Coordinated Control and Autonomous Operation of Active Distribution Networks and Microgrids
With the rapid integration of photovoltaics, energy storage systems, electric vehicles, flexible loads, and other distributed energy resources (DERs), active distribution networks and microgrids are becoming key components of future power systems. However, the increasing penetration of diverse and uncertain DERs also brings significant challenges to system modeling, operational coordination, flexibility management, and autonomous control. This special session aims to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss recent advances in coordinated control, distributed optimization, resilient operation, and autonomous management of DER-rich distribution systems and microgrids. Topics of interest include DER aggregation, source-grid-load-storage coordination, virtual power plants, hierarchical and distributed energy management, robust and stochastic dispatch, fault recovery, and AI-enabled control strategies. The session seeks to promote innovative methods and practical solutions for improving the flexibility, resilience, and intelligence of future active distribution networks and microgrids. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
1. Modeling and flexibility characterization of distributed energy resources
2. Coordinated control of source-grid-load-storage in active distribution networks
3. Distributed and hierarchical optimization for microgrids and networked microgrids
4. Virtual power plants and aggregation strategies for DERs
5. Robust, stochastic, and data-driven dispatch of distribution systems and microgrids
6. Resilient operation, fault recovery, and self-healing control in active distribution systems
7. Autonomous operation and edge intelligence for active distribution networks and microgrids
8. AI-enabled energy management and real-time control of distributed resources
Chairs:
Yu Huang, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China
Yu Huang received his B.S. degree from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 2015, and the Ph.D. degree from Southeast University, Nanjing, China, in 2020, both in Electrical Engineering. He is currently an associate professor with the Institute of Carbon Neutrality and Advanced Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China. He was a Visiting Research Scholar with Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. As the first/corresponding author, He has published more than 20 SCI/EI indexed journal papers. Dr. Huang served as the technical committee member and session chair of several IEEE/international academic conferences. His research interests include power system operation and optimization, uncertainty quantification and risk analysis of renewable integrated systems.
Chao Tan, State Grid Electric Power Research Institute, China
Chao Tan is a Senior Engineer at the State Grid Electric Power Research Institute （SGEPRI）, China. He was selected as a third-level talented scientist in the Jiangsu Province “333 High-level Talent Training Program”, and has been supported by the Youth Talent Support Project of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE) and the Youth Talent Support Project of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC). He is a Member of the New-Type Power System Intelligent Dispatch Science and Technology Task Force of the SGCC. He is a Senior Member of the CSEE and a Director of the IEEE PES Power System Relaying & Control Satellite Committee-China. He received the M.E. degree in electrical power system engineering in 2016 from SGEPRI, China. He has led task-based scientific and technological projects of the SGCC and the Youth Talent Support Project of the CSEE, and has been involved in multiple national-level scientific and technological projects. He has received seven provincial and ministerial awards, including the China Electric Power Science and Technology Progress Award, the Science and Technology Award of the China Electrotechnical Society, and the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Award. He has long been engaged in technical research and software R&D for Automatic Generation Control (AGC). The AGC series software he helped develop has been adopted by 70% of provincial-level and above dispatch institutions in China, and has been promoted to the national dispatch centers of Sudan and the Philippines.