The long-term resiliency and sustainability of a hybrid system are important but difficult attributes to quantify. NHES that can adapt and compete in an evolving market should account for potential future risks and opportunities. This type of predictive analysis, while based on less certain assumptions, is key to making sound investment decisions that will influence future technology implementations.

Classes of risks and opportunities that should be considered include:

• changes in the regulatory framework, with particular attention to environmental protection;

• volatility and long-term availability of raw supplies (fuel, process application feedstock, chemical compounds, etc.);

• reliance of a community or industry on energy generation or chemical production means exposure to supply chain risks; and

• scarcity in the raw material supply or high fluctuation in feedstock prices that subsequently give rise to volatility in the market and ultimately translates to higher overall prices for the final products.

Generally, these situations represent very low probability events, such as scarcity of oil or gas supply, but the consequences of such a shortage could be so dramatic that the overall risk is not negligible.

Portfolio diversification may be important to the long-term sustainability of an energy solution. A hybrid system may offer opportunity for diversification of the current supplier set for the commodities produced by the system. The need for diversification applies to the broad scope of energy commodities, such as providing an economically viable, domestic option for transportation fuels, or more narrowly to diversifying the energy source for electricity production. Diversification is achieved only if the compared energy sources are not correlated. Successful diversification increases the long-term sustainability of the candidate system and may be crucial to the stabilization of long-term energy prices.

In many cases advanced SMRs represent an alternative route to deliver the same products as are currently available (e. g. methanol) by means of different starting materials, contributing to stabilization of the final product by positive diversification.

Low sensitivity of system efficiency to the ultimate heat distribution (end use) offers system versatility, acting as risk mitigation for unforeseen changes in the definition of the system boundary condition (e. g. variation of the demand volume and heat to energy ratio or heat usage).

Hybrid systems naturally diversify customers. For example, if a much cheaper source of electricity is identified by a customer, reducing the electricity demand from the NHES plant, the NHES owner/operator may be capable of adapting production to refocus on heat utilization processes to respond to the demand changes. This operating mode introduces stability in the economic performance and capability to exploit emerging or growing markets.