The Saga of Electric Energy Networks: From Ode to Lament and Back

This talk aims to outline salient features of renewable energy integration and coming electrification. Electric energy systems (EES) are an infrastructure that is the focus of a slowly evolving energy landscape. Reliability and resilience encapsulate the key performance criteria, while new technologies such as sensing, storage, and power electronics reshape future prospects. First, we propose to analyze energy systems as multi-layer structures involving flows of material, energy, information, capital, and policy. Next, we outline some aspects of the new wave of sustainable electrification that aims to include transportation, energy-intensive industries, and agriculture. Finally, we propose integrated multi-carrier energy systems with EES as the core enabler, and conclude with two vignettes. The first is about integrating offshore wind into the grid, and the second is about global approaches to dynamic model development, reduction, and identification.

Speaker: Alex Stankovic, SLAC