Title of Talk: Power-Electronics-Enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Next-Generation Smart Grids
Abstract of Talk
Power systems are going through a paradigm shift. Centralized large power plants are being replaced with millions of incompatible, relatively small distributed generators. At the same time, the number of loads is constantly increasing. These present unprecedented challenges to the operation of future power systems. In this talk, it will be revealed that the fundamental challenge behind this paradigm shift is that future power systems will be power-electronics-enabled with millions of heterogeneous active players, rather than electric-machines-based with thousands of homogeneous generators. A holistic grid architecture, referred to as the SYNDEM (meaning synchronized and democratized) grid architecture, together with its technical routes, will then be presented to accelerate this paradigm shift and harmonize future power systems. Millions of power-electronics-enabled active players, large or small, supplying or consuming, can be controlled to behave like virtual synchronous machines so that they can equally, autonomously, and actively take part in the regulation of system frequency and voltage. Moreover, the communication infrastructure can be released from the low-level control of power systems. This opens up the prospect of achieving autonomous operation for future power systems without relying on communication networks. This holistic solution could considerably enhance the stability, scalability, operability, security, reliability, and resiliency of the next-generation smart grid.
Biography of the Speaker
Dr. Qing-Chang Zhong, Fellow of IEEE, is the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering and Management at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA, and the Founder and CEO of Syndem LLC, USA. He was educated at Imperial College London (Ph.D., 2004, winning the Best Doctoral Thesis Prize), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Ph.D., 2000), Hunan University (MSc, 1997), and Hunan Institute of Engineering (Diploma, 1990). He is a world-leading multidisciplinary expert in control theory, power electronics, and power systems, having been recognized as a Distinguished Lecturer by IEEE Power and Energy Society, IEEE Control Systems Society, and IEEE Power Electronics Society. Before joining the Illinois Institute of Technology, he was the Chair Professor in Control and Systems Engineering at The University of Sheffield, UK. He (co-)authored four research monographs, including Power Electronics-Enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Next Generation Smart Grids (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2020), Control of Power Inverters in Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Integration (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2013), and Robust Control of Time-delay Systems (Springer, 2006). He was an Associate Editor for several leading journals in control and power engineering, including IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, and IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology. He proposed the SYNDEM (meaning synchronized and democratized) grid architecture for the next-generation smart grid based on the synchronization mechanism of synchronous machines, which unifies and harmonizes the interface and interaction of power system players with the grid to achieve autonomous operation, without relying on communication networks. His current research focuses on control and systems theory, power electronics, and the seamless integration of both to address fundamental challenges in energy and power systems. His vision is to advance global energy freedom for billions of people with access to low-cost clean electricity.