Research to Impact Series: Accelerating and Scaling Up Energy System Decarbonization: The Role of Digitization

The urgency of combating climate change requires an “all hands on deck” approach. How to model, analyze, control, and connect new technological innovations in the electric energy system plays a crucial role in speeding up climate change solutions at scale. This talk presents a large-scale cyber-physical-human modeling framework for evaluating the role of digitization in accelerating energy system decarbonization. The physical modeling will be illustrated through a streaming data-driven anomaly localization for renewable energy dynamics. The human modeling will be illustrated through an incentive-based experiment for scalable demand response. The cyber modeling will be illustrated through a dynamic watermarking approach to monitoring and control of cyber-physical vulnerabilities in solar-rich energy grids. The challenge that arises is of developing an appropriate architecture of market mechanisms and regulations so that incentives are aligned for appropriate stakeholders to implement the technological solutions at scale.