Smart Grids and New Energy Vectors for the Energy Transition

1. Introduction

The energy transition is driving profound changes in how energy systems are planned, operated, and protected. The high penetration of variable renewable sources, the growing use of power electronics, and the emergence of new energy vectors such as synthetic fuels and bioenergy present technical challenges and strategic opportunities for the region’s electrical and productive systems.

This webinar aims to offer an integrated vision of these challenges, addressing both the advanced aspects of modern electrical systems—optimization, stability, and protection—as well as the role of agro-industrial waste energy recovery, polygeneration, and synthetic fuels as complementary solutions to strengthen the resilience of the energy system and advance toward decarbonization.

2. Study Plan Presentation

The webinar will be held virtually and will last approximately 2 hours, structured into three interrelated thematic blocks:

Block 1: Stability, protection, and resilience of the electrical system

• Introduction to dynamic and stability analysis in systems dominated by power inverters.
• Dynamic behavior of electrical systems with high participation of power electronics-based generation.
• Challenges for the protection of power systems with renewable energy sources.
• Need for new protection, control, and monitoring schemes.

Block 2: New energy vectors and integrated solutions

• Energy recovery from agro-industrial waste as a manageable renewable source.
• Introduction to synthetic fuels and their role in the energy transition.
• Concept of energy polygeneration and its integration with modern electrical grids.

The classes will be in virtual format, featuring the participation of the technical team, and will be interactive to address participants’ questions.

3. General Objective of the Study Plan

To analyze in an integrated manner the technical challenges of electrical systems with a high penetration of renewable energies and the opportunities offered by new energy vectors—such as bioenergy, synthetic fuels, and polygeneration—to strengthen the resilience, efficiency, and sustainability of the energy system.

4. Learning Outcomes of the Study Plan

Upon completion of the webinar, the participant will be able to:

• Identify the main challenges of dynamic stability in systems dominated by power inverters.
• Recognize the limitations of traditional schemes in electrical systems with high renewable penetration.
• Analyze the potential of energy recovery from agro-industrial waste as a manageable renewable energy source.

5. Participant Profile

Professionals in the energy and electricity sectors, officials from ministries of energy and regulatory bodies, consultants, academics, researchers, and final-year engineering students interested in the operation of modern power systems, renewable energies, and new energy solutions for the energy transition.

6. Study Plan Intensity

The study plan will have the following workload:

MODULE	SESSIONS	WORKLOAD
BLOCK 1	Stability and protection in inverter-dominated systems	80 MINUTES
BLOCK 2	Bioenergy, synthetic fuels, and polygeneration	40 MINUTES
TOTAL		2 HOURS

7. Registration Record

Participants must register as users at: https://capevlac.olade.org/registro/ and then enroll in the study plan through the following link: https://capevcursos.olade.org/course/view.php?id=28

This study plan is open access and free of charge for OLACDE Member Countries as it is executed within the framework of the ETRELA project “Improving, increasing and facilitating access to renewable energy education and training in Latin America” financed by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Government and in cooperation with the Technological University of Pereira and the National Autonomous University of Honduras.

8. Training Methodology

All the study plan material will be stored in OLACDE’s knowledge community: https://capevlac.olade.org/, consisting of: lessons, links for each synchronous session, and reference and evaluation tools. The participant must log into this platform with the username and password registered at the time of enrollment.

The virtual sessions will be delivered in a synchronous online modality, which implies real-time interaction between instructors and participants using OLACDE’s video conferencing platform.

9. Intellectual Property

All material produced and distributed in this course must be used exclusively by the person registered for it. The use of the material for purposes other than the training action itself must be consulted with and approved by OLACDE.

10. Instructors

Alejandro Garcés

Full professor of the electrical engineering program. PhD in engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. Senior member of IEEE and associate editor for the journals IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics and IET-Renewable Power Generation. Georg Forster Fellow of the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. His research topics are related to mathematical optimization and system dynamics, with applications in electrical systems including renewable energies and HVDC transmission.

 

Clara Isabel Ortiz Valdez

Master’s in Fluid Thermodynamics Engineering from the Rovira i Virgili University and the University of Valladolid in Spain, Master’s in Business Administration from the Central American Technological University (UNITEC), and Industrial Chemical Engineer graduated from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH).