Liang Du of Temple University

Flexible integration of an ever-growing penetration of ubiquitous renewable generations (e.g., solar, hydro, offshore wind, and hydrogen), energy storage systems, hybrid units (e.g., solar+storage), and electrified & intelligent transportation (i.e., eMobility) brings challenges to utilize multi-scale information and heterogeneous capability for efficient and resilient control of power grids, especially under expected events. In the existing paradigm, ancillary services, such as frequency regulations and multi-time-scale reserves, are being operated as a resource planning problem through (day-ahead) energy-ancillary service co-optimization. Recent nationwide blackout events showed that, although billions of dollars spent annually on ancillary services, the existing scheme remain ineffective and insufficient.

In this talk, we will first present disaggregation and aggregation models for ubiquitous information in power grids and then discuss real-world challenges in aggregating distributed flexibilities, which have yet to be fully addressed in literature. Finally, we will present results on information and capability disaggregation among DERs, aggregators, and system operators to achieve optimal system performances and resiliency against variances in information freshness and network anomaly.

Biography:

Dr. Liang Du received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA in 2013. He was a summer research intern at Eaton Corporation Innovation Center (Milwaukee, WI), Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (Cambridge, MA), and Philips Research North America (Briarcliff Manor, NY) in 2011, 2012, and 2013, respectively. He was an Electrical Engineer with Schlumberger Corporation from 2013 to 2017. Since 2017, he is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Temple University, Philadelphia. Dr. Du received the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) in 2018, Best Paper Awards in 2021 and 2022 IEEE PES General Meetings, National Academy of Science Early-Career Research Fellowship in 2023, and NSF CAREER award in 2023. He currently serves as an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, and IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy. He also serves in the organizing committee of many IEEE conferences.