ICT-Based Power-System Service Resilience
Hermann de Meer, University of Passau, Germany
Disruptive Technologies or Disrupting the Narratives? Transdisciplinary Challenges and Opportunities from Ace+ Technologies in Mobility
Mauro Salazar, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
ICT-Based Power-System Service Resilience
Hermann de Meer
University of Passau
Germany
Brief Bio
Prof. Hermann de Meer (http://www.net.fim.uni-passau.de ) received his Ph.D. from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, in 1992. He had been an Assistant Professor at Hamburg University, Germany, a Visiting Professor at Columbia University in New York City, USA, and a Reader at University College London, UK. Professor de Meer has been appointed as Full Professor at the University of Passau, Germany, and as Honorary Professor at University College London, UK, since 2003. His research interests include Digitalization of Energy Systems, Computer Networking, Distributed Systems, Network Virtualization, Safety and Security of Critical Infrastructures.
Abstract
A vital requirement of the power system is always to maintain a balance between generation and the demand. To meet the increasing demand and simultaneously decrease the carbon footprint of the power grid, fossil fuel-based energy sources are being phased out and distributed renewable energy sources are being integrated into the power grid. These renewable energy sources increase the unpredictability of power generation, as they are dependent on factors such as the sun and the wind. This unpredictability can threaten the system's resilience in extreme cases where the generation and demand deviate excessively. A solution to tackling this unpredictability is using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems, in both a proactive and reactive sense, for power grid services. Proactively, forecasts of generation and demand can be used to schedule system operations to maintain the balance between generation and demand, thus making the system plannable. Reactively, in case of deviations from the planned schedule, certain generation flexibilities can be activated to ensure the generation meets the demand. However, imprecise generation prediction could lead to insufficient flexibility to restore a balance between generation and demand, leading to cascading impacts on the power system. This reliance of the power system on the ICT system introduces a mutual dependency, where the power system relies on ICT for monitoring, control and decision making and ICT relies on the power system for power supply. Consequently, issues such as incorrect and unavailable data and increased communication latency can lead to erroneous decisions being taken in the power system. These issues impact the resilience of the system since the erroneous decision taken may not remedy the existing challenge and, in fact, may exacerbate its impact. Some relevant power and energy services are, for example, related to protection, blackstart or flexibility.
Disruptive Technologies or Disrupting the Narratives? Transdisciplinary Challenges and Opportunities from Ace+ Technologies in Mobility
Mauro Salazar
Eindhoven University of Technology
Netherlands
![]()
Brief Bio
Mauro Salazar is an Assistant Professor in the Control Systems Technology section at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands, where he leads the MOVEMENT Research Group, with a co-affiliation at Eindhoven AI Systems Institute (EAISI). He received the PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zürich in collaboration with the Ferrari Formula 1 team in 2019, and then moved to Stanford University for his Postdoc until 2020. Mauro’s research is focused on optimization models and methods for cyber-socio-technical systems and control, with applications on sustainable mobility systems that foster well-being, pandemic control, and material design. He was awarded the ETH Medal for his MSc and PhD theses, and his papers were recognized with the Best Student Paper award at the 2018 IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Conference and at the 2022 European Control Conference, and with the Best Paper Award at the 2024 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference. In 2021, he received the Best Teacher Award in the Mechanical Engineering MSc, and, in 2022, he was nominated for TU/e’s Young Researcher Award.
Abstract
Nowadays urban mobility systems are facing challenges ranging from environmental pollution to social injustice. The advent of cyber-physical technologies such as automated driving, connectivity and powertrain electrification (ACE), along with well-established innovations (+), might provide us with promising opportunities to face these challenges. However, there is a risk of falling into the “engineer trap”, where technology-driven solutions may backfire on society.
In this context, this talk will show how we have devised optimization models and methods to address research questions encompassing the individual-vehicle and the transportation-system level. In particular, I will first present models and optimization algorithms to design and control fully-electric vehicles. Second, I will give an overview on our work on mobility systems, including concepts and models to study the societal benefits stemming from new mobility paradigms in terms of sustainability, well-being, accessibility and justice.