Power Markets and Grid Resilience-posters

Presentations are:

Enhancing Grid Reliability, Resilience, and Cost-Effective Operations with Pumped Storage Hydropower: A Production Cost Modeling Approach, presented by Jennie Jorgenson, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Who can Domestically Supply Plant Components for the New and Existing U.S. Hydropower Fleet?, presented by Megan Johnson and Rocio Uria Martinez, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Details about each presentation and the speakers are below:

Enhancing Grid Reliability, Resilience, and Cost-Effective Operations with Pumped Storage Hydropower: A Production Cost Modeling Approach
Presented by Jennie Jorgenson, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) plays a critical role in ensuring grid reliability and resilience while enabling cost-effective system operations. As power systems integrate higher shares of variable renewable energy, PSH provides essential services such as frequency regulation, spinning reserves, load following, and black start capability. However, high capital costs and long lead time make PSH deployment difficult for vertically integrated utilities to justify. Justification requires accurate valuation over the long and uncertain lifetime of a PSH facility when the grid changes with various new infrastructure buildouts.

PSH contributions to efficient grid operation can be evaluated using integrated grid modeling tools, such as capacity expansion, production cost, resource adequacy, and stability modeling models. This study focuses explicitly on evaluating the operational and economic contributions of PSH using the PLEXOS production cost model, which co-optimizes energy dispatch and ancillary service provision.

By simulating PSH under various grid scenarios, the analysis quantifies its role in reducing renewable curtailment, enhancing system flexibility, and lowering overall grid operating costs. The study method demonstrates this by evaluating a 1,100-MW proposed new PSH plant for the Tennessee Valley Authority. The findings offer key insights for grid operators and policymakers on the value of PSH in maintaining a stable, resilient, and cost-efficient power system.

Who can Domestically Supply Plant Components for the New and Existing U.S. Hydropower Fleet?
Presented by Megan Johnson and Rocio Uria Martinez, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

After gathering feedback from hydropower industry stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Energy has recently published a detailed gap analysis of the domestic hydropower supply chain. This analysis includes actionable recommendations for how to address the identified gaps. ORNL seeks to address one of the recommendations -- the development of domestic supply chain and end-user datasets.

The centerpiece of the visual display for this poster presentation will be a map that shows manufacturing companies that have served the public and/or private sector of the hydropower fleet. After an initial phase of data collection, the map contained 123 locations for 77 companies located in 35 states. The team is currently expanding the dataset by mining information from SAM.gov, which tracks the companies awarded with procurement contracts for the federal hydropower fleet.

The goal of this newly developed ORNL hydropower supply chain database is to increase the knowledge of manufacturers/suppliers domestically to all hydropower owners and developers. A comprehensive database of component suppliers can translate in time and cost savings for hydropower plant owners and developers navigating the component procurement process. Additionally, details on manufacturing locations can help hydropower project owners in meeting domestic content goals and requirements for their facilities.

Components investigated include: bearings, castings/forgings, cranes/hoists, exciters, gates, generators, governors, penstocks, switchgears, transformers, trashracks, turbines, and valves.

Feedback from Clean Currents attendees will help the ORNL team continue to expand and refine this data resource.

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