Events Calendar

Control Mechanisms for Sustainable Power Systems: Risk management and Combinatorial Optimization

Speaker: Insoon Yang, UC Berkeley

Talk Title: Control Mechanisms for Sustainable Power Systems: Risk management and Combinatorial Optimization

Abstract: To decarbonize the electric power grid, there have been increased efforts to utilize clean renewable energy sources, as well as demand-side resources such as electric loads. This utilization is challenging because of uncertain renewable generation and inelastic demand. Furthermore, the interdependencies between system states of power networks or interconnected loads complicate several decision-making problems. In this talk, I will present two control and optimization tools to help to overcome these challenges and improve the sustainability of electric power systems. The first tool is a new dynamic contract approach for direct or indirect load control that can manage the financial risks of utilities and customers, where the risks are generated by uncertain renewable generation. The key feature of the proposed contract method is its risk-limiting capability, which is achieved by formulating the contract design problem as mean-variance constrained risk-sensitive control. I will present a dynamical system approach to track and limit risks. The performance of the proposed contract framework is demonstrated using data from the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas. The second tool is developed for combinatorial decision-making under system interdependencies, which are inherent in interconnected loads and power networks. For such decision-making problems, which can be formulated as optimization of combinatorial dynamical systems, I will present a linear approximation method that is scalable and has a provable suboptimality bound. The performance of the approximation algorithm is illustrated in ON/OFF control of interconnected supermarket refrigeration systems and power network topology optimization. Finally, I will discuss several future research directions in the operation of sustainable cyber-physical systems, including a unified risk management framework for electricity markets, a selective optimal control mechanism for resilient power grids, and contract-based modular management of cyber-physical infrastructure networks.

Biography: Insoon Yang is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) at UC Berkeley. He received B.S. degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and in Mathematics summa cum laude from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 2009. He received an M.S. in EECS and an M.A. in Mathematics from UC Berkeley in 2012 and 2013, respectively. His research interests include power and energy systems, stochastic optimal control, (dynamic) contract theory and combinatorial optimization. He applies these techniques to risk management and resilient operation of cyber-physical systems.

Host: Prof. Ashutosh Nayyar

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Talyia Veal