Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: April 2023
In this edition, the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) 2022 Annual Report is now available, Jen Kurtz—research director for ARIES—shares her path to renewable energy and insights from her career, NREL and UL Solutions reach a key milestone in securing the distributed generation industry, and more.
Clean Energy Transition Projects Powered by Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems
The Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) 2022 Annual Report is now available, highlighting clean energy projects, achievements, and the capability buildouts that support them. From inverters that show grid restoration is possible with 100% renewables to planning for renewable power distribution systems across India, ARIES and the facilities that make ARIES research possible (Energy Systems Integration Facility and Advanced Computing) are helping communities, industry, and governments adopt new technologies and achieve energy transition goals in big ways.
Check out the ARIES 2022 Annual Report to learn more about first-of-its-kind milestones in hydrogen refueling, breakthrough wind demonstrations, and innovations in cybersecurity. Get a glimpse of what is to come with the Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) program and projects with the country of Lithuania and the Israel Electric Corp. With so many options to transform energy around the world, we look forward to what’s ahead with ARIES.
Q&A With Jen Kurtz: All in on Clean Energy and Social Connection
Jen Kurtz is not only focused on the research side of things at NREL, but she is also highly in tune with the people side and what it takes to support them. She believes in bringing your full self to work, failing as much as you are succeeding, and that connecting with others over shared experiences is just as important as learning how you are different. She strives to be world class in both energy solutions for the future and creating a truly inclusive environment.
In this interview, Kurtz details how she became interested in renewable energy, her dual role as center director for the Energy Conversion and Storage Systems Center and research director of ARIES, some exciting new projects on the horizon, and how energy justice and equity are key to energy transition.
NREL and UL Solutions Reach Key Milestone in Securing Distributed Generation Industry
With support from NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Solar Energy Technologies Office, UL Solutions has published the outline of investigation for a cybersecurity certification standard for distributed energy resources and inverter-based resource devices. The UL Solutions-NREL team is using the outline of investigation to test devices in NREL’s research environment, leveraging the ARIES platform and the cyber range.
Learn more about the consensus-built cybersecurity standard effort for distributed energy resources and inverter-based resource devices.
Data-Based Recovery: NREL and Partners To Pioneer Method for Rural Communities
There are many ways to sense a power outage, and an NREL-led project will use nearly all of them in a new power recovery approach. With data coming from devices, observations, and online conversations, NREL and partners have devised a method that rapidly identifies and recovers from outages in areas serviced by rural co-ops.
NREL Researcher Alicen Kandt Leads the Charge on Renewing Our National Parks
When Alicen Kandt was first introduced to NREL at a college career fair, she never imagined one day being at the forefront of sustainability in our nation’s most special places. With more than two decades of service at NREL, Kandt is now head of the Applied Engineering Group and leads a variety of projects with external partners, including the National Park Service. In our latest Q&A, she describes how federal agencies such as the National Park Service can work with NREL and the Federal Energy Management Program to turn clean energy goals into practical applications.
NREL Regional Analysis Can Help Accelerate Production and Delivery of Sustainable Aviation Fuel
With the global consumption of fossil-derived jet fuels expected to more than double by 2050, NREL is committed to accelerating the decarbonization of this industry.
The aviation industry produces 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Made from nonpetroleum sources such as waste and biomass, sustainable aviation fuel has the potential to reduce aviation greenhouse gas emissions by 50% or more compared to fossil-derived jet fuel.
NREL chemical engineer Arpit Bhatt lead a case study evaluating one of the country’s top consumers of jet fuel: Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Check out the case study and how NREL is working to reduce aviation emissions with sustainable aviation fuel.
NREL Supports Alaska Utility Amid Coal Plant Retirement Through Communities to Clean Energy Program
In December 2022, a snowstorm hit Fairbanks, Alaska, blanketing the city. The trees got so heavy that they started leaning into power lines, triggering a series of outages that affected more than 7,000 homes and persisted for weeks. “It's 26 below zero, and our crew has spent the night on outage management,” recalls John Burns, the CEO of the local utility, Golden Valley Electric Association.
Through DOE’s C2C program, Fairbanks is now working with NREL experts to decarbonize and diversify their energy sources to enhance system resilience and reduce costs for customers that pay some of the highest rates in the country. A recent blog post describes how the Alaska utility is accelerating its transition to clean energy.
Clean Energy to Communities Peer-Learning Cohorts: Apply by May 8
DOE’s C2C program is now accepting applications for its next set of peer-learning cohorts. Applicants may apply to one (or more) of three cohort topic areas: electric vehicle infrastructure planning and funding, implementing a municipal clean energy procurement strategy, and community inclusion in clean energy planning. Eligible communities could include tribal governments; city, town, or county governments; metropolitan or regional planning organizations; community-based organizations; electric utilities; or other public entities (transit agencies, school districts, housing authorities).
Applications are due May 8, 2023, and selected participants will begin their engagement in July 2023. Find additional cohort descriptions, eligibility details, and the online application on the C2C peer-learning cohorts web page.
Unlocking Grid Potential Around the World With the Global Power System Transformation Consortium
The latest from NREL’s Tell Me Something Grid series focuses on supporting power system operators around the world to achieve reliable, low-carbon grids. The article features Amy Rose, a member of NREL’s Grid Planning and Analysis Center and lead of system operator technical support for the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium.
G-PST is an initiative founded by the chief executives of six of the world’s most advanced system operators, as well as 12 leading research institutions, to accelerate power systems transitions all over the globe. The core objective of G-PST is to help system operators around the world integrate high levels of variable renewable energy. Learn about the impact of G-PST in the transition to low-carbon grids.
Publications Roundup
Photovoltaics (PV) have demonstrated a remarkable track record of growth and cost reduction, becoming the most cost-effective and sustainable source of electricity in a growing number of locations worldwide. This article addresses future global energy and electricity demand; recent progress in PV integration; and how innovation, PV deployment, storage, and sector coupling have and will continue to dramatically change and accelerate the PV landscape if technology, system integration, and policy align. A sustained global growth rate of PV of 25% over the next decade would enable a viable path to 2050 greenhouse gas mitigation targets.
NREL staff worked with partners from Colombia’s Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission to develop a regulatory road map for increasing integrations of distributed energy resources in Colombia. Colombia’s Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission was one of four teams from the Young Leaders Workforce Training Program, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, selected to receive continued technical assistance and strategic advisory support from NREL for action plan development and implementation. Colombia’s Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission’s action plan outlines potential updates to Colombia’s distribution code for the integration of distributed energy resources, including energy storage and electric vehicles, considering the design and development of new markets in the distribution network.
Addressing Regulatory Challenges to Tribal Solar Deployment
This project seeks to unlock the potential for tribal solar deployment by bringing together tribal, regulatory, utility, and other stakeholders to articulate key barriers to tribal solar adoption and develop replicable solutions. By increasing institutional capacity and developing frameworks, trainings, and a technical document repository for regulatory bodies, utilities, and tribes, this project can help expand an emerging market.
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