A hybrid Sankey diagram from “The Water-Energy Nexus: Challenges and 

Opportunities” report, issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 

2014, how major energy and water flows in the United States are 

interconnected.

Solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and other onsite renewable energy 

technologies enhance resilience through spatial diversification.

Modeling energy distribution systems is one aspect of energy resilience. 

NREL experts analyze energy storage options and clean-energy solutions 

for creating resilient grid systems.

National Council for Science and the Environment 2019 Annual Conference

Washington, D.C.

January 7-10, 2019

NREL/PO-6A20-73036 

Best Practices in Resilience Planning

Eliza Hotchkiss and Sherry Stout, NREL

This work was authored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308. Funding provided 

by U.S. Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program, Office of Indian Energy, and the Office of Electricity. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. 

Government. The U.S. Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or 

reproduce the published form of this work, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes.

ABSTRACT

At various levels of government across the United States and globally 

resilience solutions are being adopted and implemented. Solutions vary 

based on predicted hazards, community context, priorities, complexity, and 

available resources. Lessons are being learned through the 

implementation process, which can be replicated, regardless of level or 

type of government entity carrying out the resilience planning. Through a 

number of analyses and technical support activities across the world, 

NREL has learned key lessons related to resilience planning associated 

with power generation and water distribution. Distributed energy generation 

is a large factor in building resilience with clean energy technologies and 

solutions. The technical and policy solutions associated with distributed 

energy implementation for resilience fall into a few major categories, 

including: 

• Spatial diversification,

• Microgrids,

• Water-energy nexus,

• Policy and financing, and

• Redundancy.

Source: Cost-Optimal Pathways to 75% Fuel Reduction in Remote Alaskan Villages, 2015

Image Credit: Anthony Castellano, NREL

METHODOLOGIES

At its most basic level, resilience refers to 

the ability to recover after the application 

of stress. Taking an all-hazards 

approach, NREL has worked with 

numerous communities to increase 

resilience to various threats and 

vulnerabilities. Depending on the 

stakeholders involved in resilience 

planning and the end-goal, the 

methodologies deployed could range 

from community engagement, resilience 

planning, policy analysis, microgrid 

modeling, renewable energy feasibility 

studies, vulnerability and risk 

assessments. A best practice approach 

or methodology would include most of 

the processes highlighted to the right.

Risk

Assessment • Identify hazards, vulnerabilities and risks

Identify 

Solutions • Incorporate sustainability,

diversity and redundancy

Prioritize • Prioritize goals and projects

Adopt

Coordinate

• Adopt appropriate

policies, regulations

and codes

• Coordinate and

communicate for

effective

implementation

CONCLUSIONS

Reliable, safe and secure electricity is essential for economic and social 

development and a necessary input for many sectors of the economy. However, 

electricity generation and associated processes make up a significant portion of 

global GHG emissions (IPCC, 2014). Electricity systems are aging and are 

vulnerable to numerous threats and hazards; both short-term events (shocks) 

and longer term changes (stressors). This vulnerability presents both near-term 

and chronic challenges in providing reliable, affordable, equitable, and 

sustainable energy services. Within this context, NREL works to identify 

challenges and solutions in the energy sector, including the need to reliably meet 

growing electricity demands in developing countries, lessen dependence on 

imported fuels, expand energy access, and improve stressed infrastructure for 

fuel supply and electricity transmission for resilience. 

Spatial Diversification

The modular nature of renewable energy 

technologies, such as wind turbines and 

solar photovoltaics (PV), allows greater 

spatial diversification of energy supplies 

compared to conventional power 

generation systems, which deliver power 

from a concentrated point or central 

location. Increased spatial diversification 

reduces the vulnerability

of the energy supply from a single event 

or a single critical location, which 

increases overall energy system 

resilience.

Microgrids

Microgrids capable of islanding based on distributed generation (DG) can 

disconnect from the central grid during a disruptive event to allow energy to be 

diverted to critical loads. With microgrids serving critical loads during a blackout 

utilities have more flexibility in restoring generation stations, responding to critical 

outages, and shutting down systems before a major event to prevent damage. 

Islanded renewable energy DG systems ensure consumers have access to power 

during long-term power outages that severely impact central grid systems, which 

can occur after major natural disasters.

Water and Energy

The water-energy nexus plays a large role in resilience at many 

levels. Water is used for energy generation in hydro-electric plants 

and in cooling systems for nuclear plants. Alternatively, energy is 

used for treating and pumping water supplies. Technical solutions 

from making power-generation plants more efficient, using cleanenergy technologies, and designing systems to utilize gravity-fed 

options can enhance resilience of both energy and water systems. 

Policies and Financing

New Jersey had more than 1,000 MW of installed solar capacity 

when Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast United States. However, 

only two solar PV systems provided power in the days following 

the hurricane (Hotchkiss et al., 2013). At the time, a combination of 

interconnection policies and a lack of dynamic controls or transfer 

switches or energy storage solutions prevented the islanding of 

systems. Without appropriate policies and codes, the installed DG 

capacity in New Jersey did little to aid resilience. Jurisdictions 

wishing to enhance resilience through islanded renewable energy 

DG systems should adopt appropriate policy on interconnection 

and islanding to realize the full benefits of these technical 

solutions. Identifying and securing financing is an essential part of 

the process. New Jersey created an Energy Resilience Bank to 

help fund additional resilience-related technologies. 

Redundancy

Redundancy is critical to 

most operations, but is 

essential for resilience. 

The increased stress on 

infrastructure systems as 

a result of threats has the 

potential to increase the 

likelihood of failure of one 

or more parts of a 

system. Increasing 

supplies, routes, or

incorporating redundancy in systems will reduce certain risks. In a 

community level analysis, NREL determined that pairing 

renewable energy and energy storage technologies with 

conventional backup power systems increased the number of 

days a system could operate without grid connection, illustrated in 

the image above and to the right.