SS19 Contemporary and emergent methods for planning and analysis of distribution networks

ABSTRACT

Widespread electrification will result in distribution networks becoming a crucial bottleneck on the path to a resilient and carbon-neutral power system. This Special Session will explore contemporary and emergent methods that will enable distribution system operators and decision makers to reach net zero goals in a reliable, cost-effective, and timely manner. State-of-the-art planning approaches will be presented from a variety of contexts around the globe. Innovative techniques discussed will span fast-growing fields such as AI-based model-free simulations, multi-vector resilience-oriented planning, and effective integration of low carbon technologies.

CHAIR

Dr. Daniel Donaldson, University of Birmingham (UK)

SPEAKERS

Mathaios Panteli, University of Cyprus
Xueqin (Amy) Liu, Queen’s University Belfast
Matthew Deakin, Newcastle University
Dr. Balaji Venkateswaran V, University of Cyprus
Dr. Jochen Cremer, TU Delft

SHORT BIO

	Daniel Donaldson is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Birmingham. His main research interests include electricity distribution system planning, forecasting, power system resilience, and climate adaptation of interdependent critical infrastructure. He received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Birmingham, U.K., with a focus on resilience of electric power systems. Previously, he spent seven years working at Southern California Edison (SCE) in a variety of roles across distribution engineering, transmission planning, and demand and DER forecasting and he is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of California. He is also an IEEE member, Secretary of the IEEE working group on Modern and Future Distribution System Planning, and Industry Liaison for the UK and Ireland IEEE PES Chapter.
	Mathaios Panteli is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus. His main research interests include techno-economic reliability, resilience and flexibility assessment of future low-carbon energy systems, grid integration of renewable energy sources and integrated modelling and analysis of co-dependent critical infrastructures. Mathaios is an IEEE Senior Member, IET Chartered Engineer (CEng), the Chair of the CIGRE Working Group C4.47 “Power System Resilience” and CIGRE Cyprus National Committee and an active member of multiple IEEE working groups. He is also the recipient of the prestigious 2018 Newton Prize and was selected in the top 12 innovators for 2022 by the Innovation Radar Prize competition of the European Commission.
	Dr Xueqin (Amy) Liu received the Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Belfast, U.K., in 2009, under the joint training with the Institute of Cyber-Systems and Control, Zhejiang University. She continued her academic career in QUB as a research assistant (2009-2011), Lecturer (2013-2019), and Senior Lecturer with the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Her research focuses on addressing emerging challenges around big data applications in the energy domain. She is Co-I leading QUB’s research in the €6.7 Million EU SEUPB INTERREG SPIRE2 project, investigating a Storage Platform for the Integration of Renewable Energy on the Island of Ireland. Her QUB SPIRE2 team has developed a diagnostic software for identifying the source of oscillations which has been tested and validated in EirGrid & SONI. Her team won the Best Graduate Student Poster Award at the prestigious 2021 IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting.
	Matthew Deakin is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at Newcastle University, UK, and is vice chair of the IEEE Modern and Future Distribution System Planning Working Group. His expertise is in power distribution, smart grids and hybrid ac/dc technologies, and has won more than £1m funding to lead research on these topics. He completed his PhD in Engineering Science in 2020 from the University of Oxford, UK, where he held a Clarendon Scholarship, and received the MEng in Engineering Science in 2015, also from the University of Oxford.
	Balaji Venkateswaran V holds a Ph.D. in Power Systems from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, India, and has over 8 years of research and academic experience in power systems and renewable energy. He is a certified trainer for Engineer & Junior Engineer – Power Distribution and an IEEE Senior Member. Currently, Balaji is a Special Scientist – Research at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus. He has published research articles in high-impact journals, delivered invited presentations, and worked on several projects funded by various organizations in India, as well as EU-funded research projects. Balaji also developed a software tool on resilient capital investments for smart grids, which was selected among the top 12 innovative solutions in Europe in the 2022 Innovation Radar competition by the European Commission.
	Jochen Cremer directs the Delft AI Energy Lab as Assistant Professor of Intelligent Electrical Power Grids at the Technical University of Delft. He develops ML-based algorithms for real-time monitoring and control of electrical systems, and examples are state estimation, dynamic security, corrective control, and fast topological reconfigurations. He holds a PhD in Applied Machine Learning to power system security from Imperial College London. He worked at Carnegie Mellon and MIT, RWTH Aachen University, and China and Germany’s chemical and energy industry.