eGrid 2024 Agenda

Note that this agenda is still being finalized and will change. Please check back often for updates.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

1:00 – 1:10pm
Opening & Welcome Announcements

Charles Hanley

Senior Manager, Electric Grid Security
Sandia National Laboratories

1:10 – 2:50pm – Panel Session 1: MV & HV Power Electronics

Moderators: Fred Wang, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Brian Johnson, University of Texas at Austin

The grid of the future will be enabled by power electronic devices that convert and control electrical energy. The usage of power electronics in generation, transmission/distribution, and load at all voltage and power levels will enable a more robust, resilient, and controllable electrical grid. Fundamental improvements are needed to scale power electronics to the voltage and currents of grid applications at a cost, efficiency, and reliability necessary for widescale implementation into the electrical grid. This panel will discuss solutions for medium- and high-voltage power converters to enable next grid functionalities.

Fred Wang (Moderator)

Professor
University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Brian Johnson (Moderator)

Assistant Professor
University of Texas at Austin

Giovanni De Carne

Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Rudy Wang

R&D Manager
Delta Electronics

Fang Luo

Associate Professor
Stony Brook University

Jin Wang

Professor
Ohio State University

3:20 – 5:00pm – Panel Session 2: Power Plant of the Future

Moderator: Juan Ospina, Los Alamos National Laboratory

The power plant of the future will be heterogeneous, incorporating multiple storage and generation asset types. These assets and the plant itself will be integrated with power electronics at multiple levels and thus be able to operate in multiple modes to support the grid. This panel will discuss the power plant of the future and visions of power electronic interfaces, new methods of control, and balancing of multiple assets.

Speakers:

Juan Ospina (Moderator)

Scientist
A-1 Information Systems and Modeling Group
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Jack Flicker

Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Systems
Sandia National Laboratories

Olga Lavrova

Associate Professor
New Mexico State University

Rick Meeker

President
Nhu Energy

David Breecker

President
Microgrid Systems Laboratory

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

9:00 – 9:15am
Day 2 Welcome

Amy Halloran

Director, Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Grid Modernization
Sandia National Laboratories

9:15 – 10:00am
Keynote Presentation

Ibrahima Ndiaye

Electrification Mission Leader
GE Vernova Advanced Research

10:30am – 12:10pm – Panel Session 3: PE Grid Architectures

Moderator: Ram Adapa, Electric Power Research Institute

The environment of the electrical grid is rapidly changing. The grid is simultaneously moving towards a carbon neutral future, supplying increased load due to consumer electrification, and grappling with increased risk due to extreme weather. To continue operation of the grid at historical resilience levels requires new control paradigms and architectures ranging from dynamic microgrids to intercontinental super-grids. This panel will explore what solutions enable a highly resilient, renewables-based grid of the future.

Speakers:

Ram Adapa (Moderator)

Technical Executive
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Dushan Boroyevich

Professor
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg

Maryam Saeedifard

Professor
Georgia Tech, Atlanta

Rajendra Singh

Professor
Clemson University

Yilu Liu

Professor
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville

1:10 – 2:50pm – Panel Session 4: PE Compliant Modeling/Testing

Moderator: Mariko Shirazi, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Modeling power electronics is challenging due to the highly nonlinear and discontinuous nature of power electronic circuits. Accurate and computationally efficient dynamic models for power electronics are a challenge which prevents implementation in the electrical grid. Additionally, the nature of the wide variety of grid conditions and interconnections typically requires some tuning of controls in order to ensure system stability. This panel will discuss methods of modeling and testing power converters that can increase confidence of implementation into the electrical grid.

Speakers:

Mariko Shirazi (Moderator)

Research Professor
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Piotr Sobanski

Principal Scientist
ABB Ltd., Krakow, Poland

Aditya Ashok

Director – Energy Systems Research
OPAL-RT Corporation

Shahil Shah

Principal Engineer
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Ashwin Venkataramanan

Engineering Specialist, Grid Intelligence
Eaton Research Laboratories

Dominic Gross

Assistant Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison

3:20 – 5:00pm – Panel Session 5: National Laboratory-based Research and Development

Moderator: Tari Jung, MISO

The implementations of power electronics into the electrical grid will give unprecedented insight and control into the operation of the grid, allowing for operational modes that are simply not possible in the conventional grid. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratories comprise a broad array of competencies that are being utilized to address these new opportunities. Examples include safety and reliability research, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, at-scale system implementations, advanced controls and protection, to name a few. This panel will explore related national laboratory research and development.

Speakers:

Tari Jung (Moderator)

Strategic Assessment Engineer
MISO

Jacob Mueller

Principal Member of Technical Staff
Sandia National Laboratories

Weihang Yan

Researcher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Wei Du

Electrical Engineer
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Henry Huang

Division Director
Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis
Argonne National Laboratory

Prasad Kandula

Research Staff Scientist
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Thursday, November 21, 2024

9:00 – 9:15am
Day 3 Welcome

Valerio De Angelis

Manager, Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Systems
Sandia National Laboratories

9:15 – 10:00am
Keynote Presentation

“Increasing Grid Capacity Through a Resilient DC Grid, Using Existing Infrastructure”

Johan H. Enslin

Program Director
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

10:30am – 12:10pm – Panel Session 6: Financing and Value Proposition

Moderator: Jack Flicker, Sandia National Laboratories

Widescale implementation of power electronics into the electrical grid will only proceed if they make economic sense. While power electronics can enable new paradigms of command and control, they will inevitably not reach pure cost parity with conventional grid assets. This panel will explore the value proposition that power electronics provide and discuss whether power electronics can achieve value-parity rather than cost-parity compared to conventional grid systems.

Speakers:

Jack Flicker (Moderator)

Distinguished Member of Technical Staff
Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Systems
Sandia National Laboratories

Isik Kizilyalli

Formerly with ARPA-E and Stanford University

Gary Oppedahl

Vice President Emerging Technologies
Block Energy

Jim Benke

Corporate Development Manager
Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc (MEPPI)

Mack Knobbe

Senior Engineering Manager
Southern California Edison