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- Hydraulic Optimization
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- Renewable Integration
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Pumped Storage
A Comparison of the Environmental Effects of Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Bo Saulsbury
Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a type of energy storage that uses the pumping and release of water between two reservoirs at different elevations to store water and generate electricity. When demand for electricity is low, a PSH project can use low cost energy to pump water from the lower reservoir to the upper reservoir for storage. When demand for electricity is high, a PSH project can release water from the upper reservoir through a powerhouse to generate electricity. Traditionally, this meant that PSH plants generated power during the day and pumped at night, with modest diurnal or seasonal variation. Today, PSH pumping operations are changing to facilitate the integration of the tremendous growth of variable renewable energy (VRE) generating resources, especially wind and solar, on the U.S. grid. PSH facilities are often a least cost option for high capacity (both energy and power), long-duration storage, and can provide the flexibility and fast response that a high-VRE-penetration grid requires. PSH faces its own set of challenges in construction and operation, however, including high initial capital costs, long construction timeframes, uncertainty in revenue streams (similar to all storage), and potential environmental impacts. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) HydroWIRES initiative includes research to address each of these challenges. This report focuses on potential environmental impacts: specifically, the degree to which impacts can be reduced by using closed-loop pumped storage systems as opposed to the traditionally more common open loop systems.
Technology Application
Pumped Storage
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Status
complete
Completion Date
2020
Marine Energy
A Deep-Water MHK Shakedown Tank
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Budi Gunawan
This project will design, execute modifications and upgrades the existing infrastructures at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to accommodate 1) shakedown testing of marine energy (ME) systems (task 1), and 2) structural testing of belt and rope components used in ME systems (task 2). Once complete, the shakedown testing facility will function as a crucial shakedown test site for developers at a high TRLs prior to at-sea deployments. The Sandia Lake facility will target shakedown testing to reduce the risk and cost of at-sea deployments. The belt and rope testing facility will enable short- and long-term structural testing to understand the mechanical properties and technical limitations of not only belt and rope materials, but also the stitching or clamping at the end of the belt or rope, which is known as a potential weak link in a previous study. The facility will help determine the reliability and maintenance requirement of belt and rope components, and thereby reduce the risk of at-sea deployments
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Conventional Hydro
A Methodology for Rockwad Velocity and Predator Habitat
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jenna Paul
A continuous sequence of velocity and predator refugia is imperative to the survival of out-migrating juvenile salmonids on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Gaps in habitat along the river corridor increase the risk of predation, fatigue, stress, and reduced growth rates, and therefore, necessitate mitigation actions. However, traditional habitat enhancement methods, such as side-channel restoration, are not applicable on all reaches or during all flow conditions. Areas confined by levees, steep banks, or other topographical constraints require new methods to supplement migration habitat where it is missing or insufficient. A rockwad is a tree trunk (with root cluster) anchored to a large boulder. The boulder and root mass provide velocity and predator refugia, and therefore, allow juveniles to safely rest and eat during their emigration. Through hydrodynamic simulations, physical modeling, and fish behavior algorithms, this project will determine the optimum quantity and placement patterns to achieve suitable migration habitat conditions. It is expected that the results from this research lead to design recommendations for future habitat projects.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2022
Conventional Hydro
A Methodology to Assess the Value of Integrated Hydropower and Wind Generation
Lead Companies
The University of Colorado - Boulder
Lead Researcher (s)
- Mitch Clement
Installed wind generation capacity has increased at a rapid rate in recent years. Wind generation provides numerous economic, social and environmental benefits, but it also carries inherent variability and uncertainty, which can increase the need for additional balancing reserves, generation resources that can adjust their output rapidly to keep power supply in balance with demand. Hydropower is an inexpensive and flexible generating resource that has been considered one of the best resources to provide the necessary balancing reserves for wind. Hydropower’s flexibility and capacity are limited, however, by non-power constraints associated with environmental and water management objectives that have not been fully accounted for in previous wind integration studies. We present a methodology to evaluate hydropower and wind integration using the RiverWare river system and hydropower modeling tool. The model represents both the physical characteristics of the hydropower system and accounts for realistic non-power policy constraints. An economic evaluation is provided that includes the value of both energy and ancillary services. In addition, operational outputs include the ability to satisfy all policy constraints. The methodology is applied to a test case integrated hydropower and wind generation system including five hydropower projects in a run-of-river configuration for a range of wind penetration levels and hydrologic conditions. Results show that wind at low penetrations adds economic value to the system. As the installed capacity increases, additional wind generation has diminishing returns, primarily due to increased reserve requirements. Increased wind capacity also causes increases the number of policy constraint violations. Non-power constraints have a significant impact on total system value, but that relative impact varies depending on system conditions. Complex interactions between policy and the physical system result in a highly non-linear response of the system to changes in wind penetration. Utilization of goal programming makes it possible to capture these effects that would be missed without a realistic representation of both the integrated physical system and its operating policy. This methodology can be used to provide an improved representation of hydropower systems in future wind integration studies.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Renewable Integration
Status
complete
Completion Date
2012
Marine Energy
A Miniaturized Long-Life Low Frequency Acoustic Transmitter for Fish Tracking in Marine Enviroments
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Huidong Li
The JSATS low-frequency acoustic transmitter will provide government agencies, researchers and marine energy operators a more capable tool to gain insights into marine animals’ behavior related to marine and hydrokinetic energy operations, contributing to producing environmentally sustainable, cost-effective marine energy and ensuring U.S. energy security. The development of this technology directly supports WPTO’s efforts to accelerate MHK project deployments and development of the MHK market.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Marine Energy
A Modeling Approach to Support MRE and Coastal Resilience
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Taiping Wang
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Shoreline and Riparian Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Conventional Hydro
A Real-Time and Autonomous Water Quality Monitoring System
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Daniel Deng
PNNL is developing an enhanced real-time and autonomous water quality monitoring system to advance water quality measurement technologies for challenging locations, resulting in more informed management decisions regarding new and existing hydroelectric facilities that minimize or avoid environmental impacts and maximize operational efficiency.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Conventional Hydro
A Stochastic Dynamic Programming Approach to Balancing Wind Intermittency with Hydropower
Lead Companies
Cornell University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Sue Nee Tan
Hydropower is a fast responding energy source and thus a perfect complement to the intermittency of wind power. However, the eect wind energy has on conventional hydropower systems can be felt, especially if the system is subject to several other environmental and maintenance constraints. The goal of this paper is to develop a general method for optimizing hydropower operations of a realistic multireservoir hydropower system in a deregulated market setting when there is a stochastic wind input. The approach used is stochastic dynamic programming (SDP). Currently, studies on hydropower operations optimization with wind have involved linear programming or stochastic programming, which are based on linearity. SDP, by contrast, is a stochastic optimization method that does not require assumptions of linearity of the objective function. The true adaptive and stochastic nonlinear formulation of the objective function can be applied to multiple time steps, and is effcient for many time steps compared to stochastic programming. The preliminary results for the deterministic optimization demonstrates the potential of this method to guide operation of the hydro system knowing the state of the system. The research will continue with optimizing under uncertain inflows as well as wind.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Interconnect Integration and Markets
Research Sub-Category
Renewable Integration
Status
complete
Completion Date
2013
Conventional Hydro
A Stratigraphic Approach to Characterize the Deposition and Storage of Organic Matter in Reservoir Sediments
Lead Companies
Oregon State University
Lead Researcher (s)
- Laurel Stratton
The relationship between carbon burial and sedimentation in reservoirs is unknown, exposing gaps in our fundamental understanding of the transport, processing, and deposition of sediment and organic matter in fluvial and lacustrine systems and contributing to uncertainty in our understanding of the net impact of dams to the global carbon budget. The 2011-2014 removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington State, the largest dam removal yet completed globally, created extensive cutbank exposures of reservoir sediments, allowing the first characterization of the facies architecture of sediments through direct observation in reservoirs worldwide and providing an unparalleled opportunity to 1) assess the relationship between environmental influences, such as and changes in sediment supply, and their expression in the stratigraphic record, 2) assess the relationship between sedimentation processes and detrital organic carbon deposition and storage, and the importance of coarse-grained organic matter and woody debris to the total carbon budget of a reservoir, and 3) apply the insight gained from these reservoirs to evaluate current global estimates of carbon storage in reservoirs and develop a conceptual model of carbon burial in reservoirs to guide further research, as defined by characteristic stratigraphic “types”. Former Lake Mills, the younger, upstream reservoir, was characterized by a tripartite, subaerial Gilbert-style delta which prograded >1 km into the main reservoir from 1927 to 2011. Sediments were composed of coarse-grained topset beds, steeply dipping foreset beds, and a fine-grained, gently dipping prodelta. While individual event horizons were discernible in fine-grained sediments of former Lake Mills, their number and spacing did not correspond to known drawdown or flood events. Former Lake Aldwell, impounded from 1913 to 2011, was initially defined by the rapid progradation of a Gilbert-style, subaerial delta prior to the upstream completion of Glines Canyon Dam. However, the 1927 closure of Glines Canyon Dam upstream caused the delta to evolve to a fine-grained, mouth-bar type delta indicative of low, finer-grained sediment. This evolution, combined with a previously-unrecognized landslide deposit into the upper delta plain, suggests that understanding the exogenic influences on reservoir sedimentation is critical to interpretation and prediction of the sedimentation within individual systems. Former Lake Mills accumulated ~330 Gg of, with depositional-zone average accumulation rates from 229 to 9262 gCm-2 yr-1 , while Former Lake Aldwell accumulated ~ 91 Gg (263 to 2414 gCm-2 yr-1). Carbon storage in both reservoirs was dominated by heterogeneous, coarse organic matter and woody debris in the coarse-grained delta slope and relatively coarse-grained prodelta regions of the reservoirs, with little storage in the gravel-dominated, subaerial delta plains. Carbon accumulation in fine-grained lacustrine and prodelta sediments was relatively homogeneous, but turbidity flows from the Gilbertstyle delta slope in former Lake Mills delivered significantly more carbon to the prodelta than the mouth-bar style delta of former Lake Aldwell. C:N ratios support interpretation of most organic matter in both reservoirs as allochthonous. Sampling schemes based only on lacustrine and/or prodelta would underestimate of total carbon accumulation by up to 30% in former Lake Aldwell, but the overestimate by up to 47% in former Lake Mills. Global estimates of carbon sequestration rates in reservoir sediments vary by three orders of magnitude, while individual-reservoir estimates vary by four orders of magnitude and over only 37 reservoirs and a literature review of predictive variables suggests weak or contradictory relationships. A conceptual stratigraphic framework of four unique reservoir types suggests that organic matter deposition is intrinsically tied to sedimentation processes and that patterns of carbon storage vary systematically with the stratigraphy of reservoir sediments. Deltaically-dominated reservoirs (whether Gilbert style or shoalwater) appear to store most carbon in their deltaic and prodelta regions, while thalweg-style reservoirs exhibit a bimodal distribution, with allochthonous carbon preferentially routed along the former river thalweg and autochthonous deposited on the former floodplain. Lacustrine-style reservoirs are dominated by suspended sediment deposition and thus relatively homogeneous, but literature suggests these reservoirs are more variable than typically measured. Current methods of reservoir sampling fail to account for this systematic variation and tend to be biased toward fine sediment, suggesting that global reservoir carbon storage is underestimated.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Sediment Transport
Status
complete
Completion Date
2018
Marine Energy
A Tidal-Powered, Real Time Passive Acoustic Sentinel System for Marine Mammal Alerts to Navigation in the Puget Sound Area
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Alicia Amerson
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Environmental Impact
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
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Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@crucerodelaamistad.com