6 May 2015
Presentation—Introduction to the webinar and panelists
Presentation—Bo Normark: Spotlight on Smart and Strong Electric Power Infrastructure
Presentation—Helfried Brunner: Maximizing DER Hosting Capacity of LV and MV Networks
Presentation—Séamus Power: East-West HVDC Interconnector
Transcript—Webinar audio transcript
The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with the International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN), hosted this webinar on deploying smart and strong power grids.
There is no generic solution or one size that fits all to deploy a smart and strong grid. Different countries have different solutions to the challenges and have reached varying levels of maturity in the implementation of new smart grid solutions. Smart grid solutions are also found across the entire electrical system, from the high-voltage transmission grid, through the distribution grid and finally to the consumer. This webinar, and the new case book on which it is based, spotlights transmission and distribution projects that highlight best practices for meeting the challenge of developing stronger and smarter networks using different approaches.
This webinar highlighted cases from Ireland and Austria. Ireland has improved the security of supply in its network by providing additional capacity. The goal of the Austrian project is to find an efficient way for integrating renewable-based distributed generation with optimized investment and maximized utilization of the existing asset base. Glimpses from the other cases, like the United States’ work with wide-area reliability, will also be shared.
Webinar presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.
Panelists
Bo Normark, Senior Adviser, Power Circle
Bo Normark, the chair of ISGAN Annex 6, is co-chair of the Energy Platform of the European Council of Academies of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering. He is also vice chair of the National Council for Smart Grids in Sweden and board member of the Swedish National Grid Company, the Swedish Transmission System Operator (TSO). Normark is a Senior Consultant to KIC InnoEnergy. Previously, Normark worked for ABB in power transmission equipment including advanced smart transmission grid technologies such as high-voltage DC (HVDC), flexible AC transmission (FACTS) and high-voltage cables.
Helfried Brunner, AIT-Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Thematic Coordinator Power System Planning and Operation
Helfried Brunner studied Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, specializing on Power Engineering at the University of Technology Graz and Innovation and Technology Management at the University for Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna. Since 2004, he has been with the Austrian Technology of Technology, and he is currently thematic coordinator for power system planning and operation and responsible for related projects on this topic. Helfried is AIT representative within the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Joint Program on Smart Grids and Technical Coordinator of the EERA Integrated Research Program ELECTRA. He is a member of the board of the National Technology Platform Smart Grids Austria and a lecturer in the field of electricity networks at the University of Technology Vienna and the University for Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna.
Seamus Power, Senior Engineer, EirGrid
Séamus Power works as a Senior Engineer in the Sustainable Power Systems team of the Operations department in EirGrid, the Irish TSO. As part of his work on the DS3 Programme, he conducts technical analysis and develops Control Centre operational policies for power system operation with very high penetrations of wind power. He has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the National University of Ireland and a Master of Science in Electrical Power Systems from the University of Bath.