DLP series activity: Before and Beyond Grid-Forming: From VSM Technology to SYNDEM Architecture for Net-Zero Power Systems
Before and Beyond Grid-Forming: From VSM Technology to SYNDEM Architecture for Net-Zero Power Systems
UK Foundations, Utility-Scale Demonstration and International Standardisation
Qing-Chang Zhong, IEEE/IET/AAAS Fellow
Abstract: As conventional synchronous machines are increasingly displaced by power-electronic converters, grid-forming control has become a major global focus. Yet the ability of an individual converter to form voltage and frequency addresses only part of the system challenge. Future net-zero power systems must enable large numbers of heterogeneous and independently owned resources - including generation, storage, network converters and flexible loads - to synchronize, share responsibility and coordinate autonomously as one stable and resilient system. This talk presents the Synchronized-and-Democratized (SYNDEM) architecture for power systems and its enabling virtual synchronous machine (VSM) technologies. The synchronverter established the foundational first-generation practical voltage-controlled VSM, enabling a power-electronic converter to interact with the grid according to the physical principles of a synchronous machine. Subsequent VSM generations introduced self-synchronisation, robust operation and additional capabilities needed by converter-dominated systems. SYNDEM builds on these technologies to organize participating resources across the power system. The central distinction is simple: VSM synchronizes; SYNDEM organizes. VSM also provides dynamic homogenization with normalized, democratized equal participation, enabling SYNDEM to organize the system recursively across scales. The talk traces the work from its foundations and substantial development in the U.K. through a global initiative covering research, implementation and adoption. It demonstrates the engineering impact through a reconfigurable 108-converter testbed, State Grid's independently implemented 140 MW Zhangbei VSM demonstration, and IEEE Std 2988-2024, the first global standard dedicated to VSM. It concludes that grid-forming is necessary but not sufficient: net-zero power-electronic grids also require an inherent synchronization mechanism and a system architecture for autonomous coordination and scalable, resilient operation.
Date, Time and Location (specific time and location details will be sent to registrants prior to the event)
| Date | Time | Location |
| Mon 19 Oct | 2.00 pm | Univ. of Bath |
| Wed 21 Oct | 1.00 pm | Univ. of Derby |
| Thu 22 Oct | 1:30 pm | Univ. of Oxford |
| Fri 23 Oct | 10.00 am | Univ. of Liverpool |
| Mon 26 Oct | 1.00 pm | Univ. of Manchester |
| Tue 27 Oct | 10.00 am | NESO |
| Fri 30 Oct | 11.00 am | Imperial College London |
Note:
For the lecture held at NESO, separate registration is required: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/08e44c49-8c37-4489-83ac-cba25902abc2@a63c9e9e-b4db-442a-a94f-08718d788e8c
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- Univ. of Bath/Univ. of Derby/Univ. of Oxford/Univ. of Liverpool/Univ. of Manchester/NESO/ Imperial College London
- UK, England
- United Kingdom
- Starts 08 October 2026 11:00 PM UTC
- Ends 30 October 2026 12:00 AM UTC
- No Admission Charge
Speakers
Bio: Dr. Qing-Chang Zhong has served as the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology for 12+ years and is Founder and CEO of Syndem LLC. An IET, IEEE and AAAS Fellow, he is globally recognised for inventing the Synchronized-and-Democratized (SYNDEM) architecture and pioneering its enabling virtual synchronous machine (VSM) technologies, establishing a unified physics-based foundation for autonomous, stable and resilient power-electronic grids. Dr. Zhong began this foundational work during his academic career in the UK. He held positions at Imperial College London and the Universities of Glamorgan, Liverpool, Loughborough and Sheffield, culminating in his appointment as Chair Professor of Control and Systems Engineering at Sheffield. In 2008, he invented and named the synchronverter, the foundational first-generation practical voltage-controlled VSM. The technology was Highly Commended at the 2009 IET Innovation Awards and was developed further during his Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship. His 2011 synchronverter paper ranks among the three most-cited non-survey papers across the 44-year history of IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. His 2016 sole-authored cover story on VSM ranks among the two most-cited and most popular articles in IEEE Power Electronics Magazine. He initiated and chaired the development of IEEE Std 2988-2024, the first global standard dedicated to VSM. His work has been validated across scales through a reconfigurable platform comprising 108 physical converters and State Grid Corp. of China's independently implemented 140 MW Zhangbei VSM demonstration. SYNDEM and VSM technologies were cited during the 2018 U.S. House hearing on "The Electric Grid of the Future." He received the 2026 IEEE SA Emerging Technology Award. As the only individual (semi-)plenary lecturer representing the UK at IFAC World Congresses across nearly 40 years (1988-2025), he delivered the sole power-systems (semi-)plenary lecture at the 2017 IFAC World Congress. He also served as a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE Power & Energy, Power Electronics and Control Systems Societies and an Associate Editor for 4 IEEE Transactions ).
Click here for Dr. Zhong’s full profile.
Address:United States