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CERF – A Geospatial Model for Assessing Future Energy Production Technology Expansion Feasibility

Journal Article · · Journal of Open Research Software
DOI:https://doi.org/10.5334/jors.227· OSTI ID:1508149

The Capacity Expansion Regional Feasibility (CERF) model is an open-source geospatial model, written in Python and C++, that is designed to determine the on-the-ground feasibility of achieving a projected energy technology expansion plan. Integrated assessment models and grid expansion models typically do not have sufficient spatial, temporal, or process-level resolution to account for technology-specific siting considerations—for example, the value or costs of connecting a new power plant to the electric grid at a particular location or whether there is sufficient cooling water to support the installation of thermal power plants in a certain region. CERF was developed to specifically examine where power plant locations can be feasibly sited when considering high spatial resolution siting suitability data as well as the net locational costs (i.e., considering both net operating value and interconnection costs), at a spatial resolution of 1 km2. The outputs from CERF can provide insight into factors that influence energy system resilience under a variety of future scenarios, can be used to refine model-based projections, and can also be useful for capacity expansion planning exercises. CERF is open-source and publicly available via GitHub.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1508149
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-133523
Journal Information:
Journal of Open Research Software, Journal Name: Journal of Open Research Software Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 6; ISSN 2049-9647
Publisher:
Software Sustainability Institute
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (4)

One-way coupling of an integrated assessment model and a water resources model: evaluation and implications of future changes over the US Midwest journal January 2013
An integrated assessment of climate change and the accelerated introduction of advanced energy technologies: An application of MiniCAM 1.0 journal January 1997
System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) v. 2.1.4 journal January 2015
On an improved sub-regional water resources management representation for integration into earth system models journal January 2013

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