Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science Picker Engineering Program Clark Science Center, EGR 105b Smith College Northampton, MA 01063 (413) 585-4222 jcardell@smith.edu

CV: J Cardell CV

Research Statement

Distributed Resources The electric power system is one of the most complex, interconnected engineering systems in existence. The system is currently facing combined and often conflicting challenges from both the ongoing industry restructuring and deregulation efforts as well as from the introduction of new technologies. My research interests lie in investigating the integration of distributed technologies into the electric power system and the emerging competitive electricity markets. The research method lies in developing reduced order dynamic system models suitable for investigating operational and stability issues raised from interactions between the power system, individual technologies and the market structures. Interest in distributed technologies arises from their characteristics such as small size and modularity that offer lower-risk investments than traditional power system expansion options. These low impact technologies can be used to relieve local transmission bottlenecks or constrained load pockets in the power system. They are also typically easier to site than projects involving large generators or high voltage transmission lines. As such, distributed technologies, including small-scale generation and transmission control technologies and demand-side response, can be substitutes for long-term, large-scale generation and transmission system expansion projects. A second source of interest in distributed technologies comes from the fact that they can be the best option for addressing operational changes brought about by industry restructuring. For example, the challenge to operate the transmission system reliably has increased as restructuring has altered the use of the transmission system. In response to increasing volumes of wholesale power transactions, the high voltage system is now transmitting more power and for greater distances than was anticipated by the original designers. Distributed transmission control technologies (e.g., FACTS devices - flexible AC transmission system) address this change by allowing increased use of the transmission system and greater control over the flow on power lines. Decentralized Operation and Control As competition increases, cooperation and the sharing of information between competitors will become less frequent, decreasing access to system data and information. In addition, operators of power facilities (central station as well as distributed technologies) are increasingly reluctant to relinquish control of their facilities to a centralized system operator. These trends highlight the need for the investigation of alternative control strategies that will effectively integrate the distributed technologies into the power system, while recognizing that these technologies will be part of an industry that is increasingly competitive and decentralized. Control strategies that explicitly accommodate dispersed technologies operating in a decentralized control structure, that is decentralized with respect to individual technologies rather than control areas, need to be developed in order to facilitate the integration of distributed resources into the power system. Price dynamics can be incorporated with the models for frequency and voltage dynamics in order to facilitate the development of closed-loop price signals for decentralized market operation. Alternative control strategies will have different implications with respect to whether full or partial state feedback is required as well as such factors as the ease of calculation, the data requirements, the ease of implementation, the strength of the coupling between variables, the sensitivity to uncertainty (i.e., to imperfect information), and overall system stability. To better understand the impact of distributed technologies on the power industry, a first step is to develop dynamic models of the technologies, the market, and the power system itself with different quantities and mixes of installed distributed technologies. Simulations focus on the closed-loop dynamics, but must also account for open-loop events as currently exist, for example, in the market structures. Results from modeling different mixes of distributed technologies in the power industry reveal tradeoffs between traditional and new technologies, decentralized system operation, (imperfect) market structures and system performance (voltage, frequency, price, etc.), and are useful for power engineers, policy makers and investors working to increase the use of distributed resources in the electric power system.

photos from www.cleanair.web.net/whatsnew/photogallery.html, www.tca-us.com, www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/photos.html and www.pbase.com/dusty_d/p_windturbine