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Energy Infrastructure

Contributing to the security of the nation's energy infrastructure

Following the U.S. test-ban treaty for nuclear weapons, Los Alamos National Laboratory developed an advanced modeling and simulation capability to ensure the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. This legacy has evolved into cutting-edge capabilities in modeling, simulation, and applied mathematics to inform scientific experimentation in many research areas, including energy systems.

CRITICAL NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES

In energy systems research, the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC), a program created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, utilizes Los Alamos’ modeling and simulation tools to identify the vulnerabilities and failure modes of a broad selection of critical national infrastructures. NISAC provides comprehensive, quantitative analyses to better understand the wide variety of threats and solutions to the nation’s infrastructures.

Through internal Laboratory investments and subsequent partnerships with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE), Los Alamos has built on this expertise to support the modernization of the Nation’s electrical grid and critical energy infrastructures.

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PROJECTS ADDRESSING ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES

The following selected projects highlight how DOE energy programs leverage Laboratory capabilities and how Los Alamos is furthering the overarching goals of the Department.

Power Planning for Alignment of Climate and Energy Systems (PACES) 

Grid Research, Integration, and Deployment for Quantum (Grid-Q) 

Grid Optimization Competition

Grid Science Winter School and Conference

Robust Real-Time Control, Monitoring, and Protection of Large-Scale Power Grids in Response to Extreme Events

Hybrid Learning Assisted Optimization Methods for Uncertainty Management and Corrective Control

Weather Outage Prediction Model

Optimized Resilience for Distribution and Transmission Systems

Space Weather Mitigation Planning

North American Energy Resilience Model

Energy Resilience for Mission Assurance

Resilient Operations of Networked Microgrids

MgRavens

 

PARTNERSHIPS

Los Alamos National Laboratory partners with industry, universities, energy consumers, and other national laboratories through collaborative R&D initiatives sponsored by the US Department of Energy.

Advanced Grid Modeling Research Program (AGM)

Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI)

North American Energy Resilience Model (NAERM)

Microgrid Research & Development (MRD)

Grid Optimization Competition (ARPA-e GO)

 

News

Microgrid Software Program at Los Alamos Lab Honored

Microgrid modeling

This is not your grandparent’s power grid

Grid (un)locked: Carbon-neutral future depends on updating how we make, move and store electricity

Out of the dark

Grids should be on the decarbonization radar

How single particles of light can protect power grids

New open-source software predicts impacts of extreme events on grids

Protecting the power grid with physics

 

  • Core Capability: Fundamentals

    Fundamentals, the basic science of energy systems research, stem from Los Alamos’ national security expertise in physics, network science, and applied mathematics. These fundamentals, in areas like advanced computational algorithms and artificial intelligence, have been strategically developed and advanced over the past decades by the Laboratory. Investments in fundamentals produce prototypes at low Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and form the basis for higher TRL products.

  • Core Capability: Implementation

    Implementation is the software realization for transforming Fundamentals into capability building blocks for modular reuse. These capabilities – such as simple codes and software libraries – enable the construction of more complex Tools. Implementations are grouped into InfrastructureModels, a set of software libraries for handling data and the different ways of modeling infrastructure networks, and implementations of Problem Specifications.

  • Core Capability: Software Tools

    Software Tools are constructed from the capability building-blocks of Implementation(s) and are designed to solve specific problems of interest to the DOE and other federal sponsors. These capabilities, such as purpose-built software, enable decision-makers to carry out a variety of complex Analysis work-flows for national security.

  • Core Capability: Analysis

    Analysis is the collection of strategic, cutting-edge capabilities of Los Alamos, which rely on Tools to support a variety of critical objectives and missions. These are the highest TRL products and are used to advance Los Alamos’ national security mission as applied to the DOE’s goals of decarbonization, infrastructure resilience, social equity, and economics.