KEYNOTE SPEAKERS OF ICREC 2024

Fellow, IEEE
Prof. Gianfranco Chicco, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

Gianfranco Chicco holds a Ph.D. in Electrotechnics Engineering and is a Full Professor of Electrical Energy Systems at Politecnico di Torino (POLITO), Italy. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the Chair of the IEEE Italy Section (2023-2024). He received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universities Politehnica of Bucharest and Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” of Iasi (Romania) in 2017 and 2018, respectively.He is the Scientific Responsible of the research group on Power and Energy Systems at POLITO, and the Responsible of the Torino unit of the Italian Inter-University Consortium ENSIEL. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Sustainable Energy Grids and Networks and an Editor of IET Renewable Power Generation. He was the Conference Chair or co-Chair of WESC 2006, IEEE ISGT Europe 2017, UPEC 2020, IEEE Eurocon 2023, SEST 2024 and IEEE SmartGridComm 2024. His research activities include Power System Analysis, Distribution System Analysis and Optimization, Electrical Load Management, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact of Multi-Energy Systems, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence Applications to Power and Energy Systems, Renewable Energy Sources and Distributed Generation, and Power Quality. His International scientific production includes one book, five book chapters, over 100 journal publications, and over 150 publications in conference proceedings.

Title: Renewable Energy in Transition Between Capacity Growth and Curtailment Needs

Abstract: In the energy transition in progress, the renewable energy connected to the grid is growing to reach the targets set up at the international level. The growth in the installed capacity of renewable energy sources has to be supported by a consistent availability of grid infrastructures, together with the expansion of local energy storage. The available production from renewable energy sources must be hosted in the grid without violating the grid constraints. The uncertainty of the weather-dependent renewable energy sources introduces further elements that make grid operation and planning more complicated than in the past. For power system and distribution system analysis, specific power and energy curtailment indicators are defined to characterise the situations that can occur when there is an excess of production from renewable energy sources that requires curtailment to avoid the violation of the grid limits. Some solutions can be applied to reduce the curtailment by using resources that can be operated in a flexible way, such as storage systems, electric vehicles or demand response actions. The presentation addresses these aspects, describing the probabilistic framework adopted to compare different solutions from a statistically significant number of outcomes. The case of possible needs of photovoltaic power curtailment to satisfy the grid constraints in specific conditions of high solar irradiance and relatively low demand connected to the grid, with the adoption of flexible resources to reduce the curtailment, is illustrated with numerical examples.

Prof. Belkacem Ouldbouamama, University of Lille, France

Belkacem OULD BOUAMAMA is full Professor of automatic control at Graduate School of Engineering Polytech Lille (France), where he has been Director of the Research. He is the leader of research PERSI group at the CRIStAL laboratory of the National Center for Scientific Research in Lille, where his research activities concern Integrated Design for Supervision of System Engineering based on multiphysics Bond graph modelling. Their industrial applications are mainly process engineering, renewable energies, and mechatronic systems. He has authored and co-authored more 65 peer-reviewed journals, 180 conference papers and 20 books and book chapters in Diagnosis, Prognosis and bond graph modeling of mechatronic systems. He has given more than 15 invited talks and tutorials and keynotes around the globe. For additional information see https://wikis.univ-lille.fr/ci2s/membres/belkacem-ould-bouamama.

Prof. Raffaele Carli, Polytechnic of Bari, Italy

Raffaele Carli received the Laurea degree (Hons.) in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and information engineering from the Polytechnic of Bari, Italy, in 2002 and 2016, respectively. From 2003 to 2004, he was a Reserve Officer with Italian Navy. From 2004 to 2012, he worked as a System and Control Engineer and the Technical Manager for a space and defense multinational company. He is currently a Senior Assistant Professor of Automatic Control at the Polytechnic of Bari. He is qualified for access to a position of full professor in the ERC field: PE7_1 Control engineering since 2023.
He is the technical responsible for the Decision and Control Laboratory (coordinated by prof. Mariagrazia Dotoli) at the Department of Electric and Information Engineering (DEI) of the Polytechnic of Bari (http://dclab.poliba.it/).
He is an author of over 100 printed international publications. His area of expertise is the development of decision and control techniques for the modelling, optimization, management, and control of complex and large-scale systems. His research interests include the formalization, simulation, and implementation of decentralized, distributed, and hierarchical optimization and control algorithms, to be applied on distributed systems (cooperative and noncooperative), multi-agent systems, and networked systems in smart frameworks such as for example the industry and energy fields.
He was the Young Career Chair of the 2017 IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, the Pubblication Co-chair of the 2020 IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, the General Co-chair of 7th International Conference on Renewable Energy and Conservation (ICREC 2022), and the Tutorials Co-chair of 2023 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC 2023). He is the Finance Chair and Special Session Chair of the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (2024 August 26-30, Bari – Italy). He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANS. ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING and the IEEE TRANS. ON SYSTEMS, MAN, AND CYBERNETICS.  He is a member of the conference editorial board for the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics  Society (SMC), a member of the international program committee of over 50 international conferences, and a guest editor for special issues on international journals.
For additional information, visit: http://dclab.poliba.it/people/raffaele-carli/

Speech Title: Decision and Control Techniques for Sustainable Rural Energy Communities: a Focus on Agro-voltaics

Abstract: Rural energy communities play a crucial role in driving sustainable development through the integration of agriculture and energy systems. In this context, the talk focuses on agro-voltaics, an innovative approach that blends photovoltaic technology with agricultural practices to optimize land use efficiency and enhance resource sustainability in rural areas. The talk specifically explores two scenarios: rural photovoltaic farms and integrated agro-voltaic plants, with a keen emphasis on optimizing layout and system performance. Detailed analysis of objectives and system modeling methodologies is provided for each scenario, alongside simulation results from practical applications, offering insights into agro-voltaics' potential impact on energy production and agriculture sustainability.

Assoc. Prof. Philip W. T. Pong, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA

Philip W. T. Pong received a B.Eng. from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) with 1st class honours. Then he obtained a PhD in engineering at the University of Cambridge. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Magnetic Materials Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for three years. Currently he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His research interest focuses on the fault detection, predictive maintenance, and anomaly detection of power grid. He is the Founding Director of the Green Technology Research and Training Laboratory, leading the research and education activities of offshore wind energy at NJIT. Philip Pong is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP), a Fellow of the Energy Institute (FEI), a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (FHKIE), a Fellow of the NANOSMAT Society (FNS), a chartered physicist (CPhys), a chartered engineer (CEng), a chartered energy engineer, a registered professional engineer (R.P.E. in Electrical, Electronics, Energy), and a Senior Member of IEEE (SMIEEE). He serves on the editorial boards for several IEEE and SCI journals.

Speech: Contactless Magnetic Sensing in Condition Monitoring and Anomaly Detection for Smart Grid: New Possibilities and Alternatives

Abstract: Our physical and cyber environments are becoming increasingly intertwined with smarter sensing, communication, and data analytics. Our daily livings are indeed surrounded by a wide variety of sensors, IoT connectivity, and edge computing devices, constituting smart grid, smart city, smart transportation, and so on. The availability of sensing devices with measurement, communication, and processing capabilities is providing fine-grained data. Together with multimodal sensory data collection and sensor fusion can result in actionable insights and decisions. This synergy can lead to improved ways and quality of life in what we call smart living.
Magnetism is one of the six energy forms of measurands in sensing. Magnetic sensing plays a critical role in smart living due to various sources of magnetic fields such as magnetic fields from current-carrying wires and permanent magnets which are geometrically determined by Biot-Savart Law and Ampere's Law respectively. These magnetic fields can range from DC to AC, from low frequency to high frequency. Modern civilization heavily relies on electricity which are generated, transmitted, and utilized through various kinds of transmission medium and electrical machines that are composed of current-carrying conductors, electromagnets, and permanent magnets. As such, magnetic field sensing is an important source of data and thus information for condition monitoring of power generation, transmission, and distribution.  
In this talk, we will discuss the various opportunities and alternatives magnetic field sensing can offer in condition monitoring and anomaly detection in smart grid and smart city. Since it is contactless sensing, its installation is easy and it can be easily retrofitted to the existing plant and equipment. This will minimize cost, avoid wear and tear, and meet stringent reliability requirement. Contactless magnetic sensing can complement the traditional contact measurement techniques and help to overcome the major obstacle towards pervasive sensing due to its scalability.