Electric grids worldwide are an indispensable critical infrastructure, and the vast majority of people in our society will continue to receive most of their electric energy from such grids for decades into the future. The impact of the loss of a portion of the electric grid ranges from minor inconveniences for most when the outage is small and short, to potentially catastrophic when the blackout covers a large region for a long duration. Keeping the lights on involves designing and operating the electric grid with a goal of simultaneously increasing two related but ultimately quite different concepts: reliability and resiliency. This talk considers how to enhance the resiliency of large scale electric grids with a particular focus on how this can be achieved while simultaneously making electric grids more sustainable with the use of large amounts of renewable resources. Included in the talk is a discussion of weather information can be used in power system planning to enhance resiliency.
Biography
Thomas J. Overbye is a Professor and holder of the O’Donnell Foundation Chair III in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Prior to joining TAMU in 2017 he was a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before starting his academic career he was employed with Madison Gas and Electric Company. He is the original developer of PowerWorld Simulator, a co-founder of PowerWorld Corporation, and an author of a widely used Power System Analysis and Design book. He was also the recipient a University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering Distinguished Achievement Award, the IEEE Power and Energy Society Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award, and is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Overbye has extensive experience in many aspects of electric power systems, including participating in or leading numerous large-scale electric grid studies.
