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CalWave Support FOA 1663
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Budi Gunawan
As a result of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) 1663, Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Development and Advancement, a team led by the California Wave Power Technologies, LLC (CWPT) that includes University of California Berkeley, Bardex Corporation, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) was selected as one of the FOA award recipients. The main objective of the proposed project is to advance the technology readiness of the CWPT’s wave energy converter (WEC) device, by developing a scaled prototype and conducting an open water testing for an extended period (~ 9 months). During the open water testing, it is expected that the device will maintain an Average Climate Capture Width per Characteristic Capital Expenditure (ACE) target of at least 3m/M$, as has been demonstrated previously on a smaller scale device during the Wave Energy Prize competition. SNL will leverage their experience in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and WEC testing to assist CalWave in device design, analysis and reporting.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Wave
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2022
- Conventional Hydro
Can better representation of low-elevation snowpack improve operational forecasts?
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Dan Broman
To what extent do low-elevation snowpack contribute to streamflow forecast errors is current forecast models? What improvement in forecast skill can be gained by changing the spatial configuration of forecast models including improvements to their representation of low-elevation snow and to reservoir inflows? What improvement in forecast skill can be gained by incorporating in remotely-sensed and/or ground-based snow products into forecast models?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Marine Energy
Case Study of a 200kW Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter Field Demonstration in an Island Microgrid
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jan Alam
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Wave
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Characterization of Hydropower Generation Attributes Relevant to Grid Reliability and Resilience [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
PNNL, INL, NREL, ORNL, ANL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Abhishek Somani, abhishek.somani@pnnl.gov
The U.S. power system is continuing to evolve both in terms of system composition, as well as the definition of and requirements for attributes related to reliability and resilience of operations. While conventional contributors to system reliability are being replaced by as-available and variable renewable energy resources, extreme events (e.g., man-made [cyberattacks] and natural) continue to afflict the power system on a more routine basis, causing damage and potential disruptions to the grid. Hence, the role of hydropower in meeting reliability and resilience needs will become even more important. This project will develop frameworks, evaluation methodologies, and tools to identify hydropower’s contribution to grid reliability and resilience. These methods will be demonstrated through various use cases representing a variety of future grid conditions and extreme event scenarios. The project will also provide insights into the specific operational and design attributes of hydropower resources that may need to be adapted to ensure that resources are best equipped to meet the power system’s reliability and resilience needs. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Characterizing the Predictability and Sensitivity of Streamflow to Monsoon Season Precipitation
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Dagmar Llewellyn
Research Need: In the Western US, warm-season precipitation has historically provided a secondary water source to snowmelt runoff (Serreze et al., 1999). However, increasing temperatures and decreasing snowpack suggest that it may gain importance for water resources management. As such, there is an interest in understanding the predictability of warm-season precipitation, as well as the sensitivity of water resources and management to this source. Understanding the predictability of warm-season precipitation is of particular interest in the U.S. Southwest, a region that is influenced by the North American Monsoon in summer (Adams and Comrie 1997). One of the barriers to using monsoon forecasts has been their low skill in simulating precipitation. However, it has been recommended that any examination of monsoon should consider large-scale circulation, rather than examining precipitation directly (Seneviratne et al. 2012). To this point, Prein (2019) identified large-scale conditions over the U.S. Southwest associated with monsoon precipitation anomalies, and found that they are robustly captured by NCAR's Community Earth System Model (CESM) and other general circulation models. This provides motivation to evaluate monsoon circulation patterns in forecast ensemble products.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
- Pumped Storage
Charting Hydropower’s Role in the Next-Generation Grid
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Stuart Cohen
To build a 100% clean energy power sector, the United States is adding more energy storage and variable renewable energy sources, like solar power and wind energy, to the grid. Hydropower and pumped storage hydropower (PSH) can help with both. These technologies already play a key role in providing flexible, low-carbon electricity to the U.S. power grid, and this role will become even more valuable as that grid evolves. That’s why researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are analyzing how the U.S. electricity sector could invest in hydropower and PSH using new data and modeling capabilities.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Marine Energy
Choose Your Own Collision Risk Adventure
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Lysel Garavelli
- Lenaïg Hemery
This project aims to develop an interactive outreach tool for the marine energy community and the general public, highlighting the different stages of collision risk at various spatial scales and featuring fish.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Climate Influences on Capacity Expansion Planning with Application to the Western U.S.
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Stuart Cohen, stuart.cohen@nrel.gov
Electric power system planners utilize a variety of planning tools to inform decisions concerning generation and transmission additions to the electric grid, the need for operational changes, and to evaluate potential stressors on the system. Numerous factors contribute to the planning process including projected fuel and technology costs, policy and load profiles. There is also a growing recognition of the interdependency of the electric grid with other natural and engineered systems. Here we explore how future climate change and hydropower operability might influence decisions related to electricity capacity expansion planning and operations. To do so we assemble a multi-model framework. Specifically, water resource modeling is used to simulate climate impacts on future water supply for thermoelectric and hydropower generation. Separately, temperature impacts on electricity load are evaluated. Together, these climate factors spatially constrain a capacity expansion model that projects generation and transmission additions to the grid. The projected new capacity-builds are then evaluated on their operations, reliability, and cost under average and extreme climate conditions using production cost modeling. This coupled framework is demonstrated on the electric grid in the Western U.S., supporting capacity expansion planning by WECC, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) regional entity responsible for reliability.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Climate Change
Status
complete
Completion Date
2021
- Pumped Storage
Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Motivations and Considerations
Lead Companies
EPRI
Lead Researcher (s)
- Joe Stekli
In order to integrate large-scale renewable energy generation projects, energy storage—at both the transmission and distribution levels—is essential. A 2018 report from the U.S. Department of Energy forecasted an opportunity for 36 GW of new pumped storage capacity in the United States by 2050. Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) is the market-leading and most established form of grid-related energy storage in the world today. Its numerous benefits versus other long-duration, grid-scale energy storage technologies include low levelized lifecycle cost. Closed-loop PSH technology, which relies on manmade reservoirs not connected to rivers, lakes, or other natural water features, has been proposed as a way to avoid some of the siting and permitting challenges associated with traditional open-loop PSH. However, the extent to which some siting and permitting challenges can be avoided by closed-loop PSH systems might be limited by project characteristics, such as the clearing of previously undisturbed land and the need for surface or groundwater sources for initial reservoir fill and periodic water withdrawals. Although various regulatory and policy frameworks are advancing to promote the development of closed-loop PSH, there is still variability in how such projects are defined and uncertainty regarding the market and environmental sustainability of such projects relative to competing technologies.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
- Marine Energy
Co-Locating Wave Energy with an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture System
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Lysel Garavelli
- Mikaela Freeman
- Molly Grear
This project will characterize the environment and wave resource around a proposed wave energy and aquaculture development site off Puerto Rico; evaluate the suitability of co-location; provide an initial assessment of the potential for wave energy to power an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture system; and develop a demonstration project plan and associated road map for implementation.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org