Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Climate change and its associated global warning have reached a tipping point, which the catastrophic results being observed for the world and humanity. It has been shown that human activities and particularly GHG emissions from the burning of fossils fuels are the main cause for global warming. Thus, Canada and other countries are committed to Net-Zero 2050, which can be accomplished through the "electrification of everything", i.e., using clean electricity for electric vehicles, green-hydrogen from electrolysis for transportation and industry processes, and heating and cooling through thermoelectrical systems and heat pumps, especially ground source heat pumps. However, this would be only possible if electrical energy comes from non-GHG emitting generation, such as hydro, nuclear, and especially wind and solar, as is the case for most of Canada. Since hydro and nuclear power present environmental impacts and large capital costs, and depend on water resources that are being significantly affected by droughts, wind and solar power are the best option to secure a Net Zero future. Although wind and solar power sources have become competitive in terms of size and costs, they present significant technical challenges for their reliable integration into electrical grids. The main two issues are the intermittency of solar and wind resources, and the electronics (converter) interfaces used in these types of generators. The first problem is being addressed through dispersed deployments, proper wind and solar energy forecasting tools, and control systems that allow some limited dispatch capability through oversizing/derating. However, the most effective way to address these problems is through the use of energy storage systems, which are still costly, and through demand response techniques such as the control of thermoelectrical loads and the smart charging/discharging of electric vehicles. The converter interfaces are impacting the reliability and quality of service in power grids. This problem is being addressed through the implementation of special controls, and some colleagues are now considering distributed control strategies. Another problem is the converter characteristics and controls themselves, which may create significant stability problems in bulk power grids. My research group has studied and developed practical solutions to address the aforementioned issues in the context of microgrids, with some applications to bulk power grids, funded by my NSERC Discovery Grant. Hence, based on my research group's widely recognized expertise, this grant will be mainly used to support the research of 3 PhD students to address some of the aforementioned issues with Renewable Energy Source (RES) integration to enable in the long-term a Net-Zero future.