Resilience Metrics and Valuation
NREL's research in resilience metrics and valuation helps with making resilient investment decisions.
Standard reliability metrics are useful for minor power disruptions, but power system operators do not have a good way to measure performance in a low-probability, high-consequence event. In the growing field of resilience valuation, researchers analyze data on risks, consequences, and cost and develop tools organizations can use in their own planning processes. These frameworks consider resilience and reliability, as well as financial losses, and societal impacts.
Collaborations
The Customer Damage Function Calculator
The inability to assign a dollar value to resilience makes it difficult for utility owners and operators to understand the payback period of an investment such as upgrades or a backup energy system. Funded by the Federal Energy Management Program, NREL developed the Customer Damage Function Calculator to help facility owners estimate the difference in power outage costs with and without resilient systems. The calculator can also assess the exponential losses over time—for example, if the power is disrupted for 3 weeks compared to 3 hours. The calculator helps users understand the cost of inaction at the site level.
Standardizing Resilience Metrics in New York State
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) engaged researchers at NREL to understand options for cost-benefit analysis that will serve New York’s energy resilience goals. NREL facilitated stakeholder engagement on existing perceptions and priorities for energy resilience, compiled current resilience valuations methods and tools, and presented monetization and valuation strategies that could meet the needs and interests of New York State. The goal of the collaboration was to institute common resilience practices across state agencies and interdependent infrastructure.
Equitable Resilience Planning
The typical grid investment planning process does not have a framework for equity or resilience. This gap results in plans that misalign with communities’ goals and can exacerbate energy injustice and create vulnerabilities in the grid. Planning for Solar Investment at the Convergence of Resilience and Equity (SCORE) is a project NREL developed with Seattle, Washington, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. Through stakeholder engagement, the research team will assess the benefits of new grid investments in Seattle’s neighborhoods. The result will be a first-of-its-kind, equity-informed, resilience-inclusive energy planning approach that can be emulated in other communities.
Quantifying Social Burden in Energy System Resilience, NREL Webcast (2023)
Publications
Adapting Existing Energy Planning, Simulation, and Operational Models for Resilience Analysis, NREL Technical Report (2020)
Applications of Measuring and Valuing Resilience in Energy Systems, NREL Technical Report (2023)
Integrating the Value of Electricity Resilience in Energy Planning and Operations Decisions, IEEE Systems Journal (2021)
Measuring and Valuing Resilience: A Literature Review for the Power Sector, NREL Technical Report (2023)
Quantifying and Monetizing Renewable Energy Resiliency, Sustainability (2018)
Resilience Insights From New York State Stakeholders, NREL Technical Report (2023)
Understanding Resilience Valuation for Energy Systems: An Overview of the NREL-NYSERDA
Research Collaboration, NREL Fact Sheet (2023)
Valuing Resilience in Electricity Systems, NREL Fact Sheet (2019)
Valuing the Resilience Provided by Solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems, NREL Brochure (2018)
Partnerships
NREL values its partnerships for furthering research and deployment of effective resilience solutions. Our partnerships include federal agencies, states, local governments, international governments, and the private sector. Learn more about partnering with NREL.
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