Water Risk for the Bulk Power System: Asset to Grid Impacts

Project Description

This project aims to improve the reliability and resilience of the power sector by enabling utilities to evaluate impacts and risks associated with water resources. We will create an analysis platform that can provide environmental and economic benefits by aiding short-term operational and long-term investment decisions.

Value Proposition

• Water shortages, temperature, flood, and regulatory burdens can affect reliable and economic operation of the power sector.
• There is no standardized, consistent mechanism for utilities to evaluate water-related impacts and risks of current grid assets and future investments.
• This project builds on prior successful GMLC, NSF, and EPRI work to create a publicly available analysis platform enabling utilities to evaluate water-related impacts and risks of existing or new grid assets.
• This project will link existing models to provide actionable insights that can improve near-term and long-term decision-making and increase grid reliability.

Project Objectives

• Create a national-scale analysis and visualization platform enabling utilities and system operators to evaluate water-related impacts and risks of existing and new grid assets that can inform investment decisions.
• Improve grid reliability and asset investment performance through improved decision-making in the context of water impacts and risks and economic-environmental tradeoffs.
• Provide key insights on water-related impacts and risks from the asset level to the bulk power system scale.