Lunch and Learn: Power System Planning in Disparate Systems: Modeling Sustainability and Electricity Access with Destenie Nock

Electricity goals around the world tend to focus on increasing social benefit through one of two things: (1) increasing overall system sustainability or (2) increasing access to electricity. In pursuit of these goals decision makers will need modeling pools that can inform decisions, in a way that is flexible enough to include a wide range of preferences and goals. It is clear that the future generation mix of the power system will change, but the most sustainable solution will change based on a country's goals.

This talk will explore various options for power grid expansion on both developed and developing countries. I present two papers that focus on approaches to power system planning that help decision makers reach their energy targets. The first part is focused on evaluating the sustainability of a set of generation portfolios. We take a multi-model approach, first determining the reliability of the system overall, then evaluating different generation portfolios based on seven sustainability criteria. The second part focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and energy access in developing countries. We have developed a utility maximization framework that incorporates stakeholder equity preferences into an electricity planning model. This can be used by decision makers to determine the best method of grid expansion to meet electricity access goals subject to system and budget constraints.

Registration for this event via Zoom can be found here.