Author(s)

Erik Shuster^1*, Arun K. S. Iyengar¹, Lessly Goudarzi², Dale Keairns¹, Christa Court³, Charles Zelek¹

¹National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, USA.
²Onlocation Inc., Vienna, USA.
³University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

A simplified energy-water prototype model has been developed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) as a part of a larger effort to comprehensively model energy-water interactions. The NETL Water-Energy Model (NWEM) prototype passively couples a variety of data on water supply, water availability, and power plant water use with the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) power generation forecasts. NWEM operates at a watershed level and its efficacy in resolving local water supply and water-use trade-offs was demonstrated using data from Sandia National Laboratory along with a water supply scenario projected by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The prototype model only passively utilized a forecast of power generation from an existing forecast; the model’s choices were limited to purchases or retrofitting to meet future water supply constraints. NETL is continuing to integrate the water sub-module into the NEMS framework, which will allow active interaction between the water market and power markets, extending the industry’s ability to re-dispatch its generating units with the price of water as one of the variable costs.

Energy-Water Nexus, Thermoelectric, Cooling Systems, Power Plant Retrofits

Shuster, E. , Iyengar, A. , Goudarzi, L. , Keairns, D. , Court, C. and Zelek, C. (2017) Water-Energy Prototype Model for the NEMS Modeling Platform: Thermoelectric Water Demand and Its Implications on Regional Electricity Market. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 9, 1449-1468. doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2017.912093.