A proposal on “Interactive Operation and Resilient Control to Support Power Electronics Based Smart Urban Energy Systems” was among successful bids announced in January by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under the NSFC-UKRI_EPSRC joint research program. The project co-PIs are Vice Dean of ZJUI, Prof. Ma Hao on the China side, and Prof. Tim C. Green of Imperial College, London on the UK side. ZJUI Professor Li Chushan is one of the main participants. This project is a major international collaboration between the International Campus, Zhejiang University, and the College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University.
This project supports a consortium that includes Zhejiang University, Imperial College London, Tsinghua University, Hefei University of Technology, and Cardiff University. Five applications were awarded.
Major changes are happening in energy systems. China is adding about 20 GW of wind generation capacity per year and has replaced all buses in several cities with electric buses. The UK has halved carbon emissions linked to electricity generation since 2012. As discussed in the proposal, the development of smart urban energy systems is key to achieving green and low-carbon urban development and promoting decarbonization and electrification of energy supply. Conventional urban distribution systems lack power flow control devices. The characteristics of a system with extensive power electronics are not yet understood. To address these issues, the project conducts collaborative research among five universities from China and Britain, aiming to solve challenging problems on interactive operation and resilient control. The intent is to support power electronics based intelligent urban systems.
Despite the differences between histories and geographies of cities in China and in the UK, the team found common challenges and identified a complementary set of research expertise. This project brings together experts in power electronics, optimization, control, and fault management. The partners will build deeper collaboration and develop theories and solutions to further support the development of urban energy systems.
Smart urban energy systems architecture with multi-energy interactive operation
Prof. Hao Ma, PI from China, is Vice Dean of ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University. His research interests include advanced control in power electronics, wireless power transfer, and especially in fault diagnosis of power electronic circuits and systems, and application of power electronics. He serves as Director of the Academic Committee of the China Power Supply Society, Vice President and Secretary-general of the Power Supply Society of Zhejiang Province, Associate Editor of the Journal of Power Electronics (JPE), and Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics.
Prof. Tim C. Green, FREng, FIEEE, PI from the UK, is Co-Director of Imperial College’s Energy Futures Lab, a pan-university hub promoting interdisciplinary research. He has led major RCUK collaborative research programs in energy networks. He has extensive experience with China, such as through NSCFC-EPSRC collaboration and as an Honorary Visiting Professor at both Tsinghua and Zhejiang Universities.
Article | Li Chushan
Photo | Stephanie
