CIGRE-AORC Technical Meeting 2020 - Japan Web-Library Event

By Shinichi Suganuma, Chair, organizing committee of CIGRE-AORC Technical Meeting 2020 – Japan Web-library Event

Event management

In order to ensure the health and safety of not only the event participants but also the event organizers, the organizing committee decided to hold the event completely virtually, without including any live events. The presentation files were uploaded to the "Mirror Panel JP.B5" of the CIGRE-KMS (Knowledge Management System), and participants were free to download and view them at any time or place during the event.

Number of papers and participants accepted

In order to collect a large number of papers from various countries, the relevant study committee was set to all 16 SCs, and a wide range of topics was set. As a result, 85 papers were eventually accepted, mainly from Japan, China, and India, and 197 experts registered to participate.

Event program (lineup of presentation materials uploaded to KMS)

1. Opening Ceremony

   1. Opening Remarks
   2. Welcome Remarks
   3. Keynote Speech
   4. Special Announcement
       

2. Paper Sessions

3. Young Member and WiE Forum

4. Reports on Recent Activities in 16 Study Committees

 

1．Opening Ceremony

In the ceremony, the following guest speakers kindly gave opening speeches and keynote presentations:

Welcome Remarks:

• Mr. Thani Al-Kusaibi, Chair, CIGRE-AORC
• Mr. Michel AUGONNET, President, CIGRE Central Office
• Prof. Akihiko YOKOYAMA, Chair, Japanese National Committee of CIGRE

Keynote Speeches:

• “Renewable Energy in Korea: Policy & Outlook”, presented by Prof. Emeritus J.Y. KOO, Hanyang University, KOREA
• “Nationwide Project for Enhancement of the Grid Resilience in Japan”, presented by Mr. Kazuki TERASHIMA, Executive Vice President, Organization for Cross-regional  Coordination of Transmission Operators (OCCTO), JAPAN
• “Utility 3.0: Japan’s Utility of the Future”, presented by Dr. Hiroshi OKAMOTO, Executive Vice President, TEPCO Power Grid, Inc., JAPAN

2. Paper Sessions

The topics of the 85 papers accepted can be categorized as shown in the table below. We were able to collect papers on a wide range of technical topics, with a relatively high concentration on topic “(1) Transmission lines, T & D equipment and Substation facilities”.

There were also many papers categorized as “Network stabilization technologies” in topic “(3) T & D System planning, Operation & Control”, and “Engineering/Simulation models, tools & work methods” in topic “(4) Common topics”.

On the KMS, a total of 92 questions and 5 comments for 39 papers, and 67 responses to them were posted.

3. Young Member and WiE Forum (from NGN & WiE members)

The Young Member & WiE Forum was originally planned to be an “NGN/WiE Workshop” to promote awareness of future collaboration and cooperation among young engineers and women engineers by presenting and exchanging opinions on the current status and future challenges in realizing the "Electricity Supply Systems of the Future" at the CIGRE Central Office, under the end-to-end concept in AORC countries.

However, the AORC Technical Meeting was held virtually due to the spread of COVID-19 infections, and because only 4 out of 12 AORC member countries have organized NGNs the organizing committee decided to change the event to the “Young Member & WiE Forum”. The Forum was held to present an overview of the activities of NGNs, as well as young engineers and women engineers in each country, in addition to the activities for “Electricity Supply Systems of the Future”.

The Forum was moderated by Mr. Koji KAWAKITA, Chairperson of Study Committee B3 (Substations and electrical installations). Tamami KURIHARA, as a representative of Japan-NGN, led the presentation session featuring the following 6NC representatives:

1. AUSTRALIA  Mr. Bingxiang Lin: B2 (overhead lines)
   Title: CIGRE-AORC 2020_YM_WiE_Australia
2. CHINA  Dr. Liu Yanli: C2 (Power system operation and control) and Mr. WU Zhisheng: B3 (Substations and electrical installations)
   Title: NGN_WIE Presentation-CNC / Introduction of NGN China
3. INDONESIA  Ms. Wa Ode Astuty H.: WiE
   Title: Future Electricity Supply in Indonesia - Future Implementation of Supergrid
4. JAPAN  Mr. Yu Takamizawa: C5 (Electricity Markets and Regulation)
   Title: CIGRE-AORC 2020_YM_WiE_Japan
5. MALAYSIA  Mr. Foon Chun Yin: C2 (Power system operation and control)
   Title: CIGRE-AORC 2020_YM_WiE_Malaysia
6. THAILAND  Ms. Sirikullaya Patchanee: C2 (Power system operation and control)
   Title: CIGRE-AORC 2020_YM_WiE_Thailand 

During the event, four questions and four answers to them were posted on the KMS. In lively discussions, some participants expressed their desire to set up NGNs in the future, and we believe that the purpose of this forum was achieved.

We would like to continue to expand the base of the CIGRE activity network by boosting NGN/WiE activities.

4. Reports on Recent Activities in 16 Study Committees

Some countries in the Asia-Oceania region do not have their own National Committees. The purpose of this reporting event is to introduce the technical topics covered by the 16 Study Committees, and their activities in major events such as the Paris Sessions and Colloquium to engineers in such countries, and to appeal to engineers (especially young engineers) who do not have many opportunities to come into contact with their activities.

Presentation slides were prepared and posted by the 16 SC chairpersons of the Japanese NC.

Panel Meeting

AORC Panel B1 Meeting

The 15^th AORC Panel B1 Meeting was originally planned to be a physical meeting at the same venue and location as the Technical Meeting. However, it was decided to hold this as a web meeting also.

The meeting was held on 10^th November 2020, from 10:30 JST. Despite the time differences (India -3.5 hours, New Zealand +4 hours), around 40 CIGRE B1 colleagues from 9 countries (AU, CA, CN, ID, IN, JP, NZ, SP and TH) attended and had very fruitful information exchanges and discussions.

The meeting was chaired by Hideo Tanaka (JP), as AORC Panel B1 convener, and began with welcome remarks, followed by a report on the previous (14th) meeting in Bali, Indonesia on 26th March 2019.

The meeting consisted of 4 sessions. In Session 1, SC B1 activities, WG activity reports from WG B1.54, 62 and 64 were presented. In Session 2, 7 countries reported on their updated activities relating to SC B1. In Session 3, there were 4 presentations relating to new cables & accessories, and installation and assembly methods for cable systems. In Session 4, there were 7 presentations relating to monitoring, diagnostics, testing, fault location and maintenance methods for cable systems.

Very interesting discussions followed each presentation, in the same way as a regular physical meeting, and the first web meeting trial was considered a success.

In the Wrap-up Session, the KMS AORC B1 space was promoted to attendees and attendees were encouraged to access this page for mutual collaboration among AORC Panel B1 colleagues.           

This was the last meeting for Hideo Tanaka (JP) as Convener because his term of office is 2019-20. The position of Convener has been taken over by Ying Wang (CN) for the next 2 years (2021-22), to be followed by Lalit Sharma (IN) in 2023-24. They provided short remarks on their acceptance of their upcoming Panel B1 Convener terms.

The meeting was successfully concluded at 19:00JST. The next meeting, for 2021, will be arranged by the new Convener.

AORC Panel B2 Meeting

The AORC Panel B2 Meeting was held online on 11^th November 2020, from 10:30 JST. 68 participants attended, which was the highest number of participants to date. The meeting was chaired by Tetsuya Yamanaka (JP), as AORC Panel B2 convener, and began with welcome remarks by Yuko Kuranari (JP) as Chairman, SC B2 Japanese National Committee of CIGRE. The meeting consisted of 2 sessions. In the 1st Session, current SCB2 activities and the results of the SC B2 technical session in the CIGRE e-Session were reported upon by the convener. In the 2^nd Session, 10 experts from 9 countries (AU, BE, CN, ID, IR, JP, KR, MY and TH) gave very interesting and informative presentations. Their content covered vegetation clearance design criteria for new overhead lines, conductor creep, a case study using a new type of conductor, life-time estimation of aged conductors using a corrosion detector, a study on the buckling strength of an angle member with lap joint, bird streamer flashover on an EHV OHL, design and construction of intermediate structures in difficult site situations, dynamic line rating application examples from Europe and North America, application of HTLS conductors in new transmission lines, and an experimental study and analysis of abnormal fever composite insulators in EHV OHLs.

In a special program, the CIGRE Medal Award Commemorative Lecture ‘How CIGRE has changed my life’ was given. The former SC B2 Chairman, Prof. Dr. Konstantin O. Papailiou, described his experience of CIGRE and outlined three benefits of CIGRE that were discovered during his long contribution and enriched his life.

Due to an enthusiastic Q & A exchange, the scheduled time was significantly exceeded and the meeting eventually concluded at 18:30. We believe that the efforts and cooperation of the people involved in the meeting (including those non-AORC member countries who kindly agreed to participate) turned the unprecedented crisis into a great success. The relevant presentation materials are available on the AORC SCB2 site in KMS.

Conclusion

Due to the impact of COVID-19, we were forced to drastically change and reduce the scale of the event. Despite the controversial decision not to include live events, we were able to complete the proceedings without any major problems. We would like to express our sincere gratitude for the understanding of participants from all over the world, and for the various advice and cooperation from the CIGRE-AORC and the Japanese NC members.

We would be very glad if this event could serve as a reference for CIGRE and CIGRE-AORC activities, as an example of one of the ways to organize an event in a difficult situation.

---

Illustration credit: Banner and thumbnail by Ryo Yoshitake on Unsplash