Title:
Keep decarbonising and carry on: what are the GB network stability challenges on our way to net zero?
Abstract:
The Great British electricity sector is rapidly evolving to meet net zero requirements. In 2023, wind power contributed 29.4% of the UK’s total electricity generation, and a peak of 87.6% of the electricity was generated using carbon-free resources. The transition is not free from challenges, especially regarding stability. The severity of these challenges was illustrated on the 9th of August in 2019 when areas of England suffered a blackout partially due to the incorrect setting of power electronics converters in an offshore wind farm. The presentation will explore some of the recent stability events in GB, the research involved in understanding them better, and the solutions that have been adopted.
Bio:
Dr. Agustí Egea-Àlvarez is a reader at the Electronic and Electrical Engineering department and a member of the Power Electronics, Drives, and Energy Conversion (PEDEC) group. He also holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship with Scottish Power. He obtained his BSc, MSc, and PhD from the Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona in 2008, 2010, and 2014, respectively. In 2015, he was a Marie Curie fellow at the China Electric Power Research Institute (CEPRI). In 2016, he joined Siemens Gamesa as a converter control engineer, working on grid-forming controllers and alternative HVDC schemes for offshore wind farms. He is a member of IEEE and IET and has been involved in several CIGRE working groups.
Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/s/4640082022?omn=87976595544#success
Venue:
W.G. Davis Computer Research Centre (DC), Room 1302, University of Waterloo