National laboratory, municipal power utility test energy storage tech for small hydropower generation

April 23, 2021

By INL Media Relations

Idaho National Laboratory has turned to its own back yard to test how small hydropower plants can provide power to customers during widespread grid outages.

Idaho Falls Power, a municipally owned utility, and INL researchers this week performed tests to see how the city’s hydropower plants can be made more stable and responsive during emergencies. The tests involved integrating energy storage and modifying the control systems to help them balance changes in electricity quickly.

The city of Idaho Falls owns five power plants on the Snake River, from the Upper Power Plant north of the city to the Gem State Dam just to the south. These plants generate enough power to meet about one-third of the city’s needs. The rest of its power is purchased from generators across the region.

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Idaho Falls Power’s Lower Bulb Hydropower Plant

Idaho Falls first reached out to INL after an outage in early December 2013 left about 53,000 southeast Idaho residents in subzero cold for three hours. With several municipalities scrambling to return service to their customers, Idaho Falls Power was ordered to shed 35 megawatts in 30 minutes. Load shedding becomes necessary when there isn’t enough generation available to balance demand or the transmission lines are in danger of becoming overloaded, putting the entire system at risk.

In 2016, Idaho Falls and INL began investigating “black start” and “islanding” capabilities. Black starting is basically jump-starting a local grid with equipment and electricity that’s immediately available. Islanding involves powering the local grid independent of the larger regional grid.

By themselves, small hydropower plants like the one in Idaho Falls can’t restart a localized grid during a widespread outage. But with energy storage, these plants may be able to provide adequate frequency and voltage stabilization to avoid disruption in customer service.

“It’s exciting to show how innovation can help these small hydropower plants serve Idaho Falls residents in a new way,” said Thomas Mosier, INL’s energy systems group lead. “The grid is changing very rapidly. The tests performed this week demonstrated that small hydropower plants like Idaho Falls’, combined with innovative controls and integrated energy storage technologies can ensure the lights stay on for local customers regardless of what’s happening to the regional grid.”

“It is important that we have the confidence and capacity to provide for our community in the event of an emergency,” said Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper. “INL employees live in this community and so a collaboration is very meaningful because it will not just help Idaho Falls, but the surrounding communities as well.”

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Two 6-megawatt load banks (in blue) were brought in to isolate the city’s generators.

This week’s tests were especially focused on ultracapacitors. Unlike batteries, which take hours to charge, ultracapacitors can deliver quick bursts of energy then just as quickly capture excess power. This relieves pressure from the hydropower plants, giving them more time to catch up to changes in demand.

To isolate the city’s generators and test them in various configurations, two 6-megawatt load banks were brought in. A load bank is kind of like a giant toaster oven, filled with resistive heater elements. Used to test an electric power source that has been disconnected from its normal operating load, they draw the current and dissipate it in the form of heat.

In preparation for this week’s tests, American Governor Group of Emerson and INL measured the hydropower plant’s response and used these observations to adjust digital models. The digital models were fed into INL’s Digital Real-Time Simulators, which then simulated possible test outcomes, helping to fine-tune the process and reduce risk of equipment damage during field demonstration.

“If we can solve this, it opens up capabilities for a lot of communities that have small hydro systems like ours,” said Ben Jenkins, who is managing the project for Idaho Falls Power. “It helps Idaho Falls, but it could have a much broader impact across the national grid.”

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About Idaho National Laboratory

Battelle Energy Alliance manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. INL is the nation’s center for nuclear energy research and development, celebrating 75 years of scientific innovations in 2024. The laboratory performs research in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science and the environment. 

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Posted April 23, 2021

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