AI in Energy: Challenges and opportunities in grid integration

Grid integration of massive distributed energy resources: Challenges and opportunities

This talk will discuss approaches to integrating behind-the-meter distributed energy resources (DER) into low-voltage distribution networks. We approach the problem from two angles: (i) uncoordinated energy management of individual prosumers and (ii) coordinated approaches that orchestrate the response of several prosumers in virtual power plants. We specifically focus on dynamic operating envelopes (OE) to manage network security. We propose a novel OE formulation that is robust against prosumer demand and PV generation uncertainty.

Speaker

A/Prof Gregor Verbic

Gregor Verbič received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1995, 2000, and 2003, respectively. In 2005, he was a NATO-NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow with the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. Since 2010, he has been with the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. His expertise is in power system operation, stability and control, and electricity markets. His current research interests include grid and market integration of renewable energies and distributed energy resources (DER), demand response, and future grid modelling and scenario analysis.

Host

Dr Archie Chapman

Dr Archie Chapman is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science in the School of IT and Electrical Engineering.
Archie develops and applies principled artificial intelligence, game theory, optimisation and machine learning methods to solve large-scale and dynamic allocation, scheduling and queuing problems. His recent research has focused on applications of these techniques to problems in future power systems, such as integrating large amounts of renewable power generation and using batteries and flexible loads to provide power network and system services, while making best use of legacy network and generation infrastructure. 

Prior to joining UQ, Archie was Research Fellow in Smart Grids at the University of Sydney (2011-2019), and a postdoc fellow at the University of Southampton (2009-2010), where he completed his PhD.

​