Training Activities & Webinars
Webinars – Microgrids against Climate-Driven Events in the DR
Oct 2021 – Jan 202
The MG Research Team organized two webinars, one titled: “Enhanced Reliability and Resiliency for the DR Electric Grid: Microgrids” which was presented to the Puerto Rico and Caribbean Power and Energy Society (PES), which consists of roughly 85 members including power engineering professionals, students, and associates in the Caribbean. The presentation was designed to showcase our ongoing research, the characteristics of the testbed, the stakeholders involved, the long-term vision and to open up collaboration opportunities.
The other webinar titled: “Microgrids against Climate-Driven Events in the DR” was presented to the USAID Mission in the DR: Erick Conde, Project Management Specialist, SEED Office, José Frank Cuello, our STIP specialist, Aneliya Nikolova, WASH specialist, and Brenda Silverio, Communication specialist.
Workshops – Development of training courses on QGIS and OpenDSS integration
Oct 2021
In order to assess and study the impact of disruptive technologies such as photovoltaic systems, storage systems and electric vehicles on Medium Voltage and Low Voltage networks, it is necessary to have advanced simulation tools and detailed models of the Distribution Network and its components. Software packages such as Open Distribution System Simulation (OpenDSS) are open source tools with advanced modelling techniques and high performance computing capabilities that can easily handle hundreds and thousands of MV and LV line segments, however the simulation results of these pieces of software highly depend on the quality and availability of network data (type, size and length of conductors or location and capacity of distribution transformers) which is typically stored in the GIS of power utilities. Workshops and training sessions will be given to EDENORTE professionals on the use of OpenDSS and as well as a software plugin that creates the OpenDSS network model directly from an open-source GIS (QGIS2OpenDSS) software environment, which reduces the modelling to simulation time exponentially.
Workshop: Simulation and Modelling of Distribution Networks using OpenDSS and QGIS
The integration of OpenDSS and QGIS has been crucial in order to have the capability to represent the existing large distribution networks and its components in the scripting language of the OpenDSS software. There are several plugins available under the QGIS stack that help correct and filter the information prior to its translation into the scripting language, therefore a course on these special plugins will be very convenient to be linked to the the previous OpenDSS course, giving it a broader applicability.
Workshops – Development of training courses on OpenDSS and Matlab/Simulink
The main platforms/software to simulate the electrical grid components and interactions have been already identified by the team, and training courses on how to utilize them will be developed to build capacity among the students and professionals that interact with the project. This will serve as a platform for developing future work and investigations. The team will organize workshops on the use and capabilities of these two tools for developing Power Systems simulations and to address studies on specific electrical grid issues. The training courses and workshops will be held at PUCMM with the support of the Engineering faculty and student’s committee. Furthermore, these training courses will help the integration of future students into the project as well as serving as a base for the development of the engineering curriculum of the local universities.
Workshop: Introduction to Matlab&Simulink for Power System Analysis
The dynamic characteristic of electrical power systems proposes important challenges when obtaining simulations that add value to the design and planning processes of interconnected electrical systems. Additionally, the growing inclusion of distributed generation requires technical advanced systems that allow studying the stability of the system considering different operating scenarios. Matlab / Simulink® offers a series of libraries that facilitate this process of analysis and design.
The workshop will review the fundamental concepts for the application of the tools offered by the Matlab / Simulink® suite focused in the study of electrical power systems. The content to develop seeks to be a starting point for the use of Matlab / Simulink®, exhausting the following schedule:
- Introduction to the Maltab® environment and the M programming language.
- Data structures and functional blocks of programming.
- Implementation of numerical analysis.
- Introduction to Simulink®
- Using the Simscape Electrical Library for Power System Analysis
Seminars
The MG Research Team is organizing seminar and outreach events presenting the project’s vision, goals, and lines of research. This first event was organized in collaboration with the IEEE subsection in the Dominican Republic. The team has also organized a seminar series on Smart Cities, where we had the honor to have professionals and academics from across the region. The event focused on several topics regarding the importance of technology and innovation in the future of cities, and where we presented a panel on microgrids with experts from academia in the region
IEEE Dominicana together with the Student Committee of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and Island Innovation had the honor of presenting a series of talks related to SmartCities.
The concept of “Smart Cities” is basically driven by the need to improve the quality of life of citizens with the help of technology. Knowing that 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, it is timely for any nation to encourage capacity building, innovation and adaptation of the technologies, techniques and tools that are at the center of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
We hadthe honor of having professionals from the industry and academia who will be talking to us about:
- MachineLearning Applications: The Role of ML in Smart Cities – 📊Guillem Duran Ballester – Fragile Tech
- GemelosDigitales – Exploring applications and opportunities Benjamin Weber – Stor Water
- Urban Refrigeration Networks – Eduardo Sagredo -TERMOSAG
- Urban Small Wind Energy – Potential, challenges and future – Alexander Vallejo-Díaz – Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo
- Hyperconnected Cities – How the #InternetdelasCosas (IoT) is creating new opportunities – Dr. Gustavo Valverde – University of Costa Rica
- #Renewable Generation Microgrids in low voltage networks – Dr. Félix Santos García – Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo
The event closed with a discussion about Microgrids: Is decentralization the future of energy?
For the panel we had the participation of the research team in Microgrids of PUCMM | Abraham Espinal Serrata | Rafael Batista, from Dr. Fabio Andrade – University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and Dr. Félix Santos García (INTEC)
Outreach
Microredes Frente a Eventos Climáaticos
Video URL: Resiliencia Energética en Dominicana
With the aim of increasing the interest in research on Energy Resilience, and connecting with professionals and students in our country in search of possible collaboration opportunities, the IEEE Dominicana, together with researchers from PUCMM, presents different concepts and technical elements related to Microgrids in the face of Climate Events in the Dominican Republic.
It included elements such as the concept and resilience metrics, the use of Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) architecture to create a laboratory of the latest trend microgrids, microgrids in the face of climatic events and how to collaborate.
PROJECT EVENTS – DESCRIPTION