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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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At least 1,225 records · Page 68
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Fast Frequency Response using Reinforcement Learning-Controlled Wind Turbines

To fulfill the auxiliary grid services such as load regulation, spin and non-spin reserve, and frequency support during emergencies, power system operators often require certain wind farms to operate in de-loaded modes. By leveraging the fast response capability of wind farms, the reserved power in deloaded modes can significantly enhance the stability and reliability of power grids. This paper presents a novel methodology that incorporates wind turbines into reinforcement learning-based solutions for frequency response. The proposed approach employs the state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithm, surrogategradient- based evolution strategy (GSES), for continuous control of the wind farm output. Our methodology is tested on a modified IEEE-39 bus system, and simulation outcomes demonstrate that the proposed approach can reliably support the frequency of the power system and prevent unnecessary load shedding.

Gao, Wei↗
DOE OSTI2020

Attack on Grid Event Cause Analysis: An Adversarial Machine Learning Approach

With the ever-increasing reliance on data for data-driven applications in power grids, such as event cause analysis, the authenticity of data streams has become crucially important. The data can be prone to adversarial stealthy attacks aiming to manipulate the data such that residual-based bad data detectors cannot detect them, and the perception of system operators or event classifiers changes about the actual event. This paper investigates the impact of adversarial attacks on convolutional neural network-based event cause analysis frameworks. We have successfully verified the ability of adversaries to maliciously misclassify events through stealthy data manipulations. The vulnerability assessment is studied with respect to the number of compromised measurements. Furthermore, a defense mechanism to robustify the performance of the event cause analysis is proposed. The effectiveness of adversarial attacks on changing the output of the framework is studied using the data generated by real-time digital simulator (RTDS) under different scenarios such as type of attacks and level of access to data.

Niazazari, Iman↗
DOE OSTI2018

Parallel dispatch: a new paradigm of electrical power system dispatch

Modern power systems are evolving into sociotechnical systems with massive complexity, whose real-time operation and dispatch go beyond human capability. Thus, the need for developing and applying new intelligent power system dispatch tools are of great practical significance. In this paper, we introduce the overall business model of power system dispatch, the top level design approach of an intelligent dispatch system, and the parallel intelligent technology with its dispatch applications. We expect that a new dispatch paradigm, namely the parallel dispatch, can be established by incorporating various intelligent technologies, especially the parallel intelligent technology, to enable secure operation of complex power grids, extend system operators U+02BC capabilities, suggest optimal dispatch strategies, and to provide decision-making recommendations according to power system operational goals.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Novel Hybrid Current Limiter for Grid-Forming Inverter Control During Unbalanced Faults

Grid-forming (GFM) inverter controls have illustrated many desirable features to enable the bulk integration of renewable resources into the future power grid; however, the performance of GFM inverters during unbalanced faults remains underexplored. This paper proposes a novel current-limiting method for GFM inverters to handle unbalanced fault conditions while providing voltage support to the main grid. The proposed current limiter combines concepts of dynamic virtual-impedance and current-reference saturation limiting, all built in the stationary reference frame, to achieve improved current-limiting performance under unbalanced load/fault conditions. System-wide full-order transient simulations with multiple GFM inverters demonstrate the potential of the method and benchmark the performance against state-of-the-art current limiters. Simulation results portray improved voltage balancing performance of the proposed method compared to both current-reference saturation and virtual-impedance limiting.

controller anti windup↗
DOE OSTI2023

A Photovoltaic MPPT Charge Controller Real-Time Testbed for Cybersecurity Applications

The increasing deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) over the last decade is a great ally to combat climate change and strengthen the grid during increasingly common extreme weather events. However, DER systems, combined with the ongoing transition to a digital power grid, also pose substantial cybersecurity threats. One of the most common communication protocols used in DER integration is the Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3), which is known to have many security vulnerabilities. Thus, it is essential to investigate cyberattack behaviors and mitigation on power systems using DNP3. In this paper, we designed and implemented a cybersecurity testbed for a simulated photovoltaic (PV) maximum power point tracking (MPPT) charge controller. Our testbed uses an MPPT charge controller simulated on a Typhoon HIL602+ real-time simulator with a real DNP3 communication connection over TCP/IP, allowing for safe and efficient monitoring and manipulation of data traffic between the simulated hardware and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mechanical Solutions Scan Report

Power lines, poles, and towers are the backbone of the United States (U.S.) electric-power grid. These transmission and distribution networks route electricity from generator to loads. The characteristics of these routes are rapidly changing -- trending towards decentralized renewable generation, electric heating, vehicle charging, and large data-center loads. Coupled with aging infrastructure and the increased frequency of extreme weather events, there is concern about the future reliability and transmission capacity of conductors and adjacent components. This scan report seeks to provide an overview of mechanical solutions to challenges caused by extreme weather events associated with components of transmission and distribution infrastructure, including conductor heat sag, ice accumulation, wind, and wildfire. Many options could increase transmission capacity or reliability, and these are at various stages of technological readiness. Some have only been lab tested, while some have been widely deployed in the U.S. or overseas for decades. The solution categories and providers featured in this report are intended to be comprehensive at the time of publication and to serve as a reference for decision-makers concerned about transmission and distribution reliability. There are two other categories of large, complex solutions, which are not covered in this report: replacing existing conductors with advanced conductors and implementing digital grid enhancing technologies. A separate scan report titled “Advanced Conductor Scan Report,” which discusses advanced carbon-core conductors, was published by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in 2023. Information on digital technologies, such as dynamic line ratings, power-flow controllers, and other power electronics and communications-based devices, can be found on the Grid- Enhancing Technologies landing page. Mechanical grid-enhancing technologies, or solutions covered in this report, often do not require full equipment replacement and do not rely on digital components. Mechanical technologies are overlooked because they may be older, simpler, or seemingly “more obvious” than digital or carbon-core technologies. However, it is wise to consider mechanical solutions in a thorough evaluation of grid enhancing technology solutions.

24 - POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development of a Configurable DERMS Test System in GridAPPS-D

Distributed Energy Resources and their increased penetration within the power grid are a suitable method to provide essential reliability services. In order to do so, they must operate in aggregate. Aggregation of a wide variety of systems with varying standards and protocols is a complex task, which could benefit from rules and standards to support interoperability. To this end, the Portland State University Power Lab has developed the Energy Grid of Things project, which includes a Distributed Energy Resource Management System to provide aggregation and demonstrate the usage of an Energy Services Interface: a set of rules governing the interface between resource owners and aggregator businesses. This thesis presents a Modeling Environment that provides a simulation and test platform reflecting the complex needs of an aggregator. A grid simulator is required that is able to reflect the effects of thousands of Distributed Energy Resources operating in tandem; furthermore, these effects must be communicated to external actors such as the Grid Operator, which provides grid service requests to the aggregator and requires feedback. The Modeling Environment provides all of this functionality by leveraging the GridAPPS-D platform to develop an interoperable class-based system that provides configurable simulations with modular input and output APIs. The Modeling Environment uses abstractions to allow any feasible type of input to be reflected within the model as a Distributed Energy Resource, and serves as a proof-of-concept for the development of aggregation simulation and testing within GridAPPS-D.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2020

Will Solar Panels Help When the Power Goes Out? Planning for PV Resilience

PV systems, like all energy systems, must chart a difficult course in order to improve resilience. They need to simultaneously withstand extreme conditions that cause grid power disruptions, be configured in a way that allows electricity to be delivered to meet the PV user's needs, and overcome disruptions arising from solar resource intermittency. Certain considerations reveal themselves as key to a PV system's resilience benefits. Choice of hardware is critical, as is site selection for the PV array. Voluminous evidence in a hurricane context demonstrates that durable hardware, properly maintained and sited, leads to PV systems surviving extreme weather with their functionality intact. Structurally weak or poorly maintained PV equipment, on the other hand, has demonstrated failures during extreme weather events. PV system stakeholders should ensure that best practices are followed for hardware procurement and siting. It is also important to understand that PV systems are not one-size-fits-all. While incorporating islanding capabilities and energy storage into the system's electrical topology will typically enhance resilience, the user's needs will determine the optimally resilient conformation of any given system. These factors - appropriate hardware, siting, maintenance, and system design - are the primary drivers of PV resilience. PV systems possess high potential for resilient energy generation due to their distributed, abundant, and free fuel supply, but the technology itself does not inherently lead to resilient outcomes. Realizing PV's potential for resilience requires consideration of these determinative factors.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cyber Spoofing Detection for Grid Distributed Synchrophasor Using Dynamic dual-Kernel SVM

Cyber spoofing with distributed synchrophasor adversely affects the decision-making and situational awareness of the power grid. To detect the spoofing trail, this letter proposes a composite signature-based cyber spoofing detection methodology. The intrinsic principal modes are first extracted from the distributed synchrophasor data. Then, multiple signatures of different intrinsic model components are derived to quantify the spoofing. Thereafter, the dynamic dual-kernel support vector machine is proposed to identify cyber spoofing using multiple signatures. Multiple experimental results using six spoofing methods have verified the validity of the methodology.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Automatic outdoor monitoring system for photovoltaic panels

Long-term acquisition of solar panel performance parameters, for panels operated at maximum power point in their real environment, is of critical importance in the photovoltaic research sector. However, few options exist for the characterization of non-standard panels such as concentrated photovoltaic systems, heavily soiled or shaded panels or those operating under non-standard spectral illumination; certainly, it is difficult to find such a measurement system that is flexible and affordable enough to be adopted by the smaller research institutes or universities. We present here an instrument aiming to fill this gap, autonomously tracking and maintaining any solar panel at maximum power point while continuously monitoring its operational parameters and dissipating the produced energy without connection to the power grid. Here, the instrument allows periodic acquisition of current-voltage curves to verify the employed maximum power point tracking approach. At the same time, with hardware schematics and software code being provided, it provides a flexible open development environment for the monitoring of non-standard generators like concentrator photovoltaic systems and to test novel power tracking approaches. The key issues, and the corresponding solutions, encountered in the design are analyzed in detail and the relevant schematics presented.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Grid Parameters and Voltage Estimation Approach Integrating Data-Driven Converter Model

With Measurements of grid voltage and current are essential for the optimal operation of the grid protection and control (P&C) systems. Grid parameters vary through time during the faults and especially in the converter interfaced resources (CIRs) rich power grid, and thus accurate estimation is critical to avoid the mis-operation of the P&C systems. In this paper, a moving horizon estimation (MHE) as an observer is devised and applied to estimate the grid line parameters and grid voltages for protection enhancement. Due to the proprietary and confidentiality of CIRs, the proposed approach uses the black-box model to represent their dynamics. Leveraging the easily accessible measurements of output current from the black-box model of CIR and voltage at the point of common coupling, the proposed method estimates the grid impedance and grid voltage during normal and faulty operating conditions. The performance shows that the optimization-based observer was able to closely observe the accurate states and parameters, which can be utilized by the P&C systems.

Subedi, Sunil↗
DOE OSTI2021

Big Data Analysis of Massive PMU Datasets: A Data Platform Perspective

The discovery of `event signatures' and useful insights from very large historical Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) datasets is predicated on offline Big Data analysis approaches that rely on the generation of predictive features on a massive scale. This paper presents lessons learned from a data platform perspective towards reducing barriers to adoption of Big Data analytics against a real dataset of almost half a trillion data points drawn from over 400 PMUs distributed across the North American power grid. We demonstrate software abstractions and targeted performance optimizations that can lead to significant productivity gains for power systems researchers seeking to perform offline exploratory temporal analysis and modeling tasks, with a focus on feature generation. We describe how our optimized approach goes beyond a naive application of mainstream Big Data technologies, enabling feature generation tasks, that previously took days or even weeks, to now be completed in just a few hours.

Kumar, Vijay S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

BI-LEVEL OPTIMIZATION FOR ELECTRICITY TRANSACTION IN SMART COMMUNITY WITH MODULAR PUMP HYDRO STORAGE

Grid integration of the increasing distributed energy resources could be challenging in terms of new infrastructure investment, power grid stability, etc. To resolve more renewables locally and reduce the need for extensive electricity transmission, a community energy transaction market is assumed with market operator as the leader whose responsibility is to generate local energy prices and clear the energy transaction payment among the prosumers (followers). The leader and multi-followers have competitive objectives of revenue maximization and operational cost minimization. This non-cooperative leader-follower (Stackelberg) game is formulated using a bi-level optimization framework, where a novel modular pump hydro storage technology (GLIDES system) is set as an upper level market operator, and the lower level prosumers are nearby commercial buildings. The best responses of the lower level model could be derived by necessary optimality conditions, and thus the bi-level model could be transformed into single level optimization model via replacing the lower level model by its Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) necessary conditions. Several experiments have been designed to compare the local energy transaction behavior and profit distribution with the different demand response levels and different local price structures. The experimental results indicate that the lower level prosumers could benefit the most when local buying and selling prices are equal, while maximum revenue potential for the upper level agent could be reached with non-equal trading prices.

Chen, Yang↗
DOE OSTI2015

Look-ahead Dynamic Simulation

Look-ahead dynamic simulation software system incorporates the high performance parallel computing technologies, significantly reduces the solution time for each transient simulation case, and brings the dynamic simulation analysis into on-line applications to enable more transparency for better reliability and asset utilization. It takes the snapshot of the current power grid status, functions in parallel computing the system dynamic simulation, and outputs the transient response of the power system in real time.

Jin, Shuangshuang↗
DOE OSTI2012

Reactor Subsystem Simulation for Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems

Nuclear Hybrid Energy Systems (NHES) could be a key part of the solution to achieving energy security, may provide reliable power availability even with increasing renewable energy penetration into the power grid, and may allow repurposing excess electricity in times of low demand. Incorporating a fission-based power source in a multi-output system (electricity and process heat) can offer significant advantages over carbon-based production sources, such as coal or natural gas, including reduction in atmospheric carbon emissions. In an integrated multi-output system, thermal energy from the nuclear reactor subsystem can be diverted to industrial applications in times of low electricity demand. High temperature, high quality heat from advanced reactor designs might be used for hydrogen production or synthetic fuel production (coal-to-liquid or natural gas-to-liquid processes). Low temperature heat from advanced reactor designs or the current and future fleet of light water reactors (LWRs) might be applied to desalination processes or be stored for later use in low temperature ammonia or hydrocarbon-based thermal cycles. The NHES research team is currently developing a dynamic simulation of an integrated hybrid energy system. A detailed simulation of proposed NHES architectures will allow initial computational demonstration of a tightly coupled NHES to identify key reactor subsystem requirements, identify candidate reactor technologies for a hybrid system, and identify key challenges to operation of the coupled system. This work will provide a baseline for later coupling of design-specific reactor models through industry collaboration. The modeling capability addressed in this report focuses on the reactor subsystem simulation. Many computational tools and methods are available for modeling a nuclear reactor, power conversion systems and associated process applications. One method is to develop a single program capable of modeling the entire system. Another is to combine two or more existing computer programs, each modeling a portion of the system for which it is validated, where the programs exchange information to compute the solution. The former method requires a lengthy development and verification and validation process. The latter method leverages industry standard software to reduce development and funding requirements. Preliminary system models have been developed by Idaho National Laboratory researchers and are currently being enhanced to assess integrated system performance given multiple sources (e.g., nuclear + wind) and multiple applications (i.e., electricity + process heat). Initial efforts to integrate a Fortran-based simulation of a small modular reactor (SMR) with the balance of plant model have been completed in FY12. This initial effort takes advantage of an existing SMR model developed at North Carolina State University to provide initial integrated system simulation for a relatively low cost. The SMR subsystem simulation details are discussed in this report.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Powering the Blue Economy: Foundational Research and Development

With increased use of the oceans for transportation, extraction of food, fibre, and minerals, recreation and tourism, and other blue economy industries, there is a need for additional power at sea. In the face of climate change, the increased power must come from renewable sources; often marine energy is the most energy-dense power source available. But we have little experience with adapting wave and tidal devices from large scale grid power to the specialized and small devices needed to power blue economy applications, nor the engineering solutions to support codesign of emerging marine industries. As directed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), two DOE national laboratories have developed foundational research and development projects to replace conventional power or batteries at sea (ocean observation platforms), emerging industry power needs (offshore aquaculture operations), as well as examining common challenges for using marine power (efficient power systems, minimizing interference, optimizing materials and manufacturing).

marine energy↗
DOE OSTI2013

Energy Storage for DC Fast Chargers Development and Demonstration of Operating Protocols for 20-kWh and 200-kWh Field Sites

Many of the currently available and future electric vehicles can be fast charged, and, typically, at least 50% of the battery capacity can be returned in 15 to 20 minutes. This charge rate requires a power of at least 50 kilowatts, which can be expensive in terms of both infrastructure and electric utility demand charges. One potential way of minimizing this cost is to charge the electric vehicle with combined battery and grid power, thereby reducing the peak load on the grid. Many sizes and configurations are possible for such a battery. This study examines two possibilities: (1) a 20-kilowatt hour (kWh) battery energy storage (BES) system and (2) a 200-kWh BES system, as well as developing standard test procedures for assessing the suitability of battery technologies for use in such systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Considerations for Distributed Energy Resource Integration in Puerto Rico: DOE Multi-Lab Grid Modeling Support for Puerto Rico; Analytical Support for Interconnection and IEEE Std 1547-2018 National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Task 3.0)

To ensure the sustainable long-term recovery of Puerto Rico's electric power grid from hurricanes María and Irma and to build capacity to manage future potential natural disasters in the most secure and resilient way, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) convened experts from multiple national laboratories to develop a comprehensive set of data, models, analytic tools, and studies, considering inputs from a wide variety of stakeholder groups, to support technically sound recommendations for Puerto Rico's energy investment decisions. A resilient electric grid is vital to Puerto Rico's security, economy, and way of life, and it will provide the foundation for essential services that people and businesses on the island rely on every day. This report shows progress for a grid modeling task under the DOE-sponsored project that is a collaboration among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and other national laboratories. In Phase 1 of the multilab effort to support Puerto Rico's recovery, NREL provided the utility company Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) recommendations for a new framework of interconnection standards to accelerate the integration of utility-scale, transmission-connected renewable electrical generation and energy storage that ensure cross-technology compatibility and enable high deployment levels without compromising grid reliably, safety, or security. This Phase 2 report focuses on the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DERs) to the electric distribution system in Puerto Rico. This report is intended to familiarize the reader with Puerto Rico's distribution infrastructure and operational practices and procedures that are relevant to DER interconnection. The report also provides considerations for streamlining the interconnection process given the expected increase in deployments resulting from Puerto Rico's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal of 100% renewables by 2050. Accordingly, the report identifies considerations and concerns associated with the increase in intermittent generation, strategies for DER interconnection best practices, and the potential use of the latest technological solutions identified in the latest revision of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 interconnection standard.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗