IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer on “Opportunities and Challenges in Power Flow Control in a Modern Grid”
Abstract: The use of electricity is increasing rapidly due to the fast adoption of mega-sized data centers, electric vehicles, etc. To combat the greenhouse effect, the generation of renewable energy is also skyrocketing. However, the other important piece of the puzzle is to transport electricity from where it is generated to where it is used in load centers in the most reliable, efficient and affordable way. The power industry’s pressing need to transfer bulk power along a desired path may be met by building new transmission lines, which is a long and costly process. Alternatively, it may be quicker and cheaper to identify the underutilized transmission lines and harness their dormant capacity to increase the power flows to the lines’ thermal limits by using a properly-designed power flow controller. Also, the grid congestion can be mitigated by holding the power flow in a line at its design limit, instead of tripping the line and possibly initiating a cascaded failure of the grid as it happened in 2003. The presentation will cover basic principles of power flow control theory, an overview of the most commonly used power flow controllers, their merits and demerits, and future trends.