Can renewables deliver sustainability and security? Join this public lecture to explore what keeps the lights on in a low carbon system.

** Note this is the registration page for in-person attendance. If you wish to attend online and watch the live stream of the event please use the on the online registration page here**

This lecture explores one of the defining energy challenges of our time: how to build electricity systems that are not only low carbon, but also secure, reliable and resilient. You will hear from experts in electricity system design and operation, with experience spanning transmission and distribution and perspectives from both the UK and internationally:

Keith Bell, University of Strathclyde and the Climate Change Committee

Pierluigi Mancarella, University of Melbourne, Australia, and University of Manchester, UK

Jianing Cao, SP Energy Networks

Simon Gill, University of Strathclyde

Attending the event

The lecture will be held in person at the University of Strathclyde’s Learning and Teaching Building in central Glasgow.

Doors will open at 17:15, and the lecture and panel discussion will run from 17:45 to 19:00.

A drinks reception will take place immediately afterwards.

What the lecture will cover

Renewable energy technologies are being deployed because they offer several compelling advantages. Their levelised cost of energy has fallen dramatically over the past 20 years and is now often lower than that of conventional generation. They also significantly reduce carbon emissions and lessen dependence on fossil fuels, whose geopolitical vulnerabilities have repeatedly contributed to inflation and economic instability.

For countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, renewable generation can therefore enhance both sustainability and security of supply.

However, renewable energy introduces characteristics that differ from those of traditional power systems. Wind and solar resources are variable and only partly predictable, while the technologies used to convert these resources into electricity interact with power systems in new ways.

Despite these changes, one requirement remains unchanged: electricity systems must continue to deliver energy securely, reliably and resiliently.

Leading academic and industry experts from the UK and Australia will examine what reliability and resilience mean in practice and explore the factors that have historically caused major supply interruptions.

Using case studies of significant power-system events in Australia, Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula, the lecture will assess whether such incidents can legitimately be attributed to renewable energy. It will also consider what the broader evidence from a large catalogue of system disturbances reveals about the true causes of major power-system incidents.

The lecture will examine the engineering, commercial, regulatory and policy measures required to ensure that renewable-dominated electricity systems continue to meet society’s expectations for reliability and resilience.

It will highlight both the progress already achieved and the opportunities emerging as power systems continue their transition towards a sustainable energy future.

Description supplied by the event organiser.