Keynote Speaker:
Dean Sharafi
Strategic Advisor – Energy Transition
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia
Keynote Title: Challenges and Opportunities of Energy Transition
Abstract:
Modern power systems are continuously integrating high levels of renewable energy and are facing several challenges due to this evolution. Power grids were designed based on concepts that are continuously changing and our operation have to adapt to the new paradigm. We are seeing power systems shifting from synchronous generation to inverter-based ones, we are moving from a small number of generators located in certain parts of the grid, to very high number of generators located in many parts of the power system, we are shifting from concentrated energy resources to consumer energy resources, also known as DER. While these changes have brought about many opportunities, they have resulted in the need to understand how these changes are affecting the power systems and the way we operate them. There are many aspects to be considered and the industry resources need to join with research community to rise up to these challenges and use the opportunities created. This talk will focus on challenges and the potential solutions going forward.
Keynote Speaker’s Biography:
Dean Sharafi is the Strategic Advisor on energy transition at the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Dean holds a degree in Applied Physics, a degree in Electrical Engineering and a degree in Business Management. He has around 30 years of experience in power system engineering which includes Power System Protection, High Voltage Systems, Asset Management and Power System and Electricity Market Operation.
He is a member of Australian Institute of Management, Cigre, Engineers Australia and a senior member the IEEE. Dean has been actively involved with IEEE Power and Energy Society initiatives and Cigre Working Groups over the last two decades and has served as a member of the Governing Board of the IEEE PES from 2017 to 2022.
Dean has published many papers on power system protection, condition monitoring, asset management and power system operations. He lectured for a decade as a Sessional Academic on Power System Earthing at Curtin University in Western Australia.
Dean is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems Journal and an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer.
Dean is also the author of his memoire “The Unwilling Revolutionary.”