Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: November 2023

In this edition, NREL partners with Los Angeles to identify equitable clean energy transition strategies; the State, Local, and Tribal Program releases its Fiscal Year 2023 accomplishments report; the Transportation Annual Technology Baseline launches new data and technologies; and more.

NREL Partners To Identify Strategies for a More Equitable Clean Energy Transition in Los Angeles

Building on the groundbreaking Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study (LA100), the LA100 Equity Strategies project outlines practical approaches for Los Angeles to achieve a more just and equitable clean energy transition. Led by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in partnership with NREL and the University of California, Los Angeles, LA100 Equity Strategies aims to achieve the city’s ambitious goal to reach 100% carbon-free energy by as early as 2035 in a way that is more equitable for all residents while delivering improved health, affordability, accessibility, and job opportunities.

The results of the report can go well beyond Los Angeles’s city limits, serving as a blueprint for other utilities and metropolitan areas pursuing their own ambitious, equitable clean energy goals and setting the stage for communities around the world to pursue an equitable 100% clean energy future. Learn more about the LA100 Equity Strategies and explore the LA100 Equity Strategies report. 

Report Highlights NREL’s State, Local, and Tribal Program Accomplishments

NREL and its State, Local, and Tribal Program supports the development of efficient, affordable, and resilient energy systems that address the infrastructure challenges, goals, and priorities of jurisdictions at every level. Through training, adaptive tools, data, analysis, and direct technical assistance, NREL’s State, Local, and Tribal Program enables communities to make informed and equitable clean energy decisions and plans.

“NREL's State, Local, and Tribal Program is much more than site-specific technical assistance–it encompasses the holistic nature of systems thinking,” said Sherry Stout, the laboratory program manager for the State, Local, and Tribal Program. “This can include workforce development, utilities and technology integration, the complexities of social science and energy justice, and addressing local challenges.”

Explore the State, Local, and Tribal Program Fiscal Year 2023 accomplishments report.

Transportation Annual Technology Baseline Launches Update

The Transportation Annual Technology Baseline—the go-to source for current and future cost and performance data for vehicle and fuel technologies—has expanded to include new technologies in its first-ever update released earlier this month. The update provides expanded data categories, including new light-duty vehicle classes, the addition of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and the addition of sustainable aviation pathways. The updated data can be found on the Transportation Annual Technology Baseline website, along with a suite of tools to help users easily access and leverage the data to meet their transportation analysis needs. On Dec. 14, 2023, at 11 a.m. ET, the Transportation Annual Technology Baseline team is hosting a webinar to dive into the latest changes and new features in the update. Register today and join to see technology-specific website demos and get your questions answered.

Register Today for the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis 2024 Annual Meeting

The 2024 Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis Annual Meeting will take place Feb. 26–27, 2024, at NREL’s campus in Golden, Colorado. The annual meeting is organized around collaborative sessions with the goal of identifying and addressing complex emerging clean energy challenges. The meeting is an exciting opportunity to grow and diversify networks and build partnerships to initiate cutting-edge research and innovation projects. Engaged clean energy leaders from across research, academics, industry, and nonprofits are encouraged to visit the annual meeting webpage to learn more and sign up for the registration waitlist.

New Technology Characterization and Evaluation Software Informs Strategic Energy Investments

There is a lot to consider with any big investment, but when it comes to energy technology investments, decision-making just got a little easier with the release of NREL's new Technology Characterization and Evaluation (Tyche) software. Named after the Greek goddess of good fortune and success, the software combines a user’s budgets and goals with techno-economic modeling to simulate technology performance and inform complex research and development investment decisions. Learn more about the new open-source software and register for an upcoming webinar.

Scaling and Aggregation Supercharge Electric Vehicle Charging

In the latest edition of NREL's Tell Me Something Grid series, grid researcher Luke Lavin explores the complexities of coordinating lots of distributed energy resources to benefit the grid and maximize cost savings. He describes a study done in partnership with his transportation colleagues at the laboratory on the potential opportunities and pitfalls of different electric vehicle managed charging approaches. Check out Luke Lavin’s article.

Award-Winning Software Helps Communities Plan Their Clean Energy Transition

A new software developed by NREL with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is helping communities, such as Fairbanks, Alaska, plan and implement the transmission and distribution of clean energy technologies. Using the new Simulation and Emulation for Advanced Systems software, NREL and Fairbanks were able to determine that the city could add substantial amounts of wind power to the grid. They also used Simulation and Emulation for Advanced Systems software to assess battery systems for energy storage. These efforts have helped Fairbanks increase its resilience while also aiding the city in meeting its growing electricity demand with fewer emissions. Learn more about how the software is making communities’ clean energy transitions easier.

Q&A With Rob Hovsapian: The Engineer Who Solves Crises Before They Happen

Rob Hovsapian, a mechanical engineer at NREL, is helping to build a massive, knowledge-gobbling machine, one that could solve future crises. For example, how can we build a reliable clean energy grid? Or make it easier to evacuate from natural disasters?

Introducing: the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems research (ARIES) platform. The platform blends hardware and software to accurately emulate how future technologies might communicate, or fail to communicate, during an emergency. Now, Hovsapian is helping connect NREL to other labs—including national laboratories and academic institutions—to build a SuperLab and study how the country could respond to a national-scale crisis. In NREL's latest Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A, Hovsapian shares his path to NREL and the rare national events the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems and the SuperLab might help solve.

NREL Research Powers Up Security of Artificial Intelligence

NREL researchers work collaboratively across cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on energy security to strengthen the grid against evolving threats. Visit our new security of artificial intelligence webpage to learn how the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems Cyber Range is providing a safe and isolated environment to execute red team testing on AI models. Additionally, read about how a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory-led project is developing secure artificial intelligence/machine learning tools to both detect and mitigate cyberattacks on aggregations of distributed energy resources in electric power distribution systems and microgrids.

Publications Roundup

Advancing Global Cybersecurity, NREL Fact Sheet (2023)

Innovations in clean energy technologies are beginning to transform electric grids around the world. It is more important than ever to understand and improve the resilience and security of the grid against natural and human disruptions as our energy systems become more distributed, intelligent, and interconnected. Through its advanced cybersecurity technical assistance portfolio, experts at NREL work with international governments to support the secure and resilient deployment of renewable energy assets and address grid interconnection challenges. Cybersecurity technical assistance is tailored to the needs of our international partners.

Expanded Modeling Scenarios To Understand the Role of Offshore Wind in Decarbonizing the United States, Nature Energy (2023)

An assessment of decarbonization pathways in energy models reveals fundamental limitations in representing factors that are relevant for practical decision-making. Although these modeling limitations are widely acknowledged, their impact on the deployment of individual power generation types is not well understood. As a result, the societal value from such generation types could be vastly misrepresented. In this paper, the authors explore a  spectrum of factors that impact offshore wind deployment in the United States using a detailed capacity expansion model. Many factors prescribe a large future role for offshore wind, yet this diverges from what models often show. The authors extend the typically narrow modeling context through high spatial resolution, several cost and transmission possibilities, and various energy-sector policies. They estimate offshore wind will constitute 1%–8% (31–256 GW) of total U.S. generation by 2050. This wide range suggests an uncertain but potentially important regional role. The expansive scenarios demonstrate how to address many limitations of decarbonization modeling.