Energy Systems Integration Newsletter: May 2024

In this edition, NREL explores using 5G communications to manage microgrids, researchers show that artificial intelligence could help the wind industry optimize plant designs, Asimily joins Cohort 2 of the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator™, and more.

5G for Microgrids: NREL Builds Test Space To Study Benefits

Wireless is fine for home internet but not for energy systems. It's too slow and centralized, where devices need less than 8-millisecond latency. The 5G communications standard might work better, however. NREL researchers built a 5G-microgrid sandbox to test critical system communications, finding that 5G was excellent for prioritizing communications, dividing networks, and managing edge computing. 5G's decentralized design is a good match for modern energy resources, and NREL's researchers plan to keep the sandbox assembled for more projects to come. Read the full story on 5G for microgrids.

Artificial Intelligence Can Help Wind Energy Plants Reduce Costs, Land Use

In a new NREL study published in Nature Energy, researchers showed that artificial intelligence could help the wind energy industry optimize its plant designs, increase its revenue, and reduce its land use. The team developed an artificial intelligence-based model that ingested simulations of more than 250,000 wind energy plant layouts and conditions. With that data, the model can determine how to optimize a new wind energy plant to prioritize cost, energy production, or reduced land use. Read more about the Wind Plant Graph Neural Network model.

Asimily Joins Second Cohort of Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator

Asimily was recently selected for Cohort 2 of the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator, joining runZero as the cohort’s second participant. The technologies are being evaluated for their ability to identify hidden risks in utility networks in NREL’s Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Cyber Range.

Additionally, the Clean Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator program is expanding evaluations into a second track that will focus on premarket technologies to bridge the “valley of death” between innovation and commercialization. Learn more about Cohort 2, the proposed solutions, and the new Track 2 in our recent story.

New Model Informs Decisions About the Natural Gas Supply Chain Through Streamlined Life Cycle Assessments 

As we work to define possible transitions to a zero-carbon energy system, understanding the environmental impacts of the natural gas and liquefied natural gas supply chains is becoming increasingly important. A report from the National Petroleum Council, developed with support from NREL, shows how a new model is helping people at every step in the supply chain do just that. The Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of Natural Gas—Greenhouse Gases model uses harmonized and customizable life cycle assessment data to enable producers, purchasers, and policymakers to analyze the potential environmental impacts of each stage of the natural gas supply chain. The National Petroleum Council report also provides recommendations for expanding the use of life cycle assessment models like Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment of Natural Gas—Greenhouse Gases to inform decisions about reducing greenhouse gases in the supply chain. Read more about the model.

Apply Today for the Next Round of Clean Energy to Communities In-Depth Partnerships

NREL is accepting proposals on Sam.gov for the next round of Clean Energy to Communities in-depth partnerships. Through these partnerships, Clean Energy to Communities will award two to four communities up to $500,000 in subcontracting funding and $3,500,000 in clean energy technical assistance from one or more national laboratories. This request for proposals is open to communities of all types, and applying teams must consist of a local government, an electric utility, and at least one community-based organization.

The 3-year in-depth partnerships allow communities to leverage cutting-edge modeling and analysis tools to evaluate energy transition scenarios and strategies before deploying new technologies, which can reduce implementation risks. Six communities across the country are currently engaged in in-depth partnerships. Sam.gov proposals are due by June 14.

U.S. Department of Energy Spotlights Game-Changing Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Cybersecurity Research

NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response are increasing the security of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and ensuring that the transition to EVs does not put the wider electric grid at risk. A recent U.S. Department of Energy blog highlighted several projects NREL has participated in, including the ongoing creation and refinement of a certified cyber-secure standard to integrate EV chargers with existing automotive infrastructure and testing the integration of public key infrastructure architectures with EV charging systems. Find out more about NREL’s EV cybersecurity portfolio.

Ice Breaker: A Q&A With the Director of NREL’s Alaska Campus

Bruno Grunau lives in a net-zero home in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he champions the state’s staggering renewable energy potential and meeting industry and community goals with technology innovation and Indigenous traditional knowledge. We caught up with Bruno to debrief the recent Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference and find out what is in store for the nation’s only Arctic state. Read the full Q&A with Bruno Grunau.

Energy Department Announces $10.5 Million for Microgrid Solution Projects in Underserved and Indigenous Communities

NREL is proud to lead three projects selected by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity to bring replicable microgrid solutions to underserved and Indigenous communities in remote, rural, and islanded regions throughout the United States. These localized systems that operate autonomously when islanded from the traditional grid can offer a low-cost and self-sufficient solution for rural communities seeking energy reliability and resilience.

Learn the Basics About Energy Resilience for Your Facility

The Federal Energy Management Program is hosting a series of trainings designed to introduce attendees to resilience in both federal and nonfederal facilities. Part 1, Introduction to Resilience: 1 - Key Concepts, has already occurred (slides and on-demand training coming soon), but don’t miss parts 2 and 3:

Introduction to Resilience: 2 - Hazard and Vulnerability Assessments: Tuesday, June 25, 3:30–4:30 p.m. ET

Introduction to Resilience: 3 - Identifying Resilience Solutions: Wednesday, July 17, 1–2 p.m. ET.

Publications Roundup

Electric Grid Generative Pretrained Transformer: Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence in the Control Room, NREL Technical Report (2024)

This report outlines the synergy between human decision-making and generative artificial intelligence, where generative artificial intelligence supports power system operators by analyzing procedures, suggesting actions, simulating scenarios with physics-based digital twins, and recommending optimal decisions. This report is the first research effort to apply large language models, a type of generative artificial intelligence, in the power grid control room. The authors describe the Electric Grid Generative Pretrained Transformer, a large language model that virtually assists system operators. Developed with cybersecurity and regulatory requirements in mind, the Electric Grid Generative Pretrained Transformer represents an opportunity to responsibly evolve control room technologies to meet the needs of a rapidly changing grid. As an innovative concept, the Electric Grid Generative Pretrained Transformer seeks to spearhead productive discussions about the advanced technologies in the control room of the future amid the transition to clean energy.

Grid Integration of Offshore Wind Power: Standards, Control, Power Quality and Transmission, IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics (2024)

Offshore wind is expected to be a major player in the global efforts toward decarbonization, leading to exceptional changes in modern power systems. Understanding the impacts and capabilities of the relatively new and uniquely positioned assets in grids with high integration levels of inverter-based resources, however, is lacking, raising concerns about grid reliability, stability, power quality, and resilience, with the absence of updated grid codes to guide the massive deployment of offshore wind. To help fill the gap, this paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art technologies of offshore wind power grid integration.

Real Time-Optimal Power Flow-Based Distributed Energy Resource Management System, NREL Technical Report (2024)

The smart meter-based real-time optimal power flow distributed energy resource management system is a technology that monitors, controls, and coordinates large numbers of distributed energy resources in real time to provide aggerated grid services to the electric utility and to integrate customers’ preferences. Although many distributed energy resource management system solutions have been developed recently, they typically operate on a slow timescale; use centralized, computationally heavy optimization methods; and disregard power system operational constraints. In contrast, NREL’s meter-based real-time optimal power flow distributed energy resource management system provides a unique, real-time, distributed, and plug-and-play optimization platform that coordinates the operation of massive numbers of distributed energy resources to ensure voltage and power quality, to maximize social welfare, and to emulate virtual power plants.