Presentation by Dr. Georgios Fotis

Abstract: In each country of the EU, there is a decision center for its interconnected transmission and generation electric system, known as the power grid control center (PGCC). The PGCC provides the functions necessary for monitoring and coordinating the minute-by-minute physical and economic operation of the power system. This lecture is a short introduction to the main tasks that a PGCC is involved in. The most important task of all is that a PGCC must maintain balance between generation and load (frequency control). This operation is successful if there is an accurate forecast of both the power load and the production of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). The EU goals of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 have caused a great penetration of RES in the European system, increasing the jeopardy of a blackout because RES have high variability in their forecast. At the same time, current technologies for energy storage, such as batteries, cannot help sufficiently. Therefore, there is often a paradox in the European Power System: to reject green power coming from high RES production due to low demand, insufficient transmission line interconnections, or very low energy storage capacity! At the end of the lecture, innovative technologies that are needed to maintain the power system's stability, such as green power generation, new power transmission technologies, and the power system's flexibility, are briefly described. Possible future business plans regarding these innovative technologies are presented, which the postgraduate students of BTECH could be perfectly involved in.

Brief CV: Georgios Fotis received the Diploma and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 2001 and 2006, respectively. From 2006 to 2008, he was a Research Assistant with the NTUA’s High Voltage Laboratory and a Lecturer (fixed term), teaching high voltages. He has been working for the Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) since 2009. From 2009 to 2021, he worked as supervisor of the National Energy Control Center and senior engineer of the Operation and System Control Department. From 2022 until today, he has been Head of the Transmission Cable Lines Construction Section of the New Transmission Projects Department of IPTO. Since 2010, he has also been an Assistant Professor (fixed term) with the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Educators, School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE), teaching courses in power engineering such as electric power systems and high voltages. His research interests include power systems, renewable energy sources, transmission and distribution grids, high voltages, high voltage power cables, electromagnetic compatibility, and electrostatic discharge. He is the author of one book and more than 70 papers in international journals and conferences.