Booming the Blue Economy: A New Era for Wave and Hydrokinetic Energy
Organizers
Dr. Yue Cao, Assistant Professor, Oregon State University
Dr. Jing Sun, Michael G. Parsons Collegiate Professor, Univ. of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Dr. Ted Brekken, Professor, Oregon State University; Co-Director, Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC)
Abstract
The Pacific Northwest (including Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia-Vancouver area), among other global coastal regions, has access to abundant renewable energy embedded in ocean and river. The energy, known in either a wave form (vertical motion) or a current form (horizontal motion), still has limited power generation capacity to local grids due to several challenges, especially at the core of mechanical to electrical energy conversion. In 2019, the US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Powering the Blue Economy initiative to explore the billions of dollars worth of such hydro energy potential alongside the coastline and riverine communities. This decade marks a new era for research and development to bring the highest efficiency, highest reliability, and lowest cost for such blue energy usage, enabling a wide range of adoption. In this session, four industry and one government panelists and three academia organizers will present and discuss the technology needs, innovations, and demonstrations of converter-level design, interdisciplinary control co-design, and system integration to the microgrid/grid connection. The panel organizers and panelists especially represent recently funded projects by the DOE ARPA-E SHARKS program and several DOE Water Power Technology Office initiatives.
Short Bio of Organizers
Dr. Yue Cao is an Assistant Professor in Energy Systems Group at Oregon State University (OSU). He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC) in 2013 and 2017, respectively. He received the B.S. (Hons.) degree in Electrical Engineering with a second major in Mathematics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2011. Before joining OSU, he was a research scientist at Amazon Prime Air in Seattle, WA. He has been a power electronics engineer intern with Apple Special Projects Group, Halliburton Company, Flanders Electric, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research interests include power electronics, motor drives, and energy storage with applications in renewable energy integration and transportation electrification. Dr. Cao is the Tutorials Chair of ECCE 2021 and the Special Sessions Chair of ECCE 2022. He is a board member and Award Chair of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) TC11 Aerospace Power. He is currently an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification. He is a co-PI for DOE ARPA-E SHARKS hydrokinetic energy, and a co-PI for DOE WPTO wave energy.
Dr. Jing Sun is Michael G. Parsons Collegiate Professor of the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Southern California in 1989, and her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Science and Technology of China. In 1989-1993, she was an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Wayne State University. She joined Ford Research Laboratory in 1993 where she worked in the Powertrain Control Systems Department. After spending almost 10 years in industry, she came back to academia and joined the faculty of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2003. Her research interests include modeling, control, and optimization of dynamic systems, with applications to marine and automotive systems. Her current research focuses on real-time optimization and decision making for energy and transportation systems. She holds 42 US patents and has published over 300 peer reviewed journal and conference papers. She has co-authored a textbook on Robust Adaptive Control. She is a Fellow of National Academy of Inventors, IEEE, IFAC, and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. She is a recipient of the 2003 IEEE Control System Technology Award. She is the Lead-PI for DOE ARPA-E SHARKS hydrokinetic energy.
Ted K.A. Brekken is a Professor in Energy Systems at Oregon State University. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1999, 2002, and 2005, respectively. He studied wind turbine control at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway in 2004-2005 on a Fulbright scholarship. His research interests include control and modeling of renewable energy systems and electrical system resilience. He is Director of the Wallace Energy Systems and Renewables Facility (WESRF). He has received the NSF CAREER award, the IEEE Power and Energy Outstanding Young Engineer award, and numerous teaching awards. He is a co-PI for DOE WPTO wave energy; and a co-PI for DOE ARPA-E SHARKS hydrokinetic energy.Ted K.A. Brekken is a Professor in Energy Systems at Oregon State University. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1999, 2002, and 2005, respectively. He studied wind turbine control at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway in 2004-2005 on a Fulbright scholarship. His research interests include control and modeling of renewable energy systems and electrical system resilience. He is Director of the Wallace Energy Systems and Renewables Facility (WESRF). He has received the NSF CAREER award, the IEEE Power and Energy Outstanding Young Engineer award, and numerous teaching awards. He is a co-PI for DOE WPTO wave energy; and a co-PI for DOE ARPA-E SHARKS hydrokinetic energy.
Speakers and Presentations
1. Dr. Mario Garcia-Sanz, Program Director, DOE ARPA-E
Establishing the ARPA-E SHARKS Program
2. Alexandre Paris, President & CEO, ORPC Canada
Sustainable, Predictable Renewable Hydrokinetic Energy for Off-Grid Communities
3. Dr. Paul T. Jacobson, Principal Technical Leader, Water and Ecosystems, EPRI
Irony & Urgency: Environmental Review of Wave and Hydrokinetic Energy Projects
4. Joseph H. Prudell, Director Oregon Corporate Operations, C·Power
Direct Drive Wave Energy & Pulsed Power Conversion
5. Alan McCall, Centipod Program Director, Ecomerit Technologies
Impact of Control Methodology on MHK Device Design