Keynote Speaker:
Nirmal Nair
IEEE PES Vice President Education
University of Auckland
New Zealand
Keynote Title: Emergent Digital Substations: Principles, Applications and Standards
Abstract:
With the emergence of highly distributed, decentralized and digitalized nature of networks, particularly distribution systems, there is a need to establish first-order principles that will help guide developing guides and standards to help implement various applications and services that are being conceived globally. This presenter has co-edited a Book “IEC 61850 Principles and Applications to Electric Power Systems https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-24567-1 that is helping shape electricity network utilities globally embarking upon increased substation building activities, including in New Zealand where the presenter currently lives.
This presentation will identify those principles and then extend it towards emergent applications that are likely to be supported during this transitions and potential risks and challenges. The presenter has been is an early pioneer of IEC 61850 contributing towards research, policy, practice, implementation and driving maturity and growth of its deployments in actual substations and for newer digital substation designs. The future application case-exemplar will be based on the other expertise domain of this presenter around Effective Fault-ride through (FRT) and Smart Load-shedding for Secure Renewable Grid Integration which will provide good education/research context to the attractiveness of using Digital Substation architecture for future emerging AC-DC network architecture of power systems. This will be based on ongoing work in NZ around the research program https://www.fan.ac.nz/ . This keynote also plans to share the requirements and demands that will be posed on electrical power systems to be handle not only high-impact low probability events like earthquakes that New Zealand is prone to like Nepal where this conference is being held https://quakecore.nz/research-qc2/ip4/ but also adapting to increasing high-impact low frequency severe climatic extreme events like flooding, typhoons, extreme heat-cold. Increased flexibility, agility and responsiveness will be demanded of substation automation and control which Digital substation can be configured to operate through existing human-machine expertise or futuristic modes armed through machine-learning and Artificial Intelligence supported algorithms and processes.
Keynote Speaker’s Biography:
Nirmal-Kumar C Nair has BE from M.S. University, Baroda, ME in High Voltage from IISC and PhD from Texas A and M. He has held several industry, research and academic posts in India, USA and New Zealand. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in Electrical, Computer, and Software Engineering. at University of Auckland. He works on protection, renewable grid integration, electricity markets, blackouts, restoration and resilience and engages on industry projects through consultancy. He is passionate about life-long-learning, energy policy, innovation and media outreach.
He is actively involved with IEEE Power and Energy Society and NZ Electricity Engineers Association (EEA). He is CIGRE NZNC Executive Committee member and in the leadership of CIGRE B5 (Protection and Automation) since 2010 participating and leading working groups. In IEEE PES he has held various leadership positions and was nominated for several elected positions. He currently serves in the IEEE PES Governing Board as Vice President of Education. He was the General Organizing Chair for IEEE PES 2012 POWERCON, IEEE PES ISGT-ASIA 2017, 2017 CIGRE AUCKLAND, 2018 AUPEC, IEEE Region 10 TENCON 2021, IEEE PES-PELS EGRID 2022, IEEE EdSOC 2023, IEEE PES ISGT 2023 all held in Auckland. He currently also serves in IEEE New Zealand Council Chair representing to IEEE R10 Board. He has received several recognition from IEEE Region 10 including the Outstanding Volunteer Award 2014.
He helps organize several life-long learning events for professional engineers through CIGRE NZ https://cigre.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/ He was the special reporter for “Protection under System Emergency Conditions” during CIGRE B5 Paris session (26-31 Aug 2018) and for “PS 2 Applications of emerging technology for protection, automation and control” during CIGRE B5 Paris Session (28 Aug – 2 Sept 2022). He received Distinguished Member of CIGRE in 2018 and Outstanding Service Award from CIGRE B5 in 2022.