PES TECHNICAL MEETING Resilient Electric Grid Systems for Urban Power Networks – Providing a new system solution to protect against urban power outages Speaker: Manisha Ghorai, PE, Manager, Network Planning and Applications – American Superconductor Corporation Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 Time: Refreshments start at 6:00 pm, talk commences at 6.30 pm Location: Valley A&B, National Grid, Reservoir Woods, Waltham, MA 02451 Abstract: Catastrophic equipment failures, physical and cyber threats, and weather related disasters can all leave entire sections of a central business district and nearby neighborhoods without power for hours or days. These vulnerabilities are of particular concern since they can be triggered by events when the need for grid resiliency is heightened. Such extended power outages in urban load centers can be difficult to recover from, making even worse a situation where the personal safety of residents and the economic health of businesses are threatened. Resilient Electric Grid (REG) systems provide protection against the calamitous effects that follow the loss of critical substation facilities in urban areas by allowing the interconnection of nearby substations, enabling them to share transmission connections and excess station capacity, while controlling the high fault currents that naturally result from such interconnections. This presentation discusses how REG systems are used to improve the resiliency and reliability of urban networks, while significantly increasing load serving capacity. Biography: Manisha Ghorai joined American Superconductor in 2006. As a member of the Network Planning and Applications team, she performs studies where she analyzes transmission and distribution system problems for voltage collapse, transfer capability, wind farm and other renewable energy interconnection, harmonic and power quality problems. This includes performing power load flow, dynamic, power transfer and harmonic studies and designing reactive compensation solutions using the STATCOM and SVC products to solve transmission and distribution problems. She earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Wisconsin and has co-authored and presented papers for professional forums including IEEE meetings and the European Wind Energy Conference (EWEC). Free and Open to the Public; to RSVP: Scan the code on the right using your smartphone, or Email subhadarshi.sarkar@nationalgrid.com Visit the IEEE PES Boston Chapter website for further details - http://www.ieeepesboston.org/