Plenary

Michael Nowakowski is a lifelong resident of Phoenix. He holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in Religious Studies from Arizona State University. He is married to Delia Ortega-Nowakowski and is a proud parent to Victor, Michael Ray, Irene, Carlos Raul and Raymond Casmir.

Michael also is the Vice President of Communications of Radio Campesina, a network of 10 nonprofit Spanish-language radio stations. Prior to Radio Campesina, he worked with the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, where he served as Assistant Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. He currently serves on the Downtown, Aviation and Economy; Public Safety and Veterans; Seniors, Families and Parks; and Youth City Council subcommittees. Michael has served Phoenix in many other capacities as well. Some of his proudest works for Phoenix include:

• Executive Vice President of the Cesar Chavez Foundation Communication Fund
• City of Phoenix Historic Bond Committee Co-Chair 2006
• Member of a Police Chief's Advisory Board for more than 16 years
• Founding member of the Mayor's Anti-Graffiti Task Force
• City of Phoenix Census 2000 and 2010 committees
• Phoenix Union High School Superintendent's Advisory Board
• Chairman of Santa Rosa Neighborhood Council

Throughout his life Michael has worked to make a difference and build community. His philosophy of service to others was deeply influenced by his parents, who taught him the value of community involvement.

Join Michael in achieving a "shared vision" to make Phoenix a place that everyone can take pride in. He looks forward to working shoulder to shoulder with Community Leaders in Phoenix to accomplish great goals and make the community he loves an even better place to live, work, play, learn and visit.

Hardev Juj has been in the electric industry for over 30 years. Hardev received his master degree in electrical engineering from Washington State University in 1981. He started working in 1981 as an electrical engineer at Tacoma City Light where he served in different technical and management positions for 20 years. He then moved to Seattle City Light as the Director of T&D planning.

In 2007 Hardev went to work for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in Vancouver, WA as Manager of System Operations and is now VP for Planning & Asset Management. At BPA he also serves as an Executive Sponsor on the Wind Initiative Team.

He has been on the Northwest Power Pool Board since 1996 and has been the Chairman for the last five years. Hardev has been on the Industry Advisory Board of the University of Washington since its inception. He has served on several technical committees as well. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

FACTS or Flexible AC Transmission System technologies have evolved over the last 25 to 30 years from applications of large power semiconductor thyristors switches for high voltage dc transmission systems . The first application for improving the stability of the power system was the use of static-VAr compensator (SVC) systems, which can be applied for voltage control on long ac lines as an alternative to switched capacitors but not for a significant redistribution of the power flows. The second oil crisis in 1979 resulted in large displacements of the US manufacturing industry with no or negative growth for electricity in the regions with high industrial loads to the southern states where electric power demands grew. If the available, excess generation in the regions that had available power could have been transferred to the regions with a need for power, then the utilization of existing generation assets could have been improved for everyone’s benefits. However, the existing transmission system did not have the flexibility to accommodate such a transfer but ideas for how it might be accomplished arose. FACTS arose as a possible solution. The various FACTS solutions came out of developments sponsored by the utility industry through EPRI and by manufacturers in collaboration with individual utilities beginning in the late 1980’s. The market forces and the FACTS system developments will be covered in this presentation.

Stig Nilsson is a Principal Engineer in Exponent’s Electrical and Semiconductors Practice. He has more than 40 years experience as an electrical engineer involved with a wide variety of electrical engineering and management disciplines. At Exponent, Mr. Nilsson has consulted on design, construction, operation and maintenance of electrical facilities as well as due diligence investigations related to investments in new technologies. Prior to joining Exponent, Stig Nilsson consulted to major corporations on strategic business planning and market analysis. He was the Executive VP at the Silicon Power Corporation and before that he was the Corporate VP at Electric Research and Management, Inc. He worked for almost 20 years at EPRI and retired as the Executive Engineer in the Electric Systems Division. He was a Program Manager at Boeing Computer Services and worked 11 years for ASEA (now ABB) with HVdc systems.

Stig Nilsson is a Life Fellow of IEEE and at present serves as the secretary of CIGRE SC B4 on HVdc and Power Electronic Systems. He has an MBA degree from Santa Clara University and graduated in Electric Engineering from Malmö, Sweden.

Future Smart Grid needs not only smart meters but also smart transmission and distribution technologies. Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) will play an important role in the future smart transmission by enhancing the transmission capacity, reliability, and security. Transmission systems are becoming increasingly stressed because of growing demand and because of restrictions on building new lines. However, most high voltage transmission systems are operating below their thermal rating due to such constraints as stability limits.

EPRI has been pioneering FACTS technology over the last two decades to make it possible to load lines at least for some contingencies up to their thermal limits without compromising system reliability. In order to understand what is required of the FACTS controllers, EPRI has been in the forefront by initiating more than fifteen system studies with different utilities to evaluate possible application of FACTS controllers. EPRI also took leadership role in demonstrating the FACTS technologies at various utilities – TCSC (Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor) at BPA, STATCOM (Static Synchronous Compensator) at TVA, Unified Power Flow Controller at AEP, and CSC (Convertible Static Compensator) at NYPA.

FACTS technologies are offering competitive solutions to future smart transmission systems in terms of increased power transfers, improved system damping, and better system control. The application of FACTS devices are very much system dependent. The simulation of detailed power system models as well as FACTS device models in a production grade program such as PSAPAC (Power System Analysis Package) was found to be necessary to evaluate the complete benefits of FACTS technologies. It is important to consider both technical and economic considerations while evaluating FACTS options.

Dr. Ram Adapa is a Technical Leader in the Transmission and Substations area of the Power Delivery and Utilization Sector. His research activities focus on Fault Current Limiters, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission, Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS), dynamic circuit ratings to increase transmission capacity, and transmission system reliability performance metrics.

Dr. Adapa joined EPRI in 1989 as a Project Manager in the Power System Planning and Operations program. Later he became Product Line Leader for Transmission, Substations, and Grid Operations where he developed the research portfolio and business execution plans for the Grid Operations and Planning areas, a portfolio that focused on the needs of a deregulated utility environment. Some of the tools in this portfolio included market restructuring, transmission pricing, ancillary services, and security tools to maintain the reliability of the grid.

Dr. Adapa has been honored several times by the IEEE for his outstanding contributions to the profession. He has authored or coauthored more than 125 technical papers and is an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He is an individual member of CIGRE and a Registered Professional Engineer. He received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from India and PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

The 2000's witnessed FACTS devices being deployed in increasing numbers as electricity market structures have reshaped generation dispatch and transmission operators have worked to ensure system reliability in the face of continuously growing loads. Looking ahead 15 years, current public policy will likely drive substantial increases in renewable generation as a resource. This presentation will explore how 10 years of industry experience applying FACTS devices to facilitate reliable and efficient electricity markets can be applied to enable the reliable integration of renewable generation.

Eric John re-joined ABB in August 2010 as Director of Marketing and Sales for Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) in North America, based in Raleigh, NC. From 2007-10, Eric was VP of Electric Utility Projects with SkyFuel, Inc., a solar thermal technology company based in Albuquerque, NM. While working for SkyFuel has served as the Solar Industries representative for two initiatives sponsored by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Integration of Variable Generation Task Force and Reliability Impacts of Climate Change Initiatives Task Force.

Prior to joining SkyFuel, he held the position of Vice President of Business Development for Infra Source Transmission Services, an engineering and construction firm, specializing in EHV transmission projects. He was previously employed by ABB from 1998-2006 with assignments including FACTS systems engineer based at the corporate Lead Center in Sweden and US Marketing and Sales Manager of FACTS.

John started his career with Westinghouse Power Generation in Orlando, FL from 1995-1998. During this time, John completed the Westinghouse sales and marketing training program and held various marketing roles related to generation services and power quality.

The TresAmigas Project will be the first application of both VSC and LCC Technology in an innovative arrangement that will allow transmission marketing of Bulk Power between the WECC, ERCOT and MAPP Regional Transmission Grids. The Project will provide in the ultimate construction a three way interconnection of up to 5,000 MW into the 230,345, 500 and possibly higher voltage networks.

The Project will combine the best aspects of modern IGBT based VSC converter technology along with the historically well proven thyristor based technology to provide high reliability, and very flexible power transfers on demand between the three transmission grids.

The TresAmigas LLc business model presents an exciting prospect for how major transmission facilities can be developed in a renewable “rich” area of the USA, and presents the world utility community with an approach that can benefit many international venues where power differential pricing produces strong market pressures for long distance bulk power sales that are time of day and seasonally variable.

Mr. Reynolds of POWER Engineers Inc. is a senior electrical engineer and Project Manager with experience in the development, design, implementation, and marketing of AC and DC power systems. He has specialized expertise in reactive compensation, FACTS and HVDC systems and their application to improve the performance of systems through 500 kV. In 25 years with the Bonneville Power Administration, Mr. Reynolds was instrumental in the development and installation of innovative compensation systems, including FSC, TCSC, and other shunt SVC compensation systems, as well as the upgrading of the agency’s telecommunications and information technology systems. More recently, he has been a consultant with Siemens to develop and market state-of-the-art AC compensation and HVDC systems.

As a Senior Manager for Projects and Transmission Marketing Infrastructure, he was responsible for engineering and implementing FACTS and HVDC and other major electrical transmission class systems, including substations, at 115 kV, 230 kV, and 500 kV AC, and ~/-500 kV HVDC systems. In a 25-year career with BPA, projects spanned a wide variety of areas and included project management and design in telecommunications and substations (including GIS) at 230 kV and 500 kV, HVDC, SVC, and TCSC (FACTS). He supervised various groups within BPA, including telecommunications, advanced controls, and major projects groups and sections.