption in an affordable and timely manner. Key industry stakeholders, including electric utilities and regulators, can benefit from strategies to manage and balance customer needs with infrastructure investments, such as demand flexibility. This report focuses on demand flexibility—the ability to reduce, shift, shed, generate, or modulate loads in response to building and grid needs—to reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by deferring investment needs and increase system reliability by shifting electricity usage during periods of high risk. Specifically, we focus on the emerging characteristics of business models for demand flexibility as a framework to understand how demand flexibility programs generate value. In this report, we focus on demand flexibility program stakeholder ecosystem management strategies, which provide information on value delivery and describe how program implementers leverage partner capabilities and collaborate to deliver customer and grid benefits. This report discusses the role of stakeholder ecosystem management in demand flexibility programs, identifies existing challenges to effective stakeholder management, and describes lessons learned. This report is part of a series that includes reports on value propositions, customer relationship management strategies, and program life cycle.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Business Models for Scaling Demand Flexibility Volume II – Customer relationship management strategies, challenges, and lessons learned from U.S. programs

Load growth at the grid edge is driving increased attention to the distribution system and its ability to enable customer technology adoption in an affordable and timely manner. Key industry stakeholders, including electric utilities and regulators, can benefit from strategies to manage and balance customer needs with infrastructure investments, such as demand flexibility. This report focuses on demand flexibility—the ability to reduce, shift, shed, generate, or modulate loads in response to building and grid needs—to reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by deferring investment needs and increase system reliability by shifting electricity usage during periods of high risk. Specifically, we focus on the emerging characteristics of business models for demand flexibility as a framework to understand how demand flexibility programs generate value. In this report, we focus on demand flexibility program customer relationship management strategies, which provide information on value creation and focus on ensuring customers can navigate programs smoothly. This report discusses the role of customer relationship management strategies in demand flexibility programs, characterizes customer relationship management strategies that can be considered during program design and implementation, identifies existing challenges to customer relationship management strategies, and describes lessons learned. This report is part of a series that includes reports on value propositions, stakeholder ecosystem management, and program life cycle.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Business Models for Scaling Demand Flexibility Volume I – Value proposition characteristics, challenges, and lessons learned from U.S. programs

Load growth at the grid edge is driving increased attention to the distribution system and its ability to enable customer technology adoption in an affordable and timely manner. Key industry stakeholders, including electric utilities and regulators, can benefit from strategies to manage and balance customer needs with infrastructure investments, such as demand flexibility. This report focuses on demand flexibility—the ability to reduce, shift, shed, generate, or modulate loads in response to building and grid needs—to reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by deferring investment needs and increase system reliability by shifting electricity usage during periods of high risk. Specifically, we focus on the emerging characteristics of business models for demand flexibility as a framework to understand how demand flexibility programs generate value. In this report, we focus on demand flexibility value propositions, which provide information on value creation and describe how programs deliver clear benefits that address customer and grid needs. This report discusses the role of value propositions in demand flexibility programs, provides an overview of value propositions for a range of demand flexibility stakeholders, identifies existing challenges to establishing an effective value proposition, and describes lessons learned. This report is part of a series that includes reports on customer relationship management strategies, stakeholder ecosystem management, and program life cycle.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Business Models for Scaling Demand Flexibility Volume IV – Program life cycle challenges and lessons learned from U.S. programs

Load growth at the grid edge is driving increased attention to the distribution system and its ability to enable customer technology adoption in an affordable and timely manner. Key industry stakeholders, including electric utilities and regulators, can benefit from strategies to manage and balance customer needs with infrastructure investments, such as demand flexibility. This report focuses on demand flexibility—the ability to reduce, shift, shed, generate, or modulate loads in response to building and grid needs—to reduce the need for costly grid upgrades by deferring investment needs and increase system reliability by shifting electricity usage during periods of high risk. Specifically, we focus on the emerging characteristics of business models for demand flexibility as a framework to understand how demand flexibility programs generate value. In this report, we focus on the life cycle of demand flexibility programs, which provides information on value creation and describes the various deployment phases program implementers navigate from initial program conceptualization through to program expansion and replication to new customer segments and regions. This report characterizes the key phases of the demand flexibility program life cycle, identifies existing challenges across the program deployment phases, and describes lessons learned. This report is part of a series that includes reports on customer relationship management strategies, stakeholder ecosystem management, and program life cycle.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2014

The Costs and Benefits of Compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standards: Reviewing Experience to Date

More than half of U.S. states have renewable portfolio standards (RPS) in place and have collectively deployed approximately 46,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity through year-end 2012. Most of these policies have five or more years of implementation experience, enabling an assessment of their costs and benefits. Understanding RPS benefits and costs is essential for policymakers evaluating existing RPS policies, assessing the need for modifications, and considering new policies. A key aspect of this study is the comprehensive review of existing RPS cost and benefit estimates, in addition to an examination of the variety of methods used to calculate such estimates. Based on available data and estimates reported by utilities and regulators, this study summarizes RPS costs to date. The study considers how those costs may evolve going forward, given scheduled increases in RPS targets and cost containment mechanisms incorporated into existing policies. The report also summarizes RPS benefits estimates, based on published studies for individual states, and discusses key methodological considerations.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

DOE OSTI2015

Value Creation Through Integrated Networks and Convergence

Customer adoption of distributed energy resources and public policies are driving changes in the uses of the distribution system. A system originally designed and built for one-way energy flows from central generating facilities to end-use customers is now experiencing injections of energy from customers anywhere on the grid and frequent reversals in the direction of energy flow. In response, regulators and utilities are re-thinking the design and operations of the grid to create more open and transactive electric networks. This evolution has the opportunity to unlock significant value for customers and utilities. Alternatively, failure to seize this potential may instead lead to an erosion of value if customers seek to defect and disconnect from the system. This paper will discuss how current grid modernization investments may be leveraged to create open networks that increase value through the interaction of intelligent devices on the grid and prosumerization of customers. Moreover, even greater value can be realized through the synergistic effects of convergence of multiple networks. This paper will highlight examples of the emerging nexus of non-electric networks with electricity.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2016

Photovoltaic Impact Assessment of Smart Inverter Volt-VAR Control on Distribution System Conservation Voltage Reduction and Power Quality

This report presents an impact assessment study of distributed photovoltaic (PV) with smart inverter Volt-VAR control on conservation voltage reduction (CVR) energy savings and distribution system power quality. CVR is a methodology of flattening and lowering a distribution system voltage profile in order to conserve energy. Traditional CVR relies on operating utility voltage regulators and switched capacitors. However, with the increased penetration of distributed PV systems, smart inverters provide the new opportunity to control local voltage and power factor by regulating the reactive power output, leading to a potential increase in CVR energy savings. This report proposes a methodology to implement CVR scheme by operating voltage regulators, capacitors, and autonomous smart inverter Volt-VAR control in order to achieve increased CVR benefit. Power quality is an important consideration when operating a distribution system, especially when implementing CVR. It is easy to measure the individual components that make up power quality, but a comprehensive method to incorporate all of these values into a single score has yet to be undertaken. As a result, this report proposes a power quality scoring mechanism to measure the relative power quality of distribution systems using a single number, which is aptly named the 'power quality score' (PQS). Both the CVR and PQS methodologies were applied to two distribution system models, one obtained from the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and another obtained from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). These two models were converted to the OpenDSS platform using previous model conversion tools that were developed by NREL. Multiple scenarios including various PV penetration levels and smart inverter densities were simulated to analyze the impact of smart inverter Volt-VAR support on CVR energy savings and feeder power quality. In order to analyze the CVR benefit and PQS, an annual simulation was conducted for each scenario.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2018

Focusing the Sun: State Considerations for Designing Community Solar Policy

This report summarizes outcomes from the National Community Solar Partnership State Best Practices working group by identifying key differences in state policies that enable community solar and illustrating how various policy design approaches may impact the market. For the latter question, it is too early to quantify a relationship between policy design and market impacts, because most state programs have not been fully implemented. So, the authors conducted interviews with 19 subject matter experts, including project developers, regulators, and utilities to better understand how various policy design approaches may impact community solar markets. These perspectives, along with those gleaned from the working group and relevant literature were synthesized to identify key considerations for policymakers designing community solar programs. Though state community solar policies vary in numerous ways, the report focuses on the following critical elements: program cap, project size cap, subscriber location requirements, subscriber eligibility requirements, low- and moderate-income stipulations, and subscriber compensation.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2017

Technical and Economic Aspects of Designing an Efficient Room Air-Conditioner Program in India

Several studies have projected a massive increase in the demand for air conditioners (ACs) over the next two decades in India. By 2030, room ACs could add 140 GW to the peak load, equivalent to over 30% of the total projected peak load. Therefore, there is significant interest among policymakers, regulators, and utilities in managing room AC demand by enhancing energy efficiency. Building on the historical success of the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s star-labeling program, Energy Efficiency Services Limited recently announced a program to accelerate the sale of efficient room ACs using bulk procurement, similar to their successful UJALA light-emitting diode (LED) bulk procurement program. This report discusses some of the key considerations in designing a bulk procurement or financial incentive program for enhancing room AC efficiency in India. We draw upon our previous research to demonstrate the overall technical potential and price impact of room AC efficiency improvement and its technical feasibility in India. We also discuss the importance of using low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants and smart AC equipment that is demand response (DR) ready.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2022

Case Study: Applying the Idaho National Laboratory Resilience Framework to St. Mary’s, Alaska

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) resilience framework has been developed to broadly apply to EEDS so that all elements of systems that contain distributed wind can be part of the resilience evaluation. The users or audience for this framework can include any stakeholders associated with the EEDS. Not all electrical energy systems have the same stakeholders; customers, owners, and operators are generally present but have different interests. Considering the broad electrical grid, customers, regulators, investors, utility planners, engineers, and operators each have an interest in system resilience driven from different motivating factors. This document focuses on the planning stage of the framework. In this document, each step is explained briefly before demonstrating its application to the St. Mary’s-Mt. Village system. The framework can be used for many types of resilience planning. It can be used to evaluate current overall resilience, or the resilience of certain subsystems. It can be used to explore existing resilience weak points and propose mitigations. It can also be used to evaluate the resilience benefits of a new investment. We use the latter application for this case study. Although the wind turbine in St. Mary’s has already been installed, the resilience benefits that the turbine provided were not well defined. It was installed with the main objective to generate electric power from a renewable resource in an effort to reduce the local dependency on fuel oil as the sole source of electric power generation, which is a resilience goal on its own, but there are other ways in which the turbine can add resilience to the system, as well as scenarios of interest to analyze how resilient the wind turbine itself is against different hazards. In this case study, we analyze the operation of the St. Mary’s power system both with the wind installed and without the wind installed during different resilience hazards of interest. This allows us to compare the performance with wind and without wind and to quantify the resilience benefits provided by wind. Our MIRACL partners at PNNL will then take the resilience benefits and assign value to the resilience provided by wind based on costs and costs avoided in the different scenarios.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2023

Resilience Insights from New York State Stakeholders

A diverse set of New York State stakeholders—representing state agencies, authorities, utilities, and regulators—were interviewed on their perceptions of energy resilience. This summary synthesizes the 34 interviews to examine the degree of shared understanding around resilience, to identify opportunities to address common challenges, and to align stakeholder interests to better serve New York State's services, systems, and people.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2023

An Integrated Framework for Risk Assessment of Safety-related Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plants: Methodology Refinement and Exploration

This report documents activities performed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, Risk Informed Systems Analysis (RISA) Pathway, digital instrumentation and control (DI&C) risk assessment project. In FY 2019, the RISA Pathway initiated a project to develop a risk assessment strategy for delivering a technical basis to support effective, and secure DI&C technologies for digital upgrades/designs. A risk assessment-informed framework was proposed for this strategy, which aims to (1) provide a best-estimate, risk informed capability to quantitatively estimate the safety margin obtained from plant modernization, especially for safety-related DI&C systems, (2) support and supplement existing risk informed DI&C design guides by providing quantitative risk information and evidence, (3) offer a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems, (4) assure the long-term safety and reliability of safety-related DI&C systems, and (5) reduce uncertainty in costs and support integration of DI&C systems in the plant. To achieve these technical goals, the LWRS-developed framework provides a means to address relevant technical issues by: (1) defining a risk informed analysis process for DI&C upgrade that integrates hazard analysis, reliability analysis, and consequence analysis, (2) applying risk informed tools to address common cause failures (CCFs) and quantify corresponding failure probabilities for DI&C technologies, particularly software CCFs, (3) evaluating the impact of digital failures at the component level, system level, and plant level, and (4) providing insights and suggestions on designs to manage the risks, thus to support the development and deployment of advanced DI&C technologies in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Adding diversity within a system or components is the primary means to eliminate and mitigate CCFs, but diversity also increases system complexity and may not address all sources of systematic failures. Optimization of diversity and redundancy applications for the safety-critical DI&C systems remains a challenge. To deal with the technical issues in addressing potential software CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs and supporting relevant design optimization, the proposed framework provides: (a) A best-estimate, risk informed capability to address new technical digital issues quantitatively, focusing on software CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs; (b) A common and a modularized platform for DI&C designers, software developers, cybersecurity analysts, and plant engineers to predict and prevent risk in the early design stage of DI&C systems; (c) Technical bases and risk informed insights to assist users address the risk informed alternatives for evaluation of CCFs in safety-related DI&C systems of NPPs; and (d) A risk informed tool that offers a capability of design architecture evaluation of various DI&C systems to support system design decisions in diversity and redundancy applications. The research and development efforts of this project in FY 2023 are focused on refining current methods on software CCF modeling and estimation and exploring additional innovative approaches to risk assessment of DI&C systems to enable a more comprehensive and complete assessment of various safety-related DI&C design architectures. The primary audience of this report are DI&C designers, engineers, and probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) practitioners. This includes stakeholders, such as the nuclear utilities and regulators who consider the deployment and upgrade of DI&C systems, DI&C software developers and reviewers, and cybersecurity specialists. It should be noted that all the analyses are performed for the demonstration of the methodology, not for the evaluation of an actual digital control system. Results are obtained based on limited design information and testing data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Cybersecurity for Clean Energy Resources [Slides]

This presentation provides motivation for research in clean energy cybersecurity and highlights INL projects and capabilities to address clean energy cybersecurity needs. The projects are broken down by device level, plant level, utility level, regulation level, and implementation. This introduction to INL capabilities creates opportunity for further conversations around how cohort members can improve their own organizational security postures.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2024

Proactive Regulatory Approaches to Electrification and Load Growth: Pre-read Document to Support the July 10-11 th Workshop

This document summarizes objectives and context related to a DOE-funded workshop on proactive regulatory approaches to electrification and load growth. It briefly summarizes some of the regulatory barriers to pursuing a proactive approach and some of the risks associated with such an approach. It then summarizes a selection of recent utility proposals and public utility commission actions related to proactive approaches.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗