ESIF Stewardship Summary 2024

The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) is one of the only laboratories in the world for studying large, distributed energy systems.

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In 2024, the ESIF and NREL's larger research platform for Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) delivered important research and innovation. We expanded our research capabilities for energy security and resilience as we developed a new toolbox for power electronics, completed a 1-MW demonstration of grid-forming inverters, and collaborated with utilities, manufacturers, and communities to solve their pressing questions. This report illustrates how the ESIF's activities and capabilities continue to lead our nation in the development of resilient and affordable energy systems.

Juan Torres, Associate Laboratory Director

Jerry Davis, Laboratory Program Manager

Chad Blake, Research Operations Director

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Facility Metrics at a Glance

170

Multidisciplinary research projects

706

High-performance computer users

Partners from industry, academia, research, and federal agencies

This chart presents the funding contributions from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offices that sponsored ESIF projects in 2024.

R&D Impact

Person testing electrolyzer performance using lab equipment

Experiments Reveal the Effect of Iridium on Electrolyzer Performance

Iridium is a critical material for widespread development and deployment of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis cells. Through a combination of long duration cell testing, ex-situ electrochemical measurements, advanced microscopy, and other experiments, researchers quantified the rate of performance loss and movement of iridium in PEM electrolyzers. This research advances cost effectiveness of producing clean hydrogen.

Sponsor: DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office H2NEW Consortium

ESIF resource: Hydrogen production

Person bends down to adjust equipment inside lab

Innovation Prize Goes to Technologies Enabling Affordable Electrification

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $2.4 million to companies who presented promising solutions to more affordable and quick-to-install building electrification retrofits well suited for low-income communities, multifamily homes, mobile homes, and older homes. Two teams—B&B Technologies and the partners Redwood Energy and NeoCharge—used the prize to validate their solutions at the ESIF with support from researchers who specialize in optimizing energy use in homes. The experiments helped the winners of the Equitable and Affordable Solutions to Electrification (EAS-E) Prize prepare for field demonstrations and real-world integration.

Sponsor: DOE Building Technologies Office

ESIF resource: Systems Performance Laboratory

Solar panel array with mountains in the background

Feeder-Level Controls Can Simplify Utility Operations and Supply Power in Emergencies

The project Solar Energy CommUnity REsiliency (SECURE) will result in decentralized microgrid controls that utilities can deploy to benefit community resilience and simplify operations. With partners that include hardware and software developers and utilities, NREL researchers are evaluating how a hardware controller can coordinate grid-forming solar PV inverters to be a source of resilience. The researchers are gearing up the ESIF to show how the controller relieves utility operators of feeder-level management, and reserves power for emergency response.

Sponsor: DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office

ESIF resource: Power Systems Integration Laboratory, grid simulator, load banks, microgrid switch, DC emulator, and real-time digital simulator

Person pointing at screen displaying data

Federated Grid Simulation With Utility Partner Will Show Advantages of New Control Architecture

An NREL control architecture could herald a new direction for distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS). The Federated Architecture for Secure and Transactive DERMS (FAST-DERMS) controls will provide a scalable solution to manage uncertain supply and demand, and to aggregate distributed resources. The NREL team worked with Southern Company to simulate how FAST-DERMS could control the utility's nine solar PV systems for better flexibility.

Sponsor: DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium and the Building Technologies Office

ESIF resource: Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) Test Bed

Map of a feeder showing an electrical fault and the systems response

Self-Healing Grid Model Automates Power Restoration

NREL researchers are making important strides toward automating power system restoration in intelligent distribution grids. With utility and industry partners, the team developed and demonstrated their automated model, which allows customers to participate in restoration decisions, and can more quickly restore power without having to wait for infrastructure repairs. The technology is planned to be integrated by industry partner Survalent into their grid management products.

Sponsor: DOE Office of Electricity

ESIF resource: ADMS Test Bed

Illustration of hexagons with key locks inside some of the shapes

Cyber Experts Unite to Defend Energy Infrastructure

The DOE Energy Threat Analysis Center (ETAC) convenes experts from the federal government, the U.S. energy sector, and the national laboratories to secure critical infrastructure against threats. Using the ARIES Cyber Range, NREL researchers modeled representative power system networks and tested them against cyber attacks to validate and mature ETAC threat hunting guides. ETAC leverages the range to quantify power system cybersecurity and resilience metrics across multilayered architecture surrounding cyber, physical, and human factors.

Sponsor: DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response

ESIF resource: ARIES Cyber Range

Researchers Develop Promising Energy- and Cost-Efficient CO₂ Conversion Pathway

NREL researchers produced a promising CO₂ conversion pathway to formic acid, a premium carbon intermediate with a wide range of chemical and biomanufacturing applications. The researchers manufactured a perforated cation exchange membrane that analysis revealed provides energy efficiency and durability in CO₂ conversion while using renewable electricity.

Sponsor: DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office

ESIF resource: Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction test station

Electric vehicle parked at a charging station

NREL Model Supports Power Quality Requirements for Electric Vehicle Chargers

The charging infrastructure necessary to support electric vehicles must ensure safe and reliable connection to the grid. Researchers in the ESIF modeled a way for charging equipment to autonomously adjust operations based on the local electrical power grid's frequency. NREL seeks to work with standards development organization SAE International to use this research for SAE J2894, a consensus on power quality requirements across equipment manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers, electric utilities, and others.

Sponsor: DOE Vehicle Technologies Office Electric Vehicles at Scale Consortium

ESIF resource: Electric Vehicle Research Infrastructure

Capability Expansions

Photo of a person pushing buttons inside a facility

NREL's ADMS Test Bed team integrated third-party facility energy management systems, microgrid software, and virtual power plant software for greater versatility and impact.

Photo of a person bent over adjusting a supercomputer

With 5 times the computing power of the previous system, NREL's new supercomputer Kestrel can make 44 million-billion calculations per second.

Photo of a person giving a presentation with a map of data on a screen behind them

The Energy Security and Resilience Laboratory opened its doors, providing a space to virtualize, emulate, and visualize modern multilayer grids under various disruption scenarios and simultaneous threats.

A first-of-its kind inverter test bed was completed to evaluate grid-forming inverters from a 360° perspective at a scale of 1 MW.

Photo of two people testing a medium-voltage test bed inside a laboratory

NREL developed a test bed for medium-voltage power electronics to help grid operators make the most of higher voltages and power coming from renewables.

Photo of a person looking at a map on a large display screen

Upgraded 2D visualization displays transmission and distribution infrastructure and grid effects over the same geospatial map.

Photo of a person standing in front of an air conditioning unit inside a facility

As a major improvement for research on heat pump development and integration, new environmental chambers allow researchers to test heat pumps under nearly any condition.

Icons representing renewable energy technologies

A commercial DERMS was connected to ESIF assets to study how utilities can make the most of flexible demand-side energy resources.

Photo of two people researching an electric vehicle while it charges

Using upgraded environmental chambers, EV researchers evaluated high-power vehicle charging in real-world conditions, including in suboptimal temperatures.

Partnerships and Engagement

Photo of a group of people taking a tour of ESIF

As a DOE-designated user facility, the ESIF partners with industry, academia, nonprofits, and federal, Tribal, local, and state agencies (see the full list below) to advance their pressing research questions and energy goals. The non-competitive environment also makes ESIF the ideal host for various consortia and technology incubators. More than 500 tours visited the facility in 2024 including the director of the DOE Office of Science, the assistant secretary for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the DOE under secretary for infrastructure, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Future Caucus congressional delegation. International ministers came from Azerbaijan, Laos, India, Israel, Chile, Denmark, Iceland, and more.

Knowledge Sharing

In the second cohort of the Critical Energy Cybersecurity Accelerator, researchers evaluated emerging technologies that enhance system visibility and monitor for cyber threats. The accelerator was featured in the White House National Cybersecurity Strategy.

The Universal Interoperability for Grid-Forming Inverters (UNIFI) Consortium achieved a key milestone with a 1-MW-scale demonstration. The platform can validate best practices and standards for inverter integration, a heavily requested resource for the power systems industry.

NREL was appointed to lead a new Roll-to-Roll Consortium aimed at advancing high-volume manufacturing techniques for proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers. The objective is to reduce costs and accelerate the U.S. clean hydrogen economy.

Looking Ahead

Four utility companies were selected from competitive proposals to use NREL's ADMS Test Bed to advance solutions for safely managing distributed energy systems and electric vehicles on the grid.

Automation is key to managing a more complex power grid. Various electric utilities and cooperatives are working at the ESIF to show how this futuristic approach could work.

In a testament to NREL's research advancements in remote microgrids, the Office of Electricity selected NREL to lead or contribute to all eight projects developing microgrid solutions in underserved and Indigenous communities.

DOE Partners

Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
Bioenergy Technologies Office
Buildings Technologies Office
Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
Federal Energy Management Program
Grid Modernization Initiative
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
Office of Electricity
Office of Science
Renewable Energy Grid Integration
Strategic Programs
Solar Energy Technologies Office
Vehicle Technologies Office
Water Power Technologies Office
Wind Energy Technologies Office

Federal Partners

U.S. Department of Defense
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Emergency Management Agency
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Academic Partners

Cornell University
Iowa State University
Oakland University
Rice University
University of Delaware
University of Georgia
University of Oklahoma

Technical Outputs and Publications

Technical reports

Conference papers

Journal articles

Posters

109

Presentations

ESIF-Powered Inventions: Among the patents earned by researchers in 2024 is a technology for photovoltaic windows, materials for stabilizing semiconductors, an improvement for heating buildings efficiently, and an unconventional method of making a perovskite that addresses a problem with the efficiency of solar cells.

Top 10 Most Downloaded Publications

Photo of high-voltage power transmission lines

Publications Recognized for Excellence: The Power System Operation, Planning and Economics Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power and Energy Society awarded their annual committee prize to ESIF power systems researchers for their article on a synchronized simulation of the transmission and distribution network to stabilize system frequency. The research team supporting the ADMS Test Bed authored an evaluation of three ADMS use cases that was recently named the best paper of 2022 by the Journal of Modern Power System and Clean Energy.