DOE Recognizes Multiple NREL Hydrogen Researchers at 2021 Annual Merit Review Awards

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program recently honored nine National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers for their outstanding achievements at the 2021 Annual Merit Review and Peer Evaluation Meeting (AMR).

NREL’s Rob Hovsapian, Kazunori Nagasawa, Sam Sprik, Michael Peters, and Cory Kreutzer were recognized for leadership in research and development that evaluated the ability of polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers to respond to fluctuations in grid signals within sub-seconds, in support of DOE’s H2@Scale initiative. Over the past 5 years, the team has simulated several different grid events and conditions within power-hardware-in-the-loop testing, including loss of generation, demand spikes from fast charging of battery electric vehicles, and routine fluctuations in power supply at high penetrations of renewable generation. The team’s test results are referenced globally and have been essential to establishing the viability of hydrogen technologies for long duration storage of renewable energy.

NREL’s Chad Hunter, Joshua Eichman, Michael Penev, and Evan Reznicek were recognized for comprehensive analysis of the cost of long duration energy storage technologies in high-renewables grids. This work evaluated the levelized cost of 14 different flexible power and energy storage systems over durations from 12 hours to multiple days and identified key drivers of each system’s cost in two scenarios of grid operation. The team engaged a wide base of stakeholders to provide technical review and guidance, including the Electric Power Research Institute and several member utilities, original equipment manufacturers, and technical experts from across eight DOE offices. This work builds on extensive systems analysis work at NREL and lays a strong foundation for future DOE analysis in energy storage. In addition, this research has already informed subsequent publications in support of DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge.

NREL’s Yingying Chen is the first-place winner of the 2021 HFTO Postdoctoral Recognition Award for outstanding contributions in the research, development, and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Her research at NREL focuses on developing electrospun bipolar membranes and optimizing the structure and catalyst composition in the co-electrospun 3D junctions for energy devices of water electrolyzers, fuel cells, and CO2 electrolyzers.