Thursday, May 2, 2024

Welcome to Xcelerate Orlando 2024

Our Chief Revenue Officer, Stuart Kelly, opens the Xcelerate 2024 conference with a warm welcome and provides an update on Energy Exemplar, PLEXOS and Aurora in the region.

Speaker

Stuart Kelly Chief Revenue Officer Energy Exemplar

Kevin Lockert SVP - The Americas Energy Exemplar

Energy Exemplar Keynote

The Energy Analytics & Decision Platform

Hear from Energy Exemplar's CEO, David Wilson and COO, Prajval Parthasarathy in an inspiring and thought-provoking keynote on the future of energy modeling. 

Speaker

David Wilson Chief Executive Officer Energy Exemplar

Prajval Parthasarathy Chief Operating Officer Energy Exemplar

Guest Keynote Presentation - PJM

Speaker

Paul McGlynn Vice President of Planning PJM

 

Guest Keynote Presentation - Microsoft

Come be a part of our talk on the partnership and integration between PLEXOS and the Microsoft Cloud Platform. Together, we will explore the latest advancements in AI and its interdependencies within the energy transition.

engaging discussion on how PLEXOS and the Microsoft Cloud Platform are joining forces. We'll dive deep into the cutting-edge developments in AI and how they're intricately linked to the ongoing shift towards sustainable energy.

Speaker

Jerome Vigne Intelligent Applications, Powers and Utility Microsoft

 

Guest ISO Panel: Energizing Tomorrow: The Future of Integrated System Planning

We're thrilled to have America's most esteemed leaders come together for our ISO guest panel, focusing on the future of Integrated System Planning.

Panelist

Sarah Carkner Manager, Long Term Assessments NYISO

David Richardson Supervisor, Planning Models IESO

Aditya Prabhakar Director, Resource Assessment and Planning CAISO

Emmanuele Bobbio Senior Lead Economist PJM

Christina Drake Director Economic & Policy Planning MISO Energy Exemplar

Moderator - Marc Olson VP of Sales (East) Energy Exemplar

 

Guest Keynote Presentation

Speaker

Will Polen Senior Director United States Energy Association

 

Guest Speaker

Tari Jung Strategic Assessments MISO

Elspeth McGarvey Strategic Assessments MISO

 

Track 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Ecosystem Agenda

Congestion & Curtailment Outlook in North America

We use PLEXOS for our production cost modeling studies to estimate future congestion and curtailment (CCA) for revenue projection and energy forecasting for our clients.  During this session, we will provide key market insights.

Guest Speaker

Anshul Saxena Senior Energy Market Analyst DNV

 

Track 1: Building a System for Tomorrow Agenda

Long Range Transmission Planning

The needs of our system are rapidly changing due to resource and load transformation and MISO continues to pioneer advanced regional transmission planning. New modeling capabilities are needed to understand and plan for the evolving system needs.

MISO’s Long Range Transmission Plan (What are the goals of LRTP, what has been accomplished so far)

• Tranche 1 - $10Billion in Transmission investment
• Tranche 2 – projected $17-23Billion in Transmission investment

Futures Planning Scenarios:

• Load Growth and Fuel Mix Evolution
• Twilight Period
• Need Flexible Attributes

Tools for the evolving electric grid and the journey to PLEXOS, why did MISO choose PLEXOS and how are we planning on using it going forward to meet the needs of the evolving power system transformation in the MISO region.

Guest Speaker

Christina Drake Director, Economic & Policy Planning MISO

 

Track 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Ecosystem Agenda

Decarbonizing the Gas System

Guest Speaker

Devin McGreal Renewable Resource Manager Cascade Natural Gas

Track 1: Building a System for Tomorrow Agenda

NY's Accelerated Plan to Decarbonizing the Electricity Sector by 2040

New York State has set forth some of the most ambitious policies and legislation aimed at completely decarbonizing the electricity sector by 2040. As the system operator, market administrator, and bulk transmission planner, the NYISO plays a key role informing market participants, policy makers, and the public on critical issues associated with achievement of these polices. The NYISO is currently performing techno-economic studies using the PLEXOS LT function to analyze potential futures and identify related challenges associated with an accelerated adoption of renewable technologies over the next 20 years. 

Guest Speaker

Sarah Carkner Manager, Long Term Assessments NYISO

Track 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Ecosystem Agenda

ERCOT Decarbonization Pathways

ERCOT serves 90% of the electric load in the state of Texas. In 2023, it had a peak load of 80 GW and its fossil-fuel generators emitted 125 Mt of CO2. By 2050, its peak load is projected to be 105 GW and without energy transition its fossil-fuel generators will emit 200 Mt of CO2 annually. The ERCOT system spans several hundred miles in the North-South and East-West directions. While the West and South are favorable for renewable generation, the load centers are in the East and North. Decarbonizing ERCOT will involve new renewable builds in the West and South and moving the renewable energy to the load centers in the East and North. While the new renewable resources will provide the energy needed for decarbonization, their intermittency needs to be firmed up with energy storage, which can be accomplished with Li-ion batteries and Hydrogen Storage. With Li-ion batteries, energy stays in electric form and can be moved using High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines. Whereas with Hydrogen Storage, energy is converted from electric to gas and back to electric form. Because gas is the medium in Hydrogen Storage, energy can also be moved using H2 gas pipelines. The various options available for power generation, storage, and transmission lead to several possible decarbonization pathways. This study evaluates two such pathways the first with Renewables + Battery + HVDC Transmission, and the second with Renewables + Battery + HVDC Transmission + H2 Storage + H2 Gas Pipelines. The total system cost and resulting power price are the benchmarking parameters used to compare the two pathways. This study helps in system planning by answering four major questions that we will discuss in this session.

Guest Speaker

Hari Gopalakrishnan Manager - Market Intelligence & Strategy Mitsubishi Power Americas

Track 1: Building a System for Tomorrow Agenda

Policy and Resource Adequacy in Capacity Expansion Modeling

Presenting methods to model Renewable Portfolio Standards eligibility rules and ELCC-based resource adequacy constraints in capacity expansion models. Then, we will illustrate these methods using a simple east-west model of PJM in PLEXOS

Guest Speaker

Emmanuele Bobbio Senior Lead Economist PJM

Mojgan Hedayati Lead Engineer PJM

Track 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Ecosystem Agenda

Potential Impact of Western Day-Ahead Market/s

E3 supported 25 utilities in the Western U.S. to jointly analyze the impact that forming one or two separate new day-ahead markets would have in the region. E3 will present advanced approaches we used with multi-stage PLEXOS cases to distinguish the incremental potential impact of markets in the day-ahead timeframe compared to the real-time imbalance markets already in place, as well as to explore the impact of operating reserve pooling, fast-start pricing, and other potential market features.

Guest Speaker

Jack Moore Senior Director Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc

 

Track 1: Building a System for Tomorrow Agenda

Future Energy Policy and Electric Transmission Planning Studies - Creative Solutions

How can we work towards long term multi value planning? ISO shifts in generation resources and FERC order implementations are shifting Utility focus from reactive to proactive, in a fast paced clean energy transition. PLEXOS as a tool, may be used to create new standards of studies for high dollar transmission infrastructure upgrades, import/export capabilities, GETS, project timing, and necessary TO seams tie line insights. Economic analysis adds a layer of depth to bridge the gap adding awareness to various solutions that need to be addressed to meet demanding load growth. Using tools like PLEXOS can give foresight into unblocking capacity and co optimization for trending C&I customers like Data Centers. This session will be collaborative in nature to challenge traditional ideas and push the usage of tools like PLEXOS to the edge.

Guest Speaker

Colleen Wallace Manager ET Planning Dominion Energy

Track 2: Decarbonizing the Energy Ecosystem Agenda

Pathway to Achieving Zero Carbon in the Electric Power Sector

FEP modeled a pathway to zero carbon in the entire US electric power sector by 2050 using Aurora. The modeling and planning exercise help to undercover pathways, challenges, and insights of a zero carbon electric power sector. The Aurora model helped to optimize zero carbon resource expansion plans and dispatch of energy storage technologies.

Guest Speaker

Benson Joe Director Filsinger Energy Partners

Track 1: Building a System for Tomorrow Agenda

Preparing For Multi-Value Transmission Planning in New England

Clean energy policies and technology advancements are leading to a rapid shift in how transmission companies in New England plan their system. This presentation will review how Eversource Energy is using PLEXOS to develop and analyze new transmission projects that simultaneously solve reliability and economic needs while enabling clean energy policies.

Guest Speaker

Nicolas Baldenko Senior Engineer, Transmission Strategy and Economics Analysis Eversource Energy

Special Event at the Iconic Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley!

Embark on a night of wizards and celebration at the iconic Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley, during our special evening networking event.

Join industry luminaries and peers for a magical dinner of another world, set against the backdrop of one of Univeral's most visited attractions and an experience you won't forget! Experience the thrill of a pulse-pounding adventure on the multi-dimensional thrill ride that puts you right in the middle of the action, shop for all your wizarding needs, enjoy exclusive tours of the park, and engage in meaningful networking, creating memories that resonate far beyond the boundaries of the wizard world.

As Energy Exemplar celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024, this year's special event will certainly be a night to remember! 

Buses will start departing for Universal at 5:45pm from the Porte Cochere. 

Please be sure to wear your Xcelerate Orlando badge and bring an ID!