Looking Into The Future Of The Grid
Over 10,000 tracking heliostats focus solar energy at the receiver on the 640-foot power tower at the Crescent Dunes Solar Thermal Facility in Nevada. The facility is representative of concentrating solar power modeled in the Annual Technology Baseline. Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL.
Article courtesy of NREL.
One of the challenges of aggregating energy data from different sources into studies is knowing whether the data uses consistent assumptions. The Annual Technology Baseline (ATB) resolves this challenge by creating consistent assumptions across all electric generation technology cost and performance data.
The ATB integrates current and projected data for electricity-generation technologies into one user-friendly tool. It is led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), assembled by a team of analysts from the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Each year, new data are released, and the 2021 update of the electricity-sector ATB came out in July.
All renewable energy technologies are represented in the ATB. In this Q&A, solar power technology leads and NREL analysts—David Feldman, Chad Augustine, Parthiv Kurup, and Craig Turchi—share their insight on why the ATB is unique and what is new in terms of solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) in the 2021 update, including new technologies, expanded financial data, and better interoperability with other models.
Does any other resource like the ATB exist?
The ATB was created because there was no existing database with the level of nuance on technology innovation that energy analysts need. As a national laboratory dedicated specifically to renewable energy, NREL partners with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to dive into those nuances for renewable generation technologies. Without the ATB, analysts would have to seek out data in many places and are likely to have inconsistent assumptions.
How does NREL build the data each year?
We compile data from literature and expert surveys, studies, and industry partnerships.
Who are the primary ATB users?
The ATB is for any analyst out there who is trying to model the electric grid, or individual technologies, in the United States or internationally. We get questions from analysts all over the country and the world who want to use this data.
What cost and performance metrics are offered for solar technologies in the ATB?
We report upfront costs, operating costs, system performance, and financing costs for most technologies over a 30-year period. These values are used to calculate a levelized cost of energy (LCOE). Note that, while LCOE is an important metric of comparison between electricity generation technologies, there are other factors, such as the value of the energy, which must also be considered.
Today’s representative CSP technology for the ATB is the molten salt power tower with two-tank thermal energy storage, which drives a Rankine steam cycle. This utilizes molten sodium and potassium nitrate as the heat transfer fluid and the storage media.
How is solar data in the ATB used at NREL?
The solar data goes into NREL’s Standard Scenarios—a suite of forward-looking scenarios of the U.S. power sector to 2050 that are updated annually to support and inform energy analysis—but also any analysis done with the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, as well as many other NREL models.
ReEDS is NREL’s capacity deployment model that is used in many high-impact studies across the laboratory, currently including the Storage Futures Study and upcoming Solar Futures Study.
In the past, solar ATB data has been used in the SunShot 2030, Geothermal Vision Study, and Wind Vision Study. Truly, any sort of big study that NREL does with ReEDS uses ATB as the foundational model input for PV, CSP, and all technologies.
In additional to NREL use, have you seen it used outside of the lab?
Absolutely. Recently, the California Energy Commission and Cal ISO [California System Operator] commissioned modelers to look at the future of their grid. They utilized the ATB for their model inputs to understand impacts of policy with high renewables deployment.
Internationally, organizations like the energy department in Chile have utilized the ATB costs in their scenarios and come to us asking about costs in the market as a validation.
Are there any new features or developments related to solar in the 2021 update?
This year we made the exciting linkage between the ATB and NREL’s System Advisor Model (SAM) so that the costs of the representative CSP plant at the starting point of the projections, or the baseline, are reflected in the SAM model. With this development, people can now dive deep into our assumptions for how we came up with that assessment, down to the number of heliostats. From there, users can change the assumption as they think it should be or customize for their systems like longer storage times or more efficient technologies.
For both PV and CSP, we’ve expanded our resource classes so we have larger representation of how these systems will perform throughout the United States. We also do a better job this year of representing the ongoing operating costs of PV systems, including five new cost categories. That’s a big improvement.
We also added cost and performance metrics for PV-plus-battery storage. Previously, we only had separate PV and battery storage costs, but there is an ever-growing number of PV systems that are coupled with battery storage in the United States. We’re excited to include costs for those systems this year.
What are some trends that you’ve seen over the years in the ATB in terms of cost and performance of solar technologies?
Generally, performance has increased, and cost has decreased, dramatically for PV and overall in CSP. The ATB has shown us there are several paths forward for continued price reduction. In the Standard Scenarios studies, you can see that when price decreases, renewable energy can become a significantly larger share of U.S. electricity generation. When that happens, there is also a lot of opportunity for greater deployment of storage technologies.
Moving forward, how will you continue to improve the ATB?
The DOE recently made a down-selection of what they believe to be the next generation of CSP technologies as part of their Gen3 program, so going forward we would like to see those captured in the ATB with the same fidelity of modeling as the current technologies.
We’d also like to continue to watch the market for PV-plus-battery storage and how those systems are designed and operated to accurately reflect them in the ATB.
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![Hackers turn Nissan LEAF into full-scale RC car, record drivers' conversations [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/05/nissan-leaf-hacked.png?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
A team of white hat European hackers using their brains, keyboards, and a couple of bits and baubles from eBay managed to take control of a 2020 Nissan LEAF and violate just about every privacy and safety regulation in the process.
The best part: they recorded the whole thing.
Budapest-based cybersecurity experts PCAutomotive were able to exploit a number of vulnerabilities in a 2020 Nissan LEAF that enabled the white hat team to geolocate and track the car, record the texts and conversations happening inside the car, playing media back through the car’s speakers, and even (this is the genuinely terrifying dangerous part) turning the steering wheel while the car was moving. (!?)
Maybe the scariest part of this hack, however, is how seemingly easy it was to pull off by starting with a “test bench simulator” built using parts from eBay and exploiting a vulnerability in the LEAF’s DNS C2 channel and Bluetooth protocol.
The PCAutomotive team gave a hugely detailed 118-page presentation of their exploit at black hat Asia 2025, which we’ve included at the bottom of this post, in case the original link goes dead. If you’re into that sort of thing, the fun stuff starts around page 27. And, if you’re not, just know that all the vulnerabilities were disclosed to Nissan and its suppliers between 02AUG2023 and 12SEP2024 (p. 116/118), and the “attack” itself can be seen in the video below that. Enjoy!
Summary of vulnerabilities
- CVE-2025-32056 – Anti-Theft bypass
- CVE-2025-32057 – app_redbend: MiTM attack
- CVE-2025-32058 – v850: Stack Overflow in CBR processing
- CVE-2025-32059 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [0]
- CVE-2025-32060 – Absence of a kernel module signature verification
- CVE-2025-32061 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [1]
- CVE-2025-32062 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [2]
- PCA_NISSAN_009 – Improper traffic filtration between CAN buses
- CVE-2025-32063 – Persistence for Wi-Fi network
- PCA_NISSAN_012 – Persistence through CVE-2017-7932 in HAB of i.MX 6
Remote exploitation of Nissan LEAF
Electrek’s Take
This is one of those posts that, on the bright side, does a great job explaining how a remote operator can “log in” to a vehicle and steer it out of trouble when a weird or edge-case-type situation pops up.
Unfortunately, this is also one of those posts that some of the more clueless anti-EV hysterics will point to and say, “See!? EVs can get hacked!” But the reality is that virtually any car with electric power steering (EPS), electronic throttle controls, brake-by-wire, etc. can be hacked in a similar way. But, while steering a target’s car into an oncoming semi might be a great way to pull off a covert CIA assassination, the more worrying issue here is the breach of privacy and recording – unless you want to spend some time in El Salvadoran prison, I guess.
Remember, kids: Big Brother is watching you.
SOURCE | IMAGES: black hat.
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A major new EV battery factory is being built in Sunderland, bringing 1,000 new jobs with it. AESC, Nissan’s battery partner, is behind the £1 billion ($1.33 billion) plant, which will boost the UK’s EV battery production by six times, enough to power 100,000 electric cars annually.
The 12 GWh capacity plant, AESC’s second battery plant in Sunderland, will be powered by 100% net-zero carbon energy. That big jump in capacity helps position Britain as a global player in EV manufacturing while pushing forward the country’s net-zero goals.
The investment is getting a serious financial lift from the British government. Through a combination of support from the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, the project is unlocking £680 million in financing from major banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, SMBC Group, Societe Generale, and BBVA, that covers the construction and operation of the battery factory. Another £320 million is coming from private investment and fresh equity from AESC. On top of all that, the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund is pitching in with £150 million in grant funding.
This deal follows closely on the heels of the new UK-US trade agreement announced a day earlier, which cuts car export tariffs from 27.5% down to 10% for up to 100,000 UK-made vehicles – nearly the total number exported last year. That move could save car companies hundreds of millions of pounds and help protect good-paying jobs in manufacturing hubs like Sunderland.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves visited AESC in Sunderland, where she met with staff and local leaders to discuss what this means for the Northeast and the British car industry.
“This investment follows hot on the heels of yesterday’s landmark economic deal with the US, which will save thousands of jobs in the industry,” Reeves said.
Read more: UK unveils largest curbside EV charger installation of 6,000 ports
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It’s about the future of their jobs. Ford workers at two plants in western Germany are set to go on strike on Wednesday, their works council chief said on Monday.
Ford is facing a worker strike in Germany
In November, Ford announced it would cut around 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027 as part of a restructuring, primarily in Germany and the UK. That’s still about 14% of its European workforce.
The American automaker said the move comes after it has incurred “significant losses” in recent years and a “highly disruptive market” with new EVs quickly gaining market share.
Ford blamed slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and a weak economic situation. It also plans to slow production at its Cologne EV plant, where the electric Explorer and Capri are built.
Last week, IG Metall members voted in favor of “industrial action” with 93.5% of votes in favor of a strike. “Ford must act now—otherwise, we will go through with it,” said Kerstin D. Klein, Chief Representative of IG Metall Cologne-Leverkusen.
Ford is facing an influx of new competition, including Chinese EV makers like BYD. BYD’s overseas sales are surging with a fifth straight month of growth in April.
BYD even outsold Tesla in Germany last month, with 1,566 vehicles registered. In comparison, Tesla had just 855, and Ford saw 9,534 registrations.
On top of this, Ford, like most of the industry, is preparing for more disruption with Trump’s auto tariffs. After releasing Q1 earnings last week, Ford warned that the tariffs could cost up to $2.5 billion this year.
During Ford’s earnings call, CFO Sherry House said that recent EV launches in Europe, including the Explorer, Capri, and Puma Gen-E, helped more than double Model e’s wholesale volume in Q1.
After early success in the US, Ford also launched its “Power Promise” promotion in Europe, offering EV buyers a free home charger and several other perks.
Source: Reuters
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