Andrew Owens is the Global Product Manager – High Power Solutions for Hitachi Energy’s Power Quality Solutions in Västerås, Sweden. Andrew is responsible for the STATCOM, Series Compensation, and Synchronous Condenser portfolio of products. This includes research and development, cost management, process initiation and improvements, and collaborative supplier development. Prior to this, he served as the North American Hub Tendering Manager and Business Development Manager at Hitachi Energy’s predecessor ABB. He first joined ABB as a Sales Engineer in 2008. Andrew has a degree in Industrial Engineering at the Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and earned a master’s degree in Business Administration at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in the US.

Panel 5: How to Deal with Penetration of Renewables in the Grid?

Thursday, January 16th
16:15 – 17:45 | HG F 30 | Audi Max

Moderator: Albert Kammerer (Ansaldo Energia)

Panelists: Yunhe Hou (The University of Hong Kong), Frank Robin Muller (Amprion),  Brett Oakleaf (NREL), Andrew J. Owens (Hitachi Energy)

Abstract:

Power grids have been built on the concept of centralized power production. Large power units in the 10-1’000 MWe range provide steady base load power supply which is dispatchable on demand. Their capacity has been typically matching the local demand for power and therefore providing a stable and reliable power system. However, with the ever increase of renewables, the existing power grids must adapt. Several factors strain the capacity of power grids: intermittency of renewable power, increased distance for power transmission, lack of large-scale storage and lack of reactive power. This panels addresses this trend and highlights the challenges and possible solutions.