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Predictive Online Monitoring of Polymer Tendons (PrOMPT)
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Leo Fifield
Wave energy convertors (WECs), such as the Oscilla Triton-C, depend on flexible, polymeric connecting mooring lines, ropes, or tendons, for their energy harvesting mechanism. Operational stresses, such as abrasion, can limit the fatigue life of tendons, leading to early or unexpected failure. Installation, operation, and maintenance (IO&M) costs could be reduced with incorporation of sensing features that indicate tendon degradation to extend inspection intervals and provide forewarning of impending failure. In this work, we demonstrate preliminary abrasion sensing capability of polymer tendons and evaluate opportunities for online monitoring of these and similar polymer ropes used in waterpower technologies.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Wave
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Preparing the Power Sector to Navigate Climate and Water Risks
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Ariel Miara
About 90% of the United States' energy comes from hydropower and thermal energy sources—including natural gas, nuclear, and coal—all of which share a critical need: water. Power plants need water to keep their systems cool and safe, and hydropower uses water as renewable fuel. As the climate changes, so will water availability and other ambient conditions, threatening the reliability of today’s power system and tomorrow’s clean energy grid. That’s why researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—along with those at Sandia National Laboratories, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the City University of New York, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the National Energy Technology Laboratory—are studying both regional and national climate and hydrologic changes to provide a comprehensive assessment of climate and water impacts and risks to the U.S. power grid. This year, the team developed a state-of-the-art modeling framework to assess climate and water impacts as well as other risks to the grid, including sensitivities to varying hydrologic drivers and infrastructure scenarios. The research provides key insights that utilities and system operators need to mitigate and adapt their power grid assets and systems to climate and water risks, so utilities and policymakers can make better-informed planning decisions.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Link
Prizes Sustain NREL Water Power Innovation
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jenny Wiegele
- Amanda Morton
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) administers several prizes designed to encourage and support innovation that could help the water power industry grow and improve. Funded and hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), these competitions run throughout the year and tap into a diverse community of contributors who leverage prize money to craft and build solutions for targeted challenges. Prizes empower a variety of innovators to tackle the challenges of climate change, incentivize rapid prototype development, spur the transition to a sustainable and equitable clean energy economy, and propel the creation of new, energy-related jobs and opportunities. By administering and advising these prizes, NREL supports the water power industry, advances clean energy, and inspires the next generation of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. These opportunities encourage novel innovation and collaboration among disciplines, private companies, academia, and federal agencies. NREL is pivotal to the success of these competitions by providing competitors with comprehensive expertise as well as administrative support, which includes organizing mentorship, trainings, and industry connections for participants. All competitors receive ongoing incentives to continue working on their products, ultimately aiding in the advancement of hydropower and marine renewable energy.
Technology Application
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Pumped Storage
PSH Membrane Design and Demonstration [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kevin Stewart (stewartkm@ornl.gov)
This project explores an innovative idea involving a floating reservoir technology option for closed-loop pumped storage hydropower (PSH) facility configurations. Constructing a conventional lower reservoir to achieve closed-loop status requires major civil works, including substantial blasting and excavating. Although closed-loop PSH is not continuously connected to a natural water body, it is usually sited near a river or lake to reduce the expense of the initial filling, and any necessary refilling, procedure. As such, initial construction activities can have numerous environmental impacts, which when coupled with the major civil works involved, constitutes a significant expense. To minimize these costs and prevent extensive environmental disturbances, an offshore lightweight floating membrane reservoir system that can be easily fabricated and transported to the site has been proposed.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
PSH Portfolio Evaluation and Innovation Study [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
ANL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Vladimir Koritarov, koritarov@anl.gov
PSH, with a total of 22 GW of installed capacity in the United States, represent over 95% of the domestic electric energy storage available today. However, no large PSH projects have been commissioned in the last 20 years due to challenges associated with the magnitude of project costs and financing interest during development and construction; the length of time from project investment until project revenue; permitting challenges and construction risks; competition from other storage technologies; and unrecognized energy storage valuation. To address these challenges, research and development efforts have focused on radically new designs and technologies that can dramatically reduce costs and commissioning timelines. In this study, Argonne National Laboratory will perform a landscape analysis to establish the current state of the art of PSH technology, identify promising new concepts and innovations, and highlight technology gaps that have yet to be addressed. Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Markets
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
PSH Reservoir Lining Study [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
ANL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Vladimir Koritarov, koritarov@anl.gov
In response to significant interest from the hydropower industry, this project investigates regulatory challenges and potential research needs related to PSH reservoir liners. The resulting report will cover a literature review and standard industry practices for using polymeric geomembranes as reservoir liners, including examples from the US and worldwide. Metrics related to cost, performance, and regulatory implications will be considered. Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Generator
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
PSH TES Tool
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Mark Weimer
This project will develop a set of online tools that industry, regulators, and other stakeholders could adopt and use to advance PSH projects in the US. Current efforts include completing the process of defining the needs of industry and developing a PSH valuation tool.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Regulatory Management Process
Research Sub-Category
Regulatory Process
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
Pump-Storage Hydropower Design in a Wastewater Treatment Facility with an Aerating Runner, Additive Manufactured Material Analysis, and Testing of Hydrokinetic Turbine Runner.
Lead Companies
Lehigh University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Fred Carter
The feasibility and design of a novel pumped storage system in a wastewater treatment facility is investigated. Analysis covers the added benefit of aeration, costs, and specifications. For the given sub-megawatt system, off-the-shelf runner designs are not available. This research builds on an existing pump-turbine research and design through a combination of introducing aeration into the operating processes, analysis of large format metal additive manufacturing, and testing and validation of a hydrokinetic turbine runner that uses the same response surface optimization methodology as the discussed pump-turbine design. Two concepts are generated and proposed along with a baseline scenario. Two potential site locations are provided with relevant information The Stickney Wastewater Reclamation Plant and The Navy Wastewater Treatment Plant, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Oahu Hawaii. Results show that aeration is the primary benefit of such a system. The system is capable of meeting the required dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in wastewater treatment. The system produces volume averaged DO levels between 1.2 and 1.4 mg/l. The system is shown to be a scalable open-loop system that can be sized for application. Area requirements of the system are acceptable due to the use of a single pedestal elevated tank The implementation timeline and nuances of this system are largely unknown. In attempt to reduce costs, advanced manufacturing methods are investigated. Investigation into advanced methods showed that mechanical properties of additive manufactured metals using a GMAW system produce equal results to wrought materials and have the potential to produce custom wear properties.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Powerhouse Pump
Research Sub-Category
Water Systems
Status
complete
Completion Date
2018
- Pumped Storage
Pumped Hydroelectric storage balances a solar microgrid
Lead Companies
Cornell University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Kevin Kircher
We consider the problem of reliably operating a microgrid with solar generation and pumped hydroelectric storage. We show that reliable operation is possible if storage equipment is sufficiently flexible and storage control is sufficiently robust to solar variability. Pumped storage flexibility can be achieved through a ternary configuration; this enables rapid switching between pumping and generating modes. Controller robustness can be achieved through a novel control synthesis method based on convex optimization and resampled historical solar data. The proposed equipment and controller perform well in simulations including twenty months of real solar data at five minute resolution. These results highlight the potential of pumped storage to enable reliable integration of wind and solar power into the grid.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Renewable Integration
Status
complete
Completion Date
2017
- Pumped Storage
Pumped Storage Hydro Operations and Benefits in the United States: Review and Case-Studies
Lead Companies
EPRI
Lead Researcher (s)
- Joe Stekli
In recent years, there has been growing interest in how ongoing changes to the electric power resource mix, wholesale markets, and utility operations will affect valuation of existing pumped storage hydro (PSH) plants as well as create opportunities for expansion or repowering of those plants, and construction of new PSH plants. This study conducts comparative case studies of recent and future economic benefits—and any other benefits—of three large existing PSH plants: the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) Blenheim-Gilboa plant located in New York, and Duke Energy Carolina’s Bad Creek and Jocassee plants, both located in South Carolina. The objective is to examine the policy, market, and utility operating environment for these plants in detail, and to gather both public and certain non-public utility data on recent historical performance and forecasts of future operations. The framework shown here can then be further developed and applied to other existing PSH plants as a basis for improved communication and analysis regarding these plants’ historical and future economic costs and benefits.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Markets
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
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Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org