Beyond Borders: Power Grid Interconnections and Regional Electricity Markets for the Sustainable Energy Transition

This report provides a foundational guide to regional energy integration, with a particular focus on developing and emerging economies. Many regions are about to integrate power grids and markets across national boundaries, which can offer economic benefits, enhanced power supply quality and security, and opportunities for scaling up climate change mitigation measures. The report begins with an overview of the different levels of power system integration, followed by an analysis of the primary drivers behind regional energy integration. It identifies five key building blocks essential for achieving deeper integration: interconnection infrastructure, planning and investment coordination, technical and operational coordination, commercial …

Designing a Sector-Coupled European Energy System Robust to 60 Years of Historical Weather Data

As energy systems transform to rely on renewable energy and electrification to mitigate climate change, they encounter stronger year-to-year variability in energy supply and demand. Yet, most infrastructure planning relies on a single weather year, risking a potential lack of robustness. In this paper, we optimize capacity layouts for a European energy system under net-zero CO2 emissions for 62 different weather years. Subsequently, we fix the layouts and optimize their operation in every other weather year to assess resource adequacy and CO2 emissions. Our analysis shows a variation of ± 10% in total system costs across weather years. Layouts designed …

A Clean Energy Deployment Baseline for the Energy Community and Low-Income Tax Credit Bonuses

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 introduced, for the first time, place-based federal tax incentives for projects sited in “Energy Communities,” potentially changing the economic calculus of where projects are best sited. Storage projects can qualify for a 10-percentage-point bonus to the Investment Tax Credit (e.g., from 30% to 40%), while wind and solar projects may qualify for either the ITC bonus or a 10% bonus to the Production Tax Credit (e.g., from $27.5 to $30.25/MWh). Energy Communities are areas with historical ties to fossil fuel industries and above average unemployment levels (FFEU), with closed coal mines or power plants, …

2023 NEA Annual Report

Published every year, the NEA Annual Report includes an overview of NEA’s activities and publications produced during the year, as well as the latest developments in nuclear energy sector around the world. Available in English and in French, the report covers a wide spectrum of topics that provide governments and other relevant stakeholders with authoritative, reliable information and analyses on current and future nuclear technologies.

The 2023 NEA Annual Report sheds light on the Agency’s activities in the fields of nuclear development, nuclear safety and regulation, human aspects of nuclear safety, radiological protection, radioactive waste management, decommissioning of nuclear installations …

Grid Connection Barriers to Renewable Energy Deployment in the United States

Bulk-power grid connection is an emerging bottleneck to the entry of wind, solar, and storage but has been understudied due to a lack of data. The authors create and analyze two novel interconnection datasets with more than 38,000 project-level observations that provide new information documenting interconnection challenges in the United States. Active grid connection requests are more than double the total installed capacity of the US power plant fleet (2,600 vs. 1,280 GW). The time required to secure a connection has increased by 70% over the last decade, and withdrawal rates remain high at 80%, suggesting a constrained transmission system …

State Requirements for Electric Distribution System Planning

Utilities have conducted distribution planning since they first began building and operating electricity systems. But filing these plans for regulatory and stakeholder review is a relatively recent phenomenon.

This report summarizes legislative and regulatory requirements for regulated electric utilities to file some type of distribution system plan in 20 U.S. jurisdictions. Some plans focus on expedited cost recovery for certain types of distribution system improvements; other plans focus on investments for grid modernization or distributed energy resources. Increasingly, states are adopting requirements for Integrated Distribution Plans. Such plans provide holistic grid investment strategies that address state and local policies and …

2024 Standard Scenarios Report: A U.S. Electricity Sector Outlook

This report documents the tenth edition of the annual Standard Scenarios. It summarizes 61 forward-looking scenarios of the U.S. electricity sector that have been designed to capture a wide range of possible futures.

The Standard Scenarios are simulated using the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model. ReEDS projects possible electricity sector evolution by identifying the least-cost buildout and operation of utility-scale assets that meet policy, reliability, and operational constraints. Such a least-cost approach is intended to reflect the results of a well-functioning market or well-regulated system.…

Energy, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of U.S. LNG Exports

This multi-volume study of U.S. LNG exports serves to provide an updated understanding of the potential effects of U.S. LNG exports on the domestic economy, U.S. households and consumers; communities that live near locations where natural gas is produced or exported; domestic and international energy security, including effects on U.S. trading partners; and the environment and climate. Prior to this study, Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) most recent economic and environmental analyses of U.S. LNG exports were published in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

At that time, U.S. LNG exports were just getting underway and our export capacity was 4 billion cubic …

The Future of Geothermal Energy

This special report focuses on geothermal, a promising and versatile renewable energy resource with vast untapped potential for electricity generation, heating and cooling. Geothermal has been a part of energy systems for more than 100 years, but it has played a limited role on a global scale. Now, the geothermal industry is at a critical juncture.

New technologies are enabling access to previously untapped resources, while cost reductions and innovative financing models are paving the way for increasing geothermal’s role in energy systems around the world. Additionally, techniques developed by the oil and gas industry – including a strong understanding …

Community Solar Consolidated Billing: An Exploration of Implementation and Alternatives

As community solar grows nationwide, customers sometimes face a confusing situation – getting a bill from their community solar provider and a separate bill from their utility. Customers have to do their own math to calculate the savings from their subscription.

In other cases, utilities and community solar companies have joined forces to provide a single bill, with all charges and credits consolidated. Single bills provide increased transparency, improved customer experience, and, ultimately, increased retention rates and decreased subscriber acquisition costs.

In a report for the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP+) program, national lab researchers explore the issues around consolidated …