This webinar will introduce new resilience capabilities in NREL's REopt tool, including REopt's Energy Resilience Performance (ERP) capability. REopt is a free and publicly available tool accessible by user-friendly web interface or by open-source code to help users evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of distributed energy resources (DERs) for cost savings, resilience, and decarbonization. DER technologies currently offered in REopt include solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, battery storage, geothermal heat pumps, combined heat and power, and thermal energy storage. REopt's resilience capabilities allow users to evaluate DERs to support critical loads during grid outages. The new ERP capability in the REopt Web Tool expands REopt's previous resilience modeling capabilities to consider technology reliability and different technology configurations (e.g., single vs. multiple generators). Additional recent REopt resilience modeling updates include multiple outage modeling and being able to evaluate backup generators and prime generators in the web tool. This training will include an introduction to REopt and an overview and demonstration of ERP capabilities.
Instructors
Kathleen Krah, Research Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Read Bio
Kathleen Krah is a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Her work centers around NREL's REopt tool, a techno-economic optimization tool for distributed energy systems. Kathleen leads techno-economic analysis projects to support domestic and international communities, government agencies, and other public- and private-sector organizations seeking to cost-optimally achieve their energy goals - including decarbonization, resilience, and cost-savings priorities. Additionally, she contributes to REopt tool development, with a focus on expanding emissions and renewable energy modeling capabilities, and now leads the REopt team at the program level. Kathleen holds an MEngSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering from University College Cork (Ireland) and a BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
Hallie Dunham, Research Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Hallie Dunham is a researcher in NREL's Accelerated Deployment and Decision Support Center. Their work focuses on techno-economic modeling and analysis of integrated distributed energy resources with applications for industrial, utility, government, and community partners. They are a developer of REopt, one of NREL's flagship decision support tools. Hallie comes to this work with an educational background in Electrical Engineering and a passion for energy and environmental justice.
Indu Manogaran, Research Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Indu Manogaran is a research engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Indu develops and utilizes NREL's REopt tool in performing technoeconomic analyses to inform on-site distributed energy strategies and decisions. She provides technical assistance for domestic and international stakeholders to support their renewable energy, resilience, and climate goals. Additionally, she supports the development of REopt's model capabilities and its webtool interface.
Nichole Liebov, Program Manager, Federal Energy Management Program Read Bio
Nichole Liebov is a program manager at the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (DOE FEMP) focused on Energy and Project Procurement Development Services for federal agencies. She leads the Distributed Energy and Energy Procurement program. The Distributed Energy program supports federal agencies in identifying and implementing on-site projects and off-site procurement options by providing technical assistance and trainings and developing tools and resources. She also leads the interagency Renewable Energy Working Group, a forum for information sharing among agencies regarding resources, best practices, and case studies related to on-site project development, implementation, and operations & maintenance as well as off-site clean electricity procurement. Nichole holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Virginia.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:
- Identify REopt's capabilities;
- Recognize how to evaluate DERs for cost savings and resilience;
- Identify how to use REopt's new ERP capability to consider impacts of technology reliability on site resilience;
- Recognize how to interpret REopt results to inform DER investment decisions.
