Abstracts

Antoine Girard -  "Data-Driven Modeling of the Temporal Evolution of Breakers' States in the French Electrical Transmission Grid"

Abstract: The electrical transmission grid is a complex network whose configuration can be adapted using a set of circuit breakers.

As the grid is becoming ever more complex and prone to failures or attacks, being able to monitor the evolution of the breakers' states to detect abnormal behaviors is of the highest importance in order to ensure a safe and secure operation of the grid. In this talk, we propose a data-driven approach to the modeling of the temporal evolution of the breakers' states in an electrical transmission grid. The available data consists of a historical record of the breakers' states over a period during which the electrical transmission grid operated normally. A stochastic modeling framework is introduced where we make the assumption that the state of the grid is a stochastic process which varies according to some current control mode, chosen among a finite set of control modes. The current control mode of the grid is unknown and constitutes a hidden stochastic process. Then, the evolution of the breakers' states is driven by a continuous-time finite-state hidden Markov model. 

We present numerical algorithms for estimating the current control modes and the system parameters. We also present a clustering approach to identify the set of control modes of the network.

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Alessio Iovine - ''Power Congestion Management of a sub-Transmission Area Power Network" 

Abstract: Congestion problems are increasing in number in power transmission networks due to the increment of renewable power sources along it. To reduce their impact, Transmission System Operators (TSOs) as RTE use network reconfiguration or renewable power curtailment in complex subtransmission areas. The operators need enhanced methodological tools to better address the optimal power flow management problem by also using novel levers as for example the storage devices. This talk focuses on the possibility to split the entire system in sub-transmission areas (zones), and describes mathematical models which integrate the possibility to partially curtail the renewable power in the form of a dynamical system representing the transmission network, also considering storage devices. Moreover, optimal management of battery devices and renewable production curtailments are considered for dealing with model uncertainties while ensuring problem feasibility. To validate the proposed method, simulations on a case study of industrial interest are shown.

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Andreas Ulbig (RWTH Aachen, Germany) - "Digitalization Trends in Distribution Grids – Grid Transparency and Big Data Analytics as Enabler for more cost-efficiency and improved RES integration"

Abstract: An effective energy supply is the fundamental prerequisite for sustaining modern societies. Transforming today’s largely fossil-based, in the long-run unsustainable energy systems into decarbonized, sustainable energy systems that actually work will be a motivating challenge for generations of young engineers to come.

Electricity as an energy carrier is a crucial part of modern energy systems. The electric infrastructure, as the main pillar of the energy transition, is poised to become even more important in the near future. Electric distribution grids, where most RES production units are being installed and where the on-going electrification of the transport as well as the heating sector manifests itself in the form of ever-increasing numbers of heat pumps and electric car chargers, are an often-overlooked enabling infrastructure for the energy transition. Nevertheless, distribution grids are still largely operated as a 'black box', since a lack of measurement data collection and data processing makes it virtually impossible to gain practical insights. To ensure that the electrical distribution grid does not become the next bottleneck of the energy transition, grid operators should be more active in the areas of digitalization and data analysis.

The talk presents recent research work on distribution grids conducted at ETH Zurich, as well as insights from currently on-going projects of Adaptricity and RWTH Aachen with grid operators in Europe. These practical examples are used to showcase the technical potential of smart grid solutions in general and for enabling grid transparency in electric distribution grids in particular.

Speaker: Prof. Andreas Ulbig leads the Chair of Active Energy Distribution Grids at the IAEW of RWTH Aachen University since April 2021. He is a co-founder of ETH spin-off company Adaptricity, which develops SmartGrid simulation tools and serves as vice president of the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES) since 2016. He was a part-time lecturer for electric power systems at ETH Zurich in 2015-2020.

He received his M.Sc. from Supélec, Paris in 2006 and his Dipl.-Ing. degree in Engineering Cybernetics from the University of Stuttgart in 2007. Previous work positions include the R&D department of RTE in 2006, an academic stay at Caltech as well as the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2007-08. While working on his PhD on “Operational Flexibility in Electric Power Systems” (2014) at the Power Systems Lab of ETH Zurich, he was an academic visitor at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) and the Energy & Resources Group (ERG) of the University of California, Berkeley.

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Saverio Bologniani (ETH Zurich) - "A Unified Control Framework for Real-time Power System Operation (UNICORN)"

Abstract: With the increase in renewable generation, the electric power system is going through an unprecedented transformation which render today's real-time control architecture ineffective. This calls for more elaborated control strategies for voltage regulation, line congestion control, and power curtailment.

We propose a unified control framework that enables autonomous grid control beyond the state-of-the-art. The key idea is to turn iterative optimization algorithms into output-feedback controllers. These controllers, instead of tracking a reference, drive the system to the optimum of a user-defined optimization problem. Furthermore, these controllers can naturally deal with input and output constraints and are proven to be robust against model mismatch, both in theory and in experiments.

We will look at the theoretical foundation of this framework and present the results of a three-year collaboration with RTE, including numerical simulations on a real part of the French subtransmission grid.

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Corentin Presvôts - "Compression de signaux électriques à l'aide d'une approche multi-modèles"

Abstract: Depuis plusieurs années, nous assistons à l’augmentation de l’utilisation des systèmes de production d’énergie renouvelable. Les éléments actifs, tels que les panneaux photovoltaïques ou les champs d’éoliennes, sont connectés au réseau électrique grâce à des convertisseurs de puissance. Ces derniers introduisent des dynamiques bien plus rapides que les moyens de production d’énergie traditionnels. Cela se traduit par une accélération des variations des caractéristiques locales de tension et de courant.

Ces nouvelles perturbations nécessitent d'instrumenter davantage les postes électriques afin d’assurer la surveillance temporelle et spatiale du réseau. Les données ainsi collectées serviront pour différentes applications aval, telle que la détection et la localisation plus rapide des défauts sur le réseau, l’identification des signaux transitoires ou la détection de la présence d'harmoniques sur le réseau.

Avec l’accroissement des données induit par l’augmentation du nombre de capteurs, il devient  nécessaire de proposer de nouveaux schémas de compression et de faire en sorte que les signaux compressés puissent répondre aux exigences des applications aval quant à l’utilisation de ces données. Dans cette présentation, nous aborderons un nouveau schéma de compression de signaux de tension et de courant basé sur une approche multi-modèles. Cette approche permet d’adapter dynamiquement les paramètres du schéma de codage pour obéir aux exigences (de qualité, de débit ou encore de délai de transmission) des différentes applications aval.

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Matteo Tacchi (LAAS Toulouse) - "Lasserre hierarchy for MPI set inner approximation"