- Show all
- Asset Management
- Buoy
- Canal
- Climate Change
- Controls
- Dam Safety
- Environmental Impact
- Fish and Aquatic Resources
- Future Grid
- Generator
- Governor
- Hydraulic Forecasting
- Hydraulic Optimization
- Hydrokinetic
- Intake Gates
- Markets
- Penstock
- Regulatory Process
- Renewable Integration
- Sediment Transport
- Shoreline and Riparian Resources
- Spillgates
- Tidal
- Transmission Services
- Turbine
- Water Management
- Water Resources
- Water Systems
- Wave
- Conventional Hydro
Improving volume forecasting tools for snow dominated basins
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Joel Fenolio
In 2018, the GP Region developed the PyCast Software application to address some of the aforementioned issues. The software provides an interactive tool that allows users to search-for and download relevant hydrologic datasets and develop well performing statistical runoff forecast equations using a variety of regression techniques. The software uses a set of novel search algorithms to find skillful and predictive forecast equations using from the complete set of hydrologic data, and allows users to analyze groups of forecast equations for similarities and outliers. This project seeks to: (a) evaluate the capabilities of the PyCast software, (b) develop additional functionality for the program, and (c) determine how remote sensing products developed in other S&T projects can improve forecast skill. The software will be evaluated by generating hindcasts in GP and PN basins, as well as conducting real-time forecasting during the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons. Developers from the PN and GP regions will continue to develop the software, train users, gather user input and suggestions, and add additional features and compatibility. New snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow covered area datasets proposed under two concurrent GP and MP S&T projects will be incorporated into the software and the resulting forecasts will be compared to traditional snow products from the NRCS.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2021
- Conventional Hydro
Inflow Forecast Competition
Lead Companies
CEATI International
Lead Researcher (s)
- #0434
In order to better understand recent developmnets with AI related to forecasting water, this project will perform a yearlong competition between five forecast methods, with a live website for members to view the verification results on a daily basis.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2022
- Conventional Hydro
Influence of Deregulated Electricity Markets on Hydropower Generation and Downstream Flow Regime
Lead Companies
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jordan Kern
Hydropower producers face a future beset by unprecedented changes in the electric power industry, including the rapid growth of installed wind power capacity and a vastly increased supply of natural gas due to horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”). There is also increased concern surrounding the potential for climate change to impact the magnitude and frequency of droughts. These developments may significantly alter the financial landscape for hydropower producers and have important ramifications for the environmental impacts of dams. Incorporating wind energy into electric power systems has the potential to affect price dynamics in electricity markets and, in so doing, alter the short-term financial signals on which dam operators rely to schedule reservoir releases. Chapter 1 of this doctoral dissertation develops an integrated reservoir-power system model for assessing the impact of large scale wind power integration of hydropower resources. Chapter 2 explores how efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of electric power systems by using wind energy to displace fossil fuel-based generation may inadvertently yield further impacts to river ecosystems by disrupting downstream flow patterns. Increased concern about the potential for climate change to alter the frequency and magnitude of droughts has led to growing interest in “index insurance” that compensates hydropower producers when values of an environmental variable (or index), such as reservoir inflows, crosses an agreed upon threshold (e.g., low flow conditions). Chapter 3 demonstrates the need for such index insurance contracts to also account for changes in natural gas prices in order to be cost-effective. Chapter 4 of this dissertation analyzes how recent low natural gas prices (partly attributable to fracking) have reduced the cost of implementing ramp rate restrictions at dams, which help restore subdaily variability in river flows by limiting the flexibility of dam operators in scheduling reservoir releases concurrent with peak electricity demand.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Hydraulic Forecasting
Status
complete
Completion Date
2014
- Conventional Hydro
Integrated Hydropower and Energy Storage: Providing Essential Reliability and Ancillary Services Using Individual or Coordinated Hydropower Plants [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
INL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Thomas Mosier, Thomas.mosier@inl.gov
Macro-trends in the grid—increased penetration of variable generation resources and decommissioning of thermal generators in some regions of the US—are increasing the need for flexibility in the grid. Hydropower as a generation class can provide most grid needs, but the level of a given service it can provide varies significantly between plants. The objective of this project is to increase the value of both hydropower and energy storage and improve provision of grid requirements from existing hydropower plants by examining the synergies of integrating hydropower and energy storage. Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Renewable Integration
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Integrated Variable Renewable Generation and Battery Energy Storage: Value of Predictability in the Financial Performance of Hybrid Systems [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
INL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Thomas Mosier, Thomas.mosier@inl.gov
Increased deployment of variable renewable generation (VRG) assets and lower costs of grid-scale battery energy storage have led to increased deployment of hybrid generation and storage systems. The objective of this work is to compare the technical and financial value of integrating battery energy storage with ROR hydropower, wind, solar, and tidal generation resources. The Revenue, Operation, and Device Optimization (RODeO) model will be used to account for the financial value of capacity, energy sales (including arbitrage), and ancillary services from a VRG-battery hybrid system. Addressing this is important to understand the value of hybridizing resources and which types of resources to prioritize. In this work, at least two resource profiles will be selected for each generation type, and corresponding forecast uncertainties will be analyzed. These resource profiles will be normalized based on total energy produced per year and used as input to RODeO for market conditions corresponding to two different US Independent System Operators. Two of the key considerations that this work will address are: (1) How will forecast uncertainty affect the financial performance of a VRG-battery hybrid system?; and (2) Is hybridization financially advantageous compared to operating the VRG and battery storage independently? This work will provide a quantitative comparison to help motivate enhancement of the industry’s perspectives on “hydro-hybrids” (i.e., ROR hydropower + batteries and tidal + batteries). Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Renewable Integration
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Integrated Water and Energy Systems Analysis Tool Development
Lead Companies
Colorado State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- André Dozier
Increasing penetration of intermittent renewable energy sources into the bulk electricity system has caused new operational challenges requiring large ramping rate and reserve capacity as well as increased transmission congestion due to unscheduled flow. Contemporary literature and recent renewable energy integration studies indicate that more realism needs to be incorporated into renewable energy studies. Many detailed water and power models have been developed in their respective fields, but no free-of-charge integrated water and power system model that considers constraints and objectives in both systems jointly has been constructed. Therefore, an integrated water and power model structure that addresses some contemporary challenges is formulated as a long-term goal, but only a small portion of the model structure is actually implemented as software. A water network model called MODSIM is adapted using a conditional gradient method to be able to connect to an overarching optimization routine that decomposes the water and power problems. The water network model is connected to a simple power dispatch model that uses a linear programming approach to dispatch hydropower resources to mitigate power flows across a transmission line. The power dispatch model first decides optimal power injections from each of the hydropower reservoirs, which are then used as hydropower targets for the water network model to achieve. Any unsatisfied power demand or congested transmission line is assumed to be met by imported power. A case study was performed on the Mid-Columbia River in the U.S. to test the capabilities of the integrated water and power model. Results indicate that hydropower resources can accommodate transmission congestion and energy capacity on wind production up until a particular threshold on the penetration level, after which hydropower resources provide no added benefit to the system. Effects of operational decisions to mitigate wind power penetration level and transmission capacity on simulated total dissolved gases were negligible. Finally, future work on the integrated water and power model is discussed along with expected results from the fully implemented model and its potential applications.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
complete
Completion Date
2012
- Conventional Hydro
- Conventional Hydro
Interconnection Study
Lead Companies
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Lead Researcher (s)
- Chris O'Reilley (oreilleycj@ornl.gov)
Small hydropower project developers across the United States have found interconnection procedures to be fraught with cost surprises and schedule overruns. System operators have struggled to understand impacts to overburdened or rapidly evolving transmission and distribution grids. The results have been stranded costs and unrealized small hydropower potential. Though regulatory actions and policy recommendations at the state level have increased the situational awareness, the remote nature of the small hydropower resource remains a fundamental challenge for interconnections. WPTO has tasked PNNL and ORNL with performing a Small Hydro Interconnections benchmark analysis to develop a clear characterization of the specific challenges and barriers developers face in the interconnection process, both as general overall challenges and challenges specific to hydro unit types/uses and utility being interconnected to (e.g., cooperative, municipal, IOU). Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Pumped Storage
Life Cycle Assessment of Pumped Hydropower Storage [HydroWIRES]
Lead Companies
NREL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Inman, Daniel.inman@nrel.gov
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an internationally accepted method for making consistent comparisons among technologies providing the same service based on environmental metrics. LCAs utilize similar inputs as techno-economic analysis (TEA). Traditionally, energy generation technologies have been evaluated through LCA, and in recent years, some energy storage technologies have likewise been evaluated, like pumped storage hydropower. However, with newer forms of energy storage being built, like closed-loop PSH, there is a need for detailed assessment of life cycle environmental impacts of them in a consistent manner to other storage technologies and to TEAs. With advice from an expert review panel, NREL will develop a novel LCA of closed-loop pumped storage hydropower leveraging extant TEAs to inform stakeholders and decision makers such as DOE, ISOs, non-government organizations, and other researchers on credible, objective environmental indicators such as life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, material demands, and net energy that can be fairly and commensurately compared to other storage technologies.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Future Grid
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org