Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Reliability for Backup Electric Power Systems

Technical Report · Wed Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1964053· OSTI ID:1964053

Marqusee, Jeffrey ^[1]; Stringer, Andrew ^[2]

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1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
2. US Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC (United States)

Hospitals, emergency services, military bases, ports, airports, industries, commercial facilities, and others rely on backup power systems to provide electricity for their critical loads during grid outages. The purpose of this report it to provide accurate reliability information on commonly deployed distributed energy resources (DERs) to improve quantitative estimates for the reliability of these backup power systems during a grid outage. A backup power system consists of DERs, an electric distribution system with its associated switches and other devices, and mechanisms to control and manage the flow of electricity. Too often, facilities and campuses fail to properly quantify the reliability of their backup power systems. DERs are assumed to be 100% reliable, with the only concern being the availability of fuel. Such assumptions can lead to gross errors in the backup system's reliability estimates, particularly for long-duration outages. This report provides a set of estimates for reliability of emergency diesel generators (EDGs), natural gas prime generators and combined heat and power (CHP) prime movers, solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, and Li-ion battery energy storage systems (BESS). The estimates are derived from empirical data when available and supplemented by modeling results when needed. These reliability estimates are for the DERs ability to provide power during a grid outage, ranging from an hour to 2 weeks.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1964053
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP--7A40-83132; MainId:83905; UUID:70f584df-ee4d-40a6-950d-57d8c76b01d8; MainAdminID:68539
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
17 WIND ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
CHP
DER
US Army Corps of Engineers
backup power systems
emergency generator
prime generator
solar photovoltaics
wind turbine