Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory examined regulatory processes to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and remove barriers that slow or inhibit greater hydropower generation.
Adoption of intermittent energy sources has left US power grid operators with a challenge. These sources currently provide little to no grid inertia, which helps system operators properly balance power generation and demand. Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have come up with a solution: using signals from pumped storage hydropower projects to monitor grid inertia.