Resilience and interregional transmission needs for the power grid transformation

Abstract

The power grid is currently undergoing a significant transformation with recently increased penetration of inverter based resources and with the expected significant changes towards zero emission energy systems. Expanding the interregional bulk transmission systems is expected to benefit the transition, in particular large HVDC transmission systems have been proposed to connect remote renewables to load centers. At the same time, the transmission system should be resilient to extreme weather events like hurricanes. In this talk, I will cover related work on interregional transmission and resilience related to hurricane events. I will cover work on HVDC transmission overlay on continental U.S. and work on studying transmission resilience in Puerto Rico with scenarios of high penetration or renewables.

Speaker Bio

Marcelo A. Elizondo joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a Research Electrical Engineer in 2009. Since then, he has lead a portfolio of projects on bulk electric systems planning, renewable integration, HVDC transmission, and resilience to extreme weather events. Marcelo received the electrical engineering and Ph.D. degrees in electric power systems from the Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Argentina, in 2001 and 2008, respectively. He was a Visiting Scholar with Carnegie Mellon University, USA between 2003 and 2005; and an Undergraduate Visiting Scholar with Supelec, France in 2001. From 2007 to 2009, Marcelo was a Consultant with Mercados Energeticos Consultores, Argentina, an international power system consulting firm.