For the electric power industry, late summer through mid-autumn brings a number of conferences to the forefront each year or at least every two years.
This year is no exception. From the international CIGRE Conference held in Paris every two years, to the annual EMMOS conference and Southeast Distribution Apparatus Conference, there are lessons to be learned and topics of interest to those following industry trends. The CIGRE conference provides information on key electric power topics, while EMMOS focuses on large control systems used by utilities and independent systems operators (ISOs). The SDAC offers briefings and training on a variety of power distribution topics, ranging from meter management to control systems to cyber security.
In late August I attended and participated in my 10th CIGRE conference. This year set a new record for attendance (more than 3,000 delegates and another 5,000 visitors) and the number of exhibitors and working group sessions also reached new heights. One of the more interesting observations for me has been to witness the growth in CIGRE participation by utilities and T&D equipment and systems companies from North America. Delegates are either actively volunteering on working groups or doing booth duty for an increasing presence of large-to-small North American companies whose equipment, systems and services are part of the exhibition.
CIGRE is an acronym for the Council on Large Electric Systems, and while the historical role of the council had been focused on transmission level activities, the council is now adapting to include developments on a variety of power distribution topics.
CIGRE’s mission is to produce and disseminate technical information, achieved via two means: (1) conferences held around the world each year, at which technical papers are presented and discussed. (2) Study Committees and their working groups that produce technical brochures, articles and related documents.
CIGRE has four components of its strategies for technical activities looking to the future. These components include:
- The Electrical Power System of the Future: super grids, smart grids
- Making best use of the existing power system
- Focus on the environment and sustainability
- Communication on power system issues to the audience
CIGRE is organized into 16 Study Committees, which each tackle a specific component of the electric power industry including cables, substations, lines, transformers, HV equipment, HVDC, protection equipment, operations and control, markets, system development, IT, technical performance, the environment, distribution, new materials and testing, and distribution systems. Within each study committees, there are multiple working groups tackling an every expanding array of topics of interest and concern to the global power community.
Most of the CIGRE-related involvement of Newton-Evans Research over the past decade has been with the design and conduct of pro-bono surveys of cyber-security topics with information gathered from utilities around the world. In the three major surveys conducted by our firm to date (and another now in preparation) utilities in more than 60 countries have participated in at least one of these survey projects. The observations from these studies has assisted in the preparation of WG technical documents.
Importantly, CIGRE working group output does not result in the creation of industry standards, as does the work of the IEEE’s Power and Energy Society and the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), especially the U.S. involvement of ANSI. However, the technical documents produced by CIGRE study committees offer “best practices” and guidance in line with current standards for power engineering or for those under development.
The annual Energy Management and Market Operations Systems conference was held this year in Albany, New York. While attendance was a bit under 100 delegates, the sessions were extremely informative and vital. The pre-opening tour of the New York ISO control center was perhaps the centerpiece of this year’s conference along with the 90 minute roundtable discussion of control systems topics and issues. This year, the DOE’s Mike Smith discussed cyber security policy perspectives, following the keynote address given by Wesley Yeomans, VP of Operations at NYISO. Enernex’s Doug Housemen provided the audience with a “human look at the 21st century DMS” while PECO Energy’s Len Sanelli and Frank Gabrelli gave a behind-the-scenes review of their deployment of an advanced DMS.
Also featured: Discussions on dynamic line rating from NYPA and NEXANS, perspectives on video wall visualization Activu and NYISO), operational benefits of meter data management systems beyond billing (STRUCTURE and Austin Energy), the outlook for smart grid development (Newton-Evans), Improvements in Grid Operations Using Sub-second State Estimation and Fast Contingency Analysis (PNNL) and a presentation on technology advances in utility scale energy storage (GE)
Southeastern Distribution Apparatus School and Conference: This is quite a long name for an excellent 300 person technical conference held each autumn at The Hotel at Auburn University, in Auburn, Alabama. This conference gets right down to the information needs of field technicians and linemen as well as the operations and engineering side of the utility. The conference is comprised of four modules including (1) Fundamentals of Distribution System Apparatus; (2) Principles & Applications of Distribution Systems Apparatus; (3) SCADA, Communications and Emerging Technology; and (4) Engineering Topics. This means there is opportunity for learning the basics for new distribution engineers and field technicians as well as updating the knowledge base of senior operations and engineering personnel. Cross-module discussions of spill prevention control and countermeasures, power quality solutions, trends and outlook for generation and transmission were among the presentations of interest to all attendees. The keynote address on Hurricanes, Power Systems and Climate Adaptations was delivered by Seth Guikema of Johns Hopkins University.
The panel session on cyber security kept everyone on the edge of their seats, with interesting perspectives from Jeff Gaynor, director of the Atlanta chapter of InfraGard (and CEO of American-Resilience), and Scott Mossbrooks, Sales Director with N-Dimension Solutions. As moderator, I brought in the role of the international community’s efforts in the fight to keep the lights on throughout the free world.
Keep in mind that the Newton-Evans calendar of trade events is updated frequently and lists a large number of electric power and other energy-related conferences at www.newton-evans.com/trade events/ .
Here is a listing of other CIGRE conferences that may be of interest to our readers:
CIGRE Regional South-East European Conference
8-10 October 2014
Timisoara, ROMANIA
http://www.cigre.org/Events/Other-CIGRE-Events/CIGRE-Regional-South-East-European-Conference2
3rd International CIGRE Conference on Transformer Research and Asset Management
15-17 October, 2014
Grand Hotel Lav Le Meridian
Split, CROATIA
http://www.hro-cigre.hr/hrv/3colloquium.aspx
U.S. National Committee CIGRE “Grid of the Future” Conference
October 18-21, 2014
Royal Sonesta Hotel
Houston, Texas USA
http://cigre-usnc.tamu.edu/meetings/grid/
CIGRE – GCC Power Conference
10-12 November 2014
Manama, BAHRAIN
http://www.cigre-gcc.org/english/next-conferences/
To see a comprehensive list of upcoming conferences and trade shows look at our calendar.
summary reviews and highlights from completed studies
