Topic : Energy Transformation and Modern Grid

Lecturer: Prof. Vahid Madani Fellow IEEE

Time: 10:00-12:00, September 21, 2018

Site: 3-102， West Main-building

About the speaker:

Vahid Madani, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE – is the President and Executive Engineer at GridTology, LLC., an international advising corporation and training institution in advanced power systems applications, grid modernization, and deployment of emerging technology in generation, transmission, and distribution.

Madani’s experience spans across system planning, operation, protection and control engineering at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E). He has been an industry leader in developing strategies, roadmaps and engineering standards where grid modernization and system reliability for millions of customers reaches equilibrium.

Dr. Madani has held many technical, leadership, and advisory roles including Chair of Regional Reliability at the Western Electricity, and as advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on wide-area systems and on portfolio of energy programs with recent focus on synchronizing renewables for integrated grid.

Professor Madani is the founder and organizer of the i-PCGRID, an internationally attended annual workshop in energy, technology, reliability, security, and resilience.

Dr. Madani is a Fellow of IEEE and IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, author of IEEE special publications, transactions, and has co-authored text books and reference handbooks. He is adjunct faculty in accredited US and International universities, a licensed Electrical Engineer in California, and holds US and International patents.

Abstract:

The importance of a modern electricity grid for sustainable delivery of reliable, communicative, and high-quality electricity is of paramount importance. Resilient grid is a paradigm shift which requires a new line of thinking in the engineering, infrastructure, managing reliable operation and maintenance of the grid.

Demand for bundled load is expected to decline significantly which directly affects the supply side. By 2030, it is expected that 75% of northern California load could be served by Clean Power suppliers according to some projections. Operationally, solutions to manage excess generation in real-time are needed. Electric rates have to be addressed through new structure and measures for utility industry to remain relevant. In parallel, utilities are focusing on improving customer service by making large scale investments from infrastructure, to replacing legacy equipment, to enhancing customer experience.

The initiatives we undertake today from the IT infrastructure assessment, development of new industry standards to conformance and compliance, affect the way in which the grid is operated and maintained in the future.