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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Distribution Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity Considerations of Distributed Resources

This presentation is focused on cybersecurity of the distribution system. It will educate attendees about the evolving cybersecurity threats facing energy infrastructure through exploring relevant cybersecurity incidents. Additionally, Participants will gain an understanding of Distributed Energy Resources and their growing role in grid architecture. Finally, the session will examine critical standards and guidelines, including Cybersecurity Baselines for Electric Distribution Systems and the IEEE 1547.3 standard.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Multilevel Cybersecurity for Photovoltaic Systems

The motivation behind this project is to protect critical infrastructure in electric power generation pertaining to solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. This growing renewable energy resource is becoming a more vital part of the nation’s energy portfolio, particularly since it has achieved grid-parity to existing generation methods in terms of cost. It is thus vital that steps be taken to ensure the cybersecurity of these assets. The project goal was to devise a multilevel cybersecurity solution to address PV security gaps at the inverter and system levels, and field test the solution under the supervision and review of a US-based solar inverter manufacturer and PV installer/operator. A two-level cyberattack defense approach was formulated whereby the first level, the solar inverter level, hardens individual devices and achieves a deeply cyber-secure inverter. The inverter level security involves a multi-layer defense-in-depth approach for securing the inverter while also providing data for the system level algorithms. The second level, the system level, addresses intrusion detection and restoration involving an ensemble of inverters and relevant systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Distributed Renewables Cyber Resilience

The following article is for Power Magazine, which has initial acceptance by the editor and focuses on presentation of a cybersecurity survey.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluation of IEC 62443 Standard Gaps for Electric Grid Substation Model Use Case

This report presents an evaluation of the IEC 62443 standards in the context of electric grid substations, as part of a collaborative effort among Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The primary objective is to assess the applicability of these standards to enhance cybersecurity measures for industrial automation and control systems (IACS) within the energy sector. The evaluation identifies strengths, such as the scalability of security levels and the structured lifecycle guidance provided by IEC 62443. However, it also highlights significant gaps, including limited integration of physical security, insufficient guidance for legacy systems, and challenges in addressing emerging threats like supply chain vulnerabilities. Recommendations for refining the standards are proposed, including the need for tailored guidance for securing legacy systems, integrating physical security with cybersecurity frameworks, and enhancing interoperability across multi-vendor environments. By addressing these gaps, the IEC 62443 standards can be strengthened to ensure comprehensive cybersecurity for electric grid substations, thereby supporting the resilience and reliability of critical energy infrastructure.

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DOE OSTI2026

FY25 Electric Grid Security Annual Report

Sandia’s Electric Grid Security program advances a national vision of energy dominance and accessibility, while applying our national security -emphasis on ensuring of a secure, resilient, and affordable electric system for all users. Our achievements reflect a strategic approach combining technology development; modeling, simulation, and data analytics; and partnered demonstrations and outreach to further the adoption of advanced grid and storage technologies. Our FY25 efforts leverage the strengths of our partnerships—spanning Sandia’s core science and technology competencies as well as external technology leaders—to develop the solutions today which enable the grid of tomorrow. Key accomplishments in this report that support our strategy span our technical program areas and include: • New open-source analytical tools for systems -level planning and optimization, including significant advances to the QuESt analytical environment; • Further advancement of artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhanced grid operations and planning as we rise to the challenge of new large loads; • Development of solid-state power conversion technologies and a new medium-voltage research lab; • New technologies to assess wildfire vulnerabilities and mitigate potential impacts; • Advanced applications of new cybersecurity technologies with industry partners; • Contributions to understanding the impacts of electromagnetic pulses and geomagnetic disturbances on grid components; and • Digital twin development for hybrid microgrids with multiple generators, storage, and loads. This report indicates key areas of research and engagement and summarizes the impact of Sandia’s contributions through notable accomplishments, journal publications, patents, and technical conferences and presentations. It is provided with the hope that readers discover ways we can further team to create our modern grid and apply the outcomes of our efforts. The bulk of work described herein is funded by several offices within the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), including the Office of Electricity (OE); Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER); former offices such as the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), and other key programs at USDOE. As we continue to state in these annual reports, the contributors to our successes are too numerous to name here, though our team wishes to express our deep gratitude to the numerous program and project sponsors at the US Department of Energy, who often function equally as technical collaborators; our many partners in industry, academia, utilities, and other national labs; and fellow researchers and business partners at Sandia whose leadership and creativity have enabled the accomplishments described herein.

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DOE OSTI2022

The Distributed Energy Resource Risk Manager

Organizations need a comprehensive approach to managing security and privacy risks, especially for energy resources that are becoming increasingly distributed. A tool by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) makes it possible to manage these risks and maintain the highest standards of cybersecurity. To simplify risk management for facilities and distributed energy resources, NREL has created the Distributed Energy Resource Risk Manager, an automated, user-friendly tool that helps navigate and implement one of the most widely trusted frameworks for information security, the National Institute of Standards and Technology Risk Management Framework.

compliance↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cybersecurity Considerations for Hydrogen Infrastructure in Airport Environments

This report explores key cybersecurity concerns and best practices within environments that serve as reference points for the development of hydrogen fueling infrastructure for aviation. This cybersecurity analysis leverages prior NREL studies: 1) hydrogen fueling station component validation to identify vulnerabilities and failure events documented in physical equipment, and 2) electric aircraft charging infrastructure analysis to explore primary cybersecurity vulnerabilities. It reviews the criticality of digitized technologies in sustaining hydrogen fuel production, storage, and fueling systems, noting cybersecurity concerns that are universal to power systems and industrial control systems in general. In considering cybersecurity vulnerabilities within a future landscape of hydrogen energy for aviation applications, a reference architecture was intended to reveal the points of connection between assets and the potential sensors that are vulnerable to manipulation in the event of compromised access or communication within a SCADA system. A generalized reference architecture can help stakeholders, engineers, or strategists understand connections, criticalities, and standard practices when it comes to designing and planning for new systems. There are several gaps to account for in assessing the future of hydrogen production, storage, and fueling for aviation. Engaging stakeholders, including aircraft manufacturers, electric utilities, site property owners, and local communities, will inform decision-making around site structure, operations, and resources for future hydrogen fueling infrastructure to understand operational needs and cybersecurity awareness. Cybersecurity mitigation strategy must consider physical attack vectors that emerge with the integration of hydrogen systems into existing airport security requirements. The cybersecurity risk assessment contained in this report is an entry point into potential future granular-level analyses to be conducted as part of hazard and risk assessments for safe aviation hydrogen infrastructure, determining how the scale of hydrogen fuel infrastructure for aviation impacts the volume of cyber attack vectors, and what, if any, are the vulnerabilities associated with different types of on-board hydrogen systems. In this nascent development phase, assessing how best to integrate cybersecurity practices into an evolving U.S. aviation landscape provides critical insights into building increased awareness and stakeholder engagement to support a cyber-resilient infrastructure.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2024

Threats to DERs and Tools to Mitigate Them

As the pace of renewable energy development increases, so does the challenge and opportunity to develop innovative solutions to secure renewable technologies. Four national laboratories National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Idaho National Laboratory are working together to increase cybersecurity maturity levels for solar stakeholders. INL will discuss a DER threat briefing and operator tools and training developed under the Securing Solar for the Grid (S2G) project.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Master Services Agreement - Flexible Feeder/Distribution System Support: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

PGE will engage NREL on a broad range of projects related to the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the utility's operations. This portfolio of work could include projects focused on DER adoption models, advanced distribution management system (ADMS) and distributed energy management system (DERMS) design, DER dispatch strategy development, and DER valuation framework development. Additional topics could include long-term energy planning, renewable energy, energy efficiency and demand-side management. As well as technology evaluations and design guidance for building retrofits and new construction projects, energy and energy infrastructure planning, policies, and markets (and their analysis), energy storage, energy security and resilience (including energy system-related cybersecurity), transportation and mobility, technology integration analysis. Additionally, other assistance as requested by PGE consistent with NREL’s expertise.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Critical Energy Infrastructure Cybersecurity: Enhanced Cyber Resilience for Federal Energy Systems

This presentation is an overview of FEMP Resilient and Secure Infrastructure and Facilities. An educational and interactive workshop centered on resilient and secure federal infrastructure and facilities, with a focus on inverter-based resources at Federal sites, building automation systems, and Federal supply chains. This workshop will illustrate an all-hazards scenario and discuss how Federal agencies can be positioned to resist these real-world scenarios.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Demonstration of a Novel Technology to Manage Electricity Demand in Grid-Independent Military Microgrids

This research was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the S&C Electric Inc. through funding provided by the ESTCP. The project demonstrates use of cybersecure Automated Demand Response (ADR) technology to effectively manage microgrid loads during grid-independent, also known as "islanded," operation. When military microgrids become isolated from the main electrical grid, they are required to balance electricity supply and demand locally. Given that local generation may be constrained, the prevailing strategy involves shedding all but the most critical loads by tripping smart circuit breakers, which then necessitate manual resetting. This approach is generally implemented at the building level, which means that the buildings with mission-critical activities are exempt from load management and remain fully powered, whereas those deemed non-critical can experience a complete loss of service. In this research we developed a method that allows building automation systems to selectively control their assets in response to load shedding request from a microgrid controller, avoiding total loss of service in contrast to the conventional control approach. A commercial OpenADR client server by GridFabric is used for communication between the microgrid controller and the building management system (BMS). The microgrid controller monitors both generation capacity and various assets within the microgrid and issues a demand reduction request when necessary. This request is communicated to the OpenADR server via Modbus. Upon receiving the request, the OpenADR server forwards it to the BMS utilizing the OpenADR protocol. The BMS is pre-configured with various levels of load reduction strategies based on the controllable assets available, allowing for a nuanced approach to demand reduction. Both lab and field tests were performed that considered load shedding needed to achieve closed transition into island mode and to accommodate changing loads and power source availability while islanded. A commercial microgrid controller was used for these tests with normal programming within the expected constraints of the system capabilities. That is, the solution did not require any specialized modification to the code base of the controller. Given the latency of the round-trip communication path between the microgrid controller and the various devices involved with the load shed processes, there are certain scenarios for which the demonstrated solution are appropriate and some which are not. The methods described in this report can be used for load shedding/restoration during transitions between islanded and grid-tied modes of operation, as well as accommodating normal variations in load and the need to remove a power source from operation for maintenance. These methods should not be used for scenarios that require load shedding within a second or two such as sudden and unanticipated significant load increases or loss of power sources through equipment faults.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2025

Land-Based Wind Reference Architecture

This report describes a summary and the final deliverables for the Wind Reference Architecture project funded by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Wind Energy Technology Office (WETO). The project objective was to further refine the reference architecture of the existing wind power plant reference architecture developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) by expanding the wind turbine generator (WTG) into a separate individual wind turbine reference architecture. Additional details regarding the wind turbine system and how it integrates with a wind power plant were researched and reflected in the reference architecture. This addition is important because it allows researchers to understand the components and devices in a wind turbine, how they function and how a wind turbine integrates into a wind power plant to be able to perform cybersecurity evaluations on the system. The communication and control systems were the focus while developing this reference architecture to understand the cybersecurity posture of a wind turbine and power plant. The information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems perspective are integral in helping improve the cybersecurity posture by creating a starting point to study how wind energy can be safely designed and deployed in our power grid from an integrated systems standpoint. A holistic wind power plant and turbine reference architecture and simulation was developed and made open-sourced for further research efforts.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reference Architecture Discussion [Slides]

NREL is developing reference architectures - industry-validated and verified models - to provide a common operational view and emulation environment for analyzing risk to the energy sector. In this presentation, we overview our work in developing these architectures.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Energy Systems Integration Facility Stewardship Summary: Fiscal Year 2022

A summary of NREL's good stewardship of the nationally unique Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) highlighting performance metrics, infrastructure and capability upgrades, and examples of R&D impact. In fiscal year 2022, ESIF researchers made breakthroughs in everything from long-duration energy storage and cybersecurity visualizations to a world record in heavy-duty hydrogen vehicle fueling, and built out research assets to advance microgrid operation and controls, renewable hydrogen production, electric vehicles, energy-efficient buildings, and more.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY CONSERVATION, C↗
DOE OSTI2023

Gap Analysis of Supply Chain Cybersecurity for Distributed Energy Resources

A supply chain is the combination of the ecosystem of resources needed to design, manufacture, and distribute a product. In the context of supply chain cybersecurity, the resources that directly influence this ecosystem include software, data, and/or other digital components. Compromised equipment or software in the supply chain may lead to attacks such as financial loss; denial of service; a breach of confidential or proprietary information from a company, its customers, or its suppliers; ransomware that denies operation of automated equipment for payment; and malicious control actions that could damage equipment and endanger personnel. Currently 60.8% of US energy comes from fossil fuels, 18.9% comes from nuclear energy, and the last 20.1% comes from renewable sources. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order FERC 2222 and Executive Order 14017 on America's Supply Chains are important milestones for safely expanding generation from renewable energy and achieving the goal of a decarbonized U.S. energy sector by 2035. This report analyzes gaps and opportunities in the supply chain currently available to the renewable energy sector, to help stakeholders formulate a coordinated response.

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