2021 AGI Day February 25

Session Information

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Advanced Distribution System Operations to Support Decarbonization and Resiliency

PRESENTERS:
Kevin Schneider (PNNL/WSU JA)
Anamika Dubey (WSU)

February 25 2021 | 10:00am – 11:00am

ABSTRACT: The changing nature of the power distribution systems with the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) and the proliferation of proactive loads require a decision-support system to effectively manage the grid’s decision-making agents. Furthermore, with climate change, increasing system complexity, and the requirement for resilience to extreme events, there is a critical need to design and operate power distribution systems for new operational requirements. The traditional centralized decision-support system is vulnerable to communication and single-point failures, is slow in response, and poses scalability challenges when required to coordinate a large number of controllable agents. Driven by the new requirements for service quality and resilience, the availability of network models, granular measurements, remote control capabilities, and advanced analytics, new methods are called to optimize grid operations. Towards the goal of enabling an efficient, reliable, and resilient with massive penetrations of renewables, Pacific Northwest National Labs and Washington State University have been proactively collaborating on several high-impact federally-funded projects to enable advanced grid operations. This talk will discuss the ongoing collaborative projects led by PNNL and WSU to address the aforementioned challenges.

BIOS:

Dr. Kevin Schneider received his BS in Physics and his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. His main areas of research are distribution system analysis and power system operations. He is currently a Chief Engineer at the PNNL and Manager of the Distribution and Demand Response Sub-Sector. Dr. Schneider is a Research Professor at Washington State University as part of the PNNL/WSU Advanced Grid Institute (AGI), an Affiliate Associate Professor at the University of Washington, and a licensed Professional Engineer in Washington State. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, past chair of the Power & Energy Society (PES) Distribution System Analysis (DSA) Sub-Committee, and current Chair of the Analytic Methods for Power Systems (AMPS) Committee.

Dr. Anamika Dubey received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in Dec 2015. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Her research interest is on the operation and planning of the modern power distribution systems characterized by distributed energy resources and responsive loads. She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award and is currently leading several high-impact projects funded by DOE, NSF, and industry. She is a member of IEEE, IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES), IEEE Women in Power (WIP), IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE). She serves as the Secretary of IEEE Distribution Systems Analysis Subcommittee, Secretary of IEEE University Education Subcommittee, and PES Chapter Chair for the IEEE Palouse Section.

Making “1+1>2”: Collaborative Programs to Advance the PNNL/WSU Partnership with AGI

PANELISTS:
Monish Mukherjee (DGRP)
Gowtham Kandaperumal (DGRP)
Mani V. Venkatasubramanian (WSU/PNNL JA)

February 25, 2021 | 11:00am – 12:00pm PDT

ABSTRACT: With the creation of institutes like the Advanced Grid Institute (AGI), researchers at PNNL and WSU are identifying more ways to advance joint activities beyond the existing collaborations. Two specific programs are the Joint Appointments (JA) and Distinguished Graduate Student Program (DGRP). A panel of speakers will discuss these programs and the collaborative opportunities created through extending our joint interactions.

BIOS:

Monish Mukherjee received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India in 2016. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA. He worked with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a Ph.D. Intern from May – December 2018. Currently, he is working with PNNL as a PNNL-WSU distinguished graduate research fellow. His research interests include transactive energy system, distribution system planning and operation, and condition monitoring of high voltage power equipment.

Gowtham Kandaperumal is currently a Ph.D. candidate with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, and a WSU-PNNL Distinguished Graduate Research fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His work includes quantification and enabling of distribution system resilience, resilient design, planning and operation of distribution grids, and co-simulation of cyber-physical systems. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineer from Anna University, Chennai, India, in 2012 and his Master’s degree in power systems engineering from Arizona State University in 2014. Between 2014 and 2017, he worked as an electrical engineer with Affiliated Engineers, Inc., Madison, WI, working on distribution system design and analysis, building electrification, and master planning.

Dr. Mani V. Venkatasubramanian is the Director of Energy Systems Innovation Center, and serves as the Boeing Distinguished Professor in Electrical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is a recipient of a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from India’s Birla Institute of Technology and Science and M.S. and D.Sc. degrees in Systems Science and Mathematics from Washington University, St. Louis.Mani’s research expertise is in the area of power system dynamics with an emphasis on stability and control. This includes monitoring and control of oscillations and voltage collapse in power systems and analysis of complex nonlinear behavior in large power system models. Stability monitoring applications developed by his research group have been implemented in several power systems around the world. He holds several patents for real-time stability monitoring in power systems using synchronized wide-area measurements. He has received more than $11 million in research funding. He has published 120 refereed journal and conference publications, and has coauthored a book on synchrophasor applications. He served as an invited member of the task teams that investigated the 1996 western American blackouts and the 2003 Northeastern blackout.

Interactive Strategic Planning Session for AGI

PANELISTS:
Jean Frankel (AGI Consultant)
Jeff Dagle (PNNL)
Noel Schulz (WSU/PNNL JA)

February 25, 2021 | 1:15pm – 2:15pm PDT

ABSTRACT: This interactive session will share preliminary findings from a recent AGI Strategic Planning survey. In small groups, participants will also have an opportunity to build on these ideas and provide input on the future direction and opportunities for AGI. A timeline for the AGI’s updated Strategic Plan will also be discussed.

BIOS:

Jean Frankel is founder and principal of Ideas for Action, LLC., a management consulting practice serving higher education and non-profit organizations since 1995. She is an internationally known and respected management consultant, educator, facilitator and executive coach, and is a trusted thought partner to senior academic and administrative leaders in colleges and universities, as well as CEOs and executive directors of professional and philanthropic nonprofit organizations.

As an experienced consultant, Jean also helps organizations find solutions to critical issues and challenges. She is a proven strategist, with group process and analytical skills enhancing her ability to develop collaborative solutions with clients in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development, and organizational structure, process, and culture change. In addition to her work in higher education, Jean is also regarded as a major contributor to the unique body of knowledge of association management and leadership in membership organizations.

Jeff Dagle has worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland Washington, operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), since 1989. During that time has had led numerous projects in the areas of transmission reliability and security. Recent project highlights include leading the North American SynchroPhasor Initiative (NASPI) and serving on the leadership team of the DOE Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium, leading the multi-laboratory system operations and control technical area. In 2018 Mr. Dagle was named co-director of the Advanced Grid Institute, a joint institute with Washington State University Other career accomplishments include leading the data requests and management task for the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force investigation of the August 14, 2003 blackout, supporting the DOE Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration Division with on-site assessments in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, leading the team providing cyber security reviews for the DOE Smart Grid Investment Grants and Smart Grid Demonstration Protections associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and serving as a member of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) study group that was formed in 2010 to establish critical infrastructure resilience goals. In 2014 Mr. Dagle was invited to serve on a National Academies of Science and Engineering committee to provide recommendations for the analytical research foundations for the next generation electric grid. In 2016 he was invited to serve on another National Academy committee focused on enhancing the resilience of the Nation’s electricity system. And in 2019 he was invited to serve on a third National Academies study committee on the future of electric power in the United States. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). He currently serves as the vice president for the eastern region of the Washington Society of Professional Engineers (WSPE). He received the 2001 Tri-City Engineer of the Year award by the WSPE, a Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Award in 2007, and two R&D 100 Awards: in 2008 for the Grid Friendly™ Appliance Controller technology, and in 2018 for the Dynamic Contingency Analysis Tool. He holds several patents. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University in 1989 and 1994, respectively, and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Washington.

Dr. Noel N. Schulz is the Edmund O. Schweitzer III Chair in Power Apparatus and Systems in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University Pullman. She has been a Chief Scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since February 2020. She has a joint appointment at PNNL as part of the PNNL/WSU Advanced Grid Institute (AGI). In January 2020, she started her role as Interim Co-Director of AGI. Dr. Schulz has been active for over 28 years in teaching, research and service at six U.S. universities. In research and graduate studies, she has graduated 45 MS and 13 PhD students; published 175 papers and 2 book chapters; and brought in over $40M in external research through individual and collaborative projects including a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER award. She is the US administrative lead for the US DOE funded project, US-India Collaborative for Smart Distribution System with Storage (UI-ASSIST), involving 15 US partners including PNNL and 15 Indian partners. She is a Fellow of IEEE and ASEE and was President of IEEE Power & Energy Society for 2012-2013. Here research interests include integration of DER into distribution systems including, Intelligent system applications in power system design, control, and operation; and rural electrification and microgrids.

PNNL/WSU Joint Research Institutes’ Update and Future Plans

PANELISTS:
Chris Keane (WSU)
Tony Peurrung (PNNL)
John Holladay (PNNL)
James Boncella (WSU)

February 25, 2021 | 2:30pm – 3:30pm PDT

BIOS:

Christopher Keane is Vice President for Research and Professor of Physics at Washington State University. He received B.S. degrees in Physics and Engineering from the University of Rochester in 1980, and his Ph.D in astrophysics from Princeton University in 1986. Dr. Keane then worked a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) from 1986 to 1996, performing computational and experimental research in inertial confinement fusion and high energy density physics. He joined the Department of Energy in 1996, eventually serving as Assistant Deputy Administrator for Inertial Fusion and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Project within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and a member of the Senior Executive Service. Dr. Keane rejoined LLNL in 2007 and served as the Director of the NIF User Office from 2009 through 2014. He joined WSU in July 2014, where he has worked with colleagues to develop additional research opportunities for WSU faculty and staff, improve the University’s research infrastructure, and bring WSU innovations to the marketplace. Dr. Keane is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and the American Physical Society. He is the recipient of the NNSA Silver Medal, the Defense Programs Award of Excellence, and the Fusion Power Associates Special Award. He serves on a number of national and international governing boards and advisory committees, and currently serves as Chair of the APLU Council on Research (COR).In his current position as Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Dr. Peurrung is responsible for stewarding PNNL’s science and technology capabilities to address critical challenges in science, energy, the environment, and national security. He also manages PNNL’s institutional science and technology investments and technology commercialization activities.

Dr. Peurrung, prior to his current position, served for more than a decade as associate laboratory director of the National Security Directorate, overseeing the portfolio of national security programs and research at PNNL. Under his leadership, PNNL delivered scientific insights, tools, and methods to deploy impactful science and technology to clients in the Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Dr. Peurrung has contributed to a variety of fields within fundamental and applied physics including fluid mechanics, plasma physics, medical physics, separations science, environmental remediation, nuclear physics, and radiation detection methods and applications.At PNNL since 1994, he has served as the director of the Physical and Chemical Division, technical group manager in the Radiological and Chemical Sciences Group, and prior to that held positions of staff scientist and senior research scientist. He managed an internal capability-building investment, “Radiation Detection Material Discovery” which held the goal of improving the understanding of radiation detection material performance to enable the discovery of new and improved materials. He also held leadership positions in both the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Radiation Detection Panel and the DHS radiological and nuclear countermeasures program. Dr. Peurrung holds four patents and has been an invited speaker at 15 conferences. He has 45 publications, has authored or coauthored 23 DOE reports, and holds memberships and leadership roles in many prestigious organizations. He was awarded a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992 and received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rice University in 1987.

Dr. John Holladay is the Transportation Sector Manager at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as well as founding Co-Director of the Washington State University-PNNL Bioproducts Institute. Holladay leads research focused on converting waste streams that present environmental liabilities into chemicals and fuels with an emphasis on decarbonizing transportation and industry. He is a former PNNL Inventor of the Year and a Distinguished Inventor of Battelle. Dr. Holladay has served as Chief Scientific Officer for the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium, Chief Operations Office for the National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts, leadership of the Co-Optima of fuels and engines DOE crosscut. He received a BSc in Chemistry from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Jim Boncella received his B.A. degree in chemistry from the College of Wooster, Wooster, OH and his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, working under the mentorship of Dick Andersen. After a two-year Post-doctoral fellowship with Malcolm L. H. Green at Oxford University, UK, he joined the faculty in the department of Chemistry at the University of Florida in 1986. While at Florida, he developed research programs in organometallic chemistry and metal catalyzed polymerization reactions and was promoted through the ranks to full professor in 2000. He moved from UF to Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2003 where his research was focused on organoactinide chemistry, fuel cell membranes and catalysis, chemical origins of life and national security applications. He was a deputy group leader and was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2017 and a Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellow in 2018. He joined the faculty at Washington State University in August of 2019 where he is a Professor in the department of Chemistry and the Director of the WSU-Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology. He was named a PNNL Fellow in 2020.

GridSandbox: End-to-end Analytics for Grid Architectural Design and All-hazard Assessment

PANELISTS:
Henry Huang (PNNL/WSU JA)
Anurag Srivastava (WSU/PNNL JA)
Dexin Wang (PNNL)

February 25, 2021 | 3:45pm – 4:45pm PDT

ABSTRACT:

The growing complexity of aging electric power infrastructure and the integration of intermittent distributed energy resources (DERs) pose a significant challenge to the system operation and control. New solutions (e.g., advanced architectural designs, sensors, control schemes, communications protocols, etc.) are required for enhanced situational awareness and decision support with the increasing grid complexity. These solutions need to be validated for different possible scenarios before deploying in the field. End-to-end cyber-power system modeling and analytics allows for such evaluations and validations, but requires intensive investment in time, labor, and expertise. The goal of GridSandbox is to establish effective software workflow management and thus enable researchers with limited expertise on simulators and other software in related domains to explore, develop, and validate potential testbed solutions via a user-friendly web-interface. This talk aims to introduce GridSandbox and its functionality of transmission-distribution-cyber modeling and its web interface, as well as relevant use cases including synchrophasor data analytics and transactive energy systems.

BIOS:

Zhenyu (Henry) Huang (Ph.D., P.E., F.IEEE) is Laboratory Fellow at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA, and Research Professor at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. He served as Technical Advisor at the US DOE EERE Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) from 2019-2020. His research focuses on advancing analytical methods for understanding and managing the emerging complexity in the power grid with a new mix of generation and consumption. Dr. Huang has over 190 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of modeling, computing, simulation, optimization and control for power and energy systems. He is a Fellow of IEEE and is active in several IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) technical committees. He is the recipient of the 2008 PNNL Ronald L. Brodzinski’s Award for Early Career Exceptional Achievement and the 2009 IEEE Power and Energy Society Outstanding Young Engineer Award. Dr. Huang is a registered Professional Engineer in Washington State. Dr. Huang received his B. Eng. from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, and Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Dr. Anurag K. Srivastava is an associate professor of electric power engineering at Washington State University and the director of the Smart Grid Demonstration and Research Investigation Lab (SGDRIL) within the Energy System Innovation Center (ESIC). He also has a joint appointment as a Senior Scientist with the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL). He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2005. In past years, he has worked in different capacity at the Réseau de transport d´électricité in France; RWTH Aachen University in Germany; PEAK RC, Idaho National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Lab, PJM Interconnection, Schweitzer Engineering Lab (SEL), GE Grid Solutions, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mississippi State University. His research interest includes data-driven algorithms for power system operation and control including resiliency analysis. He is co-chair of the IEEE Power & Energy Society’s (PES) microgrid working group, vice-chair of power system operation SC, chair of PES voltage stability working group, chair of PES synchrophasors applications working group, co-chair of distributed optimization application in power grid, vice-chair of tools for power grid resilience TF and member of CIGRE C4.47/ C2.25 Resilience WG. Dr. Srivastava is serving or served as an editor of the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, and IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. He has delivered 30+ keynotes/ tutorials/ distinguished lecture in more than 15 countries. He is author of more than 300 technical publications including a book on power system security and 4 patents.

Dr. Dexin Wang is an Electrical Engineer in the Optimization and Control Group at PNNL. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering with a focus on telecommunications systems from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, in 2019. His research interest includes power system resilience, energy storage systems, and transactive control, with a special focus on communication-dependent grid functions, co-simulations, and optimizations.