We asked the experts: what is the biggest game-changer towards Net Zero?
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ACDC 2023 – the 19th international conference on AC and DC Power Transmission – is taking place in Glasgow on 1 – 3 March 2023. It promises to be a meeting point for all power transmission engineers to learn about the latest technologies being developed and commercialised, as well as the latest strategies to help the industry towards achieving the net zero grid.
We asked the speakers what they thought the most important developments in the sector are. This is what they said:
What do you think will be the biggest game-changer towards net zero?
“Learning to properly optimise an energy system with widespread and varied generation embedded throughout the system.”
Niall McDonald, Chief Engineer, OFGEM
“Breaking down protective business practices and working collaboratively across the industry”
Perry Hofbauer, Lead, Principal Engineer for HVDC, SSEN Transmission
“Societal acceptance of changes required, such as automated domestic load management.”
Gordon McKinstry, Lead Engineer, Systems Analysis, Scottish Power Energy Networks
“Standardisation of Multi-vendor multi-HVDC.”
Fitim Kryezi, Senior Project Manager, Energinet
“Maturing the HVDC technology further and specifically multi-terminal/multi-vendor abilities combined with the DC breaker.”
Dennis De Decker, Head of Engineering, WindGrid (Elia Group)
“Investment in renewable generation plus new technologies to provide grid stability and energy storage.”
Carl Barker, Consulting Engineer, GE
Which new technologies (in any sector!) have caught your eye recently?
“My eyes are set on grid forming inverter-based resources, benefits for the grid that these can deliver, and how to make deployment of these resources in a timely manner and without facing same hurdles as grid following inverters did over the past 20 years.”
Dr Julia Matevosyan, Chief Engineer, Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG)
“Offshore wind integration using Voltage Source Converter HVDC.”
Dr Pablo Briff, R&D Manager, GE Renewable Energy
“Multi-terminal HVDC, offshore wind, floating structures.”
Dr Magnus Callavik, Global Head of HVDC Engineering, Hitachi Energy
Fusion generation, large scale energy storage, and wireless power transmission at high power ratings.”
Professor Jun Liang, Professor, Cardiff University
“It's more an absence that has caught my eye: methods for dealing with potential adverse interactions between power electronic converters, and ways to reduce our dependency on - find alternatives to - critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth metals.”
Professor Keith Bell, Scottish Power Professor of Future Power Systems, University of Strathclyde
With worries about periodic power cuts due to limited supplies of fossil fuels to power the grid, what needs to happen to ensure that similar worries don't occur with a 100% renewable fed grid?
“High diversity in the types of generation along with interconnection between grids along with more efficient energy users.”
Chidinma Agwu, Senior HV/MV Component Engineer, Ørsted
“We need to better co-ordinate supply and demand -- ignoring the flexibility that demand could offer is reducing our ability to manage the grid.”
Professor Sara Walker, Director, Centre for Energy, Newcastle University
“There needs to be the right energy mix to ensure security of supply in a zero-carbon electricity grid. This will require some 'baseload' generation (nuclear etc), it will require long duration energy storage and some dispatchable generation such as CCUS, biomass with carbon capture etc.
This could be supported by a tweaked Capacity Mechanism to ensure that the required capacity is available to meet the demand.”
Julian Leslie, Head of Networks and Chief Engineer, National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO)
“Ubiquitous energy storage and demand flexibility.”
Dr Colin Foote, Senior Simulation Engineer, The National HVDC Centre
“No similar worries as renewables don't need fuel. Challenges such as grid stability can be handled by the right technologies in place.”
Vijay Shinde, Head of New Technology Solutions, Siemens Energy
“Achieving affordable energy storage is a key priority on the move towards Net Zero.”
Professor Mike Barnes, Professor, University of Manchester
What are you most looking forward to at ACDC 2023?
“Connecting with fellow colleagues; the disruptors, technologists and innovators from the sector, all contributing towards the shared goal of Net Zero.”
Joseph Northwood, Head of Commercial, Stakeholder & Delivery Strategy, National Grid Electricity Transmission
“Gaining insights into new developments in the area of HVDC.”
Dr.-Ing. Cora Petino-Wagner, Electrical System Design HVDC, TenneT TSO GmbH
“Discussions, sharing of experiences and exchange of ideas about decision making processes for unlocking demand-side flexibility.”
Dr Alessandra Parisio, Reader, University of Manchester
“Networking and lively technical discussions.”
Dr Fainan Hassan, Lead Engineer, GE Power Conversion
“Networking, learning from other experiences, overview of the energy sector and manufacturers, and state of the art technological solutions.”
Rosalia Rivas Saiz, Head of System Reliability, Red Eléctrica
You can find out more about ACDC 2023, see the full programme, and book your ticket to join all the engineers featured in this article, at http://bit.ly/3GXRiwK