Global Centers Track 1: Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society (EPICS)
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Abstract
The EPICS centre's vision is to become the global scientific leader in the development of the solutions for transitioning Towards a 100% Renewable Energy (T100RE) power grids. The centre is meant to be a global multidisciplinary cradle-to-grave innovation and implementation ecosystem engaging industry, policy and public stakeholders and accelerating transfer of the developed solutions. The need for both global and multi-stakeholder partnerships is instrumental for developing and implementing sound engineering, economic, computational and policy methods in time to achieve aggressive climate goals, while averting unnecessarily costly and wasteful practices and delays.
Transitioning Towards a 100% Renewable Energy (T100RE) power grid is critical for both decarbonisation of the global electric power sector which is responsible for 42% of the global carbon emissions, and for supporting climate-critical decarbonisation of other economic sectors and energy end uses (e.g., transportation, heating and cooling, and industry). The EPICS Centre formed a community of academic leaders from Australia (University of Melbourne, Monash University, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), UK (Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, Strathclyde University, Newcastle University) and US (Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Tech, UC Davis, Resources for the Future) to execute the proposed research agenda and established partnerships with three global organizations - Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium, Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) and Future Power Forum Market (FPFM) - who committed their own resources to support the EPICS Centre's implementation agenda, that is translation of research discoveries into practice, education and workforce development, and public outreach.
The EPICS Centre blurs the bounds between the traditionally separated academic and industry research activities in the global clean-energy community, and offers a multi- disciplinary research response to address, jointly with G-PST, ESIG and FPFM, the gaps in efficiency, reliability, resiliency, and sustainability of T100RE power grids of the future.
Transitioning Towards a 100% Renewable Energy (T100RE) power grid is critical for both decarbonisation of the global electric power sector which is responsible for 42% of the global carbon emissions, and for supporting climate-critical decarbonisation of other economic sectors and energy end uses (e.g., transportation, heating and cooling, and industry). The EPICS Centre formed a community of academic leaders from Australia (University of Melbourne, Monash University, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), UK (Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, Strathclyde University, Newcastle University) and US (Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Tech, UC Davis, Resources for the Future) to execute the proposed research agenda and established partnerships with three global organizations - Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium, Energy Systems Integration Group (ESIG) and Future Power Forum Market (FPFM) - who committed their own resources to support the EPICS Centre's implementation agenda, that is translation of research discoveries into practice, education and workforce development, and public outreach.
The EPICS Centre blurs the bounds between the traditionally separated academic and industry research activities in the global clean-energy community, and offers a multi- disciplinary research response to address, jointly with G-PST, ESIG and FPFM, the gaps in efficiency, reliability, resiliency, and sustainability of T100RE power grids of the future.
Publications
Brahma D
(2025)
A deeper perspective on IBR-driven oscillations
in IET Conference Proceedings
Chaudhuri B
(2024)
Rebalancing Needs and Services for Future Grids: System Needs and Service Provisions With Increasing Shares of Inverter-Based Resources
in IEEE Power and Energy Magazine
Chu Z
(2024)
Scheduling of Software-Defined Microgrids for Optimal Frequency Regulation
in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy
Chu Z
(2024)
Pricing of short circuit current in high IBR-penetrated system
in Electric Power Systems Research
Chu Z
(2025)
Coordinated Planning for Stability Enhancement in High IBR-Penetrated Systems
in IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy
Chu Z
(2025)
Managing the Uncertainty in System Dynamics Through Distributionally Robust Stability-Constrained Optimization
in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems
Ducoin E
(2024)
Analytical Design of Contributions of Grid-Forming and Grid-Following Inverters to Frequency Stability
in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems
Frölke L
(2024)
On the efficiency of energy markets with non-merchant storage
in Energy Systems
Hawker G
(2024)
Management of extreme weather impacts on electricity grids: an international review
in Progress in Energy
| Description | Committee member for awards panel |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://www.informs.org/Recognizing-Excellence/Community-Prizes/Energy-Natural-Resources-and-the-Env... |
| Description | Imperial Summer School on IBR-dominated Power Systems |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | This unique effort provided participants with a holistic understanding of the challenges and emerging research directions in IBR-dominated power systems, fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration among academia, industry, and policy-making entities. We have been requested to host the summer school as a regular event to support this fast-evolving research field and assist the development of industrial practices. |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/continuing-professional-development/short-courses/eng/electrical/imperial... |
| Description | A G-PST/ESIG Webinar on IBR-driven Sub-synchronous Oscillations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Webinar abstract - Increasing shares of inverter-based resources (IBRs) present unprecedented grid stability challenges. One particular concern is sub-synchronous oscillation (SSO) caused by multiple IBRs interacting across the power grid especially under high IBR scenarios. The opaqueness of IBR controls and lack of an established framework for analyzing SSO makes it difficult for the system operators to foresee SSO as exemplified by recent SSO events such as poorly damped 8 Hz oscillations in Scotland. System operators often respond by limiting the fraction of IBRs i.e., by constraining off renewables in an overly conservative way. This webinar will focus on the IBR-driven SSO problem, analysis and mitigation based on our ongoing research with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) in Great Britain and as part of the Global Centre on 'Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society (EPICS)'. The webinar attracted over 1100 registrations which was the highest in this webinar series in 2024. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.esig.energy/event/ibr-driven-sub-synchronous-oscillations/ |
| Description | A Tutorial with NESO on IBR-driven oscillations in Great Britain at the IET Powering Net Zero Global event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A tutorial was jointly delivered by Prof Tim Green, Dr Yunjie Gu, Dr Balarko Chaudhuri and NESO on IBR-driven oscillations in Great Britain at the IET Powering Net Zero Global event in Birmingham, 3-6 December 2024. This tutorial was followed by a panel session with academics (above) from Imperial, and industry experts from NESO, Siemens and Zenobe |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://poweringnetzero.theiet.org/programme/tutorials |
| Description | AI In Power Systems Workshop, Feb 19 - 23 2024, Edinburgh |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In collaboration with the University of Edinburgh Department of Mathematics we organised a one week brain storming workshop on Artificial Intelligence (AI) applied to solve Power Systems research challenges. The challenges were mainly from the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium research agenda. There were approx. 90 participants during the week, approx. 30 % from industry and 70 % from academia. The Industry was represented mainly by power system operators from Europe (National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO), SwissGrid, EirGrid, 50 Hertz, Austrian Power Grid, Energinet) and North America (ERCOT, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), GE Vernova, Electric Power Research Institute). The research community had representation from MIT, Georgia Tech, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, University of Manchester, US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Warwick, Exeter etc.). The US Government was also represented by the US Department of Energy. The one week workshop had two online preparatory meetings to identify likely research questions that would be amenable to solutions by AI techniques. These candidate topics were workshopped extensively. There was clearly one research question in the G-PST Research Agenda that came out on top, Topology Optimisation. Since Feb 2024 a small group of the Industry, NGESO (now National Energy System Operator, NESO), 50 Hertz, Elia and SwissGrid and academia (MIT, Georgia Tech, Imperial and University of Edinburgh have progressed on developing a program of research. In September 2024 there was an in person meeting hosted by Elia (Belgium System Operator) in Brussels and we have applied for some research funding from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) UKRI joint funding programme. Major funding is expected via NESO and and Network Innovation Allowance and/or the Strategic Innovation Fund in 2026. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Annual Texas A&M Energy Institute Distinguished Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave the Annual Distinguished Lecture at the Texas A&M Energy Institute on the occasion of its 15th anniversary. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://energy.tamu.edu/event/the-texas-am-energy-institute-annual-distinguished-lecture-dr-mark-oma... |
| Description | Community DSO Stakeholder Advisory Group - Northern Powergrid |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Invited membership of the Northern Powergrid Community DSO Stakeholder Advisory Board - It aims to deliver a UK energy industry-first approach to developing a future framework for community distribution system operation (DSO). The project is funded through Ofgem's Network Innovation Competition (NIC). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.northernpowergrid.com/news/northern-powergrid-assembles-community-dso-governance-structu... |
| Description | EPICS and National Grid Electricity System Operator Research Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | With the award of EPICS and with several existing research awards e.g. Leverhulme Professorship all aligned with the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium a dedicated workshop meeting with the Great Britain System Operator National Grid Electricity System Operator (now known as National Energy System Operator (NESO) in order to align the research activities first and foremost with NGESO. The NGESO team of eight was led by Julian Leslie, Chief Engineer and Director of Strategic Energy Planning. This day long workshop covered most of the areas of interests to both sides and the follow through is best represented by the secondment of Agnes Nakiganda to NESO starting formally in March 2025, but there was an informal arrangement in place since hiring Dr. Nakiganda in October 2024. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | ERCOT Grid Transformation Speaker Series, Nov 10th, 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, ERCOT is the system operator for most of the State of Texas in the US. As part of its own in house educational activities they run a Grid Transformation Speaker series. Mark O'Malley gave one of these on Nov 10th 2023. It was an online event attended by the technical staff of ERCOT. The title of the talk was The Changing Electric Grid: The Good the Bad and the Ugly. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | ESIG Forecasting and Markets workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation on novel products system operators could introduce for managing uncertainty due to net load forecast errors. The talk sparked many questions by system operator staff, who are redesigning their markets. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.esig.energy/download/session-5a-managing-imbalance-risk-in-da-electricity-markets-elina-... |
| Description | Felix Wu Distinguished Lecture in Power Systems |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Felix Wu Distinguished Lecture in Power Systems is a highly prestigious event at Hong Kong University. It was delivered for academics, research staff and students. It stimulated interest in the area of power systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | G-PST Technical Week, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), June 6th to June 11th 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This six day event hosted by our partners at DTU in Copenhagen consisted of 3 parts. Part 1, June 6 & 7 was a full meeting of the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Grid Forming Implementation Council (IC) with approx. 70 attendees from industry and the research community. There was also the inaugural meeting of the G-PST Control Room of the Future IC with approx. 20 attendees. On June 8 & 9, over the weekend EPICS had its first in person meeting with approx. 80 attendees from USA, Australia and UK. Finally on June 10 & 11 EPICS held a joint meeting with the G-PST on the Research Agenda to drill down into the needed research and to kick of the research activities of EPICS this was attended by approx. 50 people. Please note there was overlap in the attendance numbers but total number of individuals attending over the 6 days was approx.150. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Global Power System Transformation/ Energy Systems Integration Group Webinar Series: Reliable Energy Forecasting for Power System Operations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presented past and ongoing work on energy forecasting for reliable power system operations. The webinar summarized continuing and past research from the UK-EPICS team to support decision-making under uncertainty for low-carbon power and energy systems. Over 750 people registered for the webinar and approximately 140 attended online. Our presentation sparked exciting discussions and opened up possibilities for future collaborations with academic and industry stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.esig.energy/event/reliable-energy-forecasting/ |
| Description | Imperial School of Sustainability inaugural event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Imperial launched a new school on Sustainability. With input from other EPICS collaborators, I created a poster. The poster was viewed by other Imperial academics and I had a chance to introduce our activities to invited guests. Two conversations stood out: one with a government employee who is interested in decarbonization pathways for UK economic growth and another with a professional practitioner who is modeling electricity markets to project government spending on contracts for differences. I plan to follow up with the second professional as they acknowledged they are facing the modeling challenges that we are trying to solve. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/188454/imperial-introduces-school-of-sustainability/ |
| Description | Invited public lecture at Melbourne University "Change of paradigm of power system operation and control" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The lecture was delivered to academics, research staff and postgraduate students at Melbourne University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Invited talk at Uncertainty, Climate Change, and Policy Challenges Conference, London, May 3rd 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave an invited talk entitled How uncertain is the rebuilding of the global power systems enabling us to install renewable energy at scale. The event was co hosted by Imperial and the University of Chicago. There was also a video interview as part of the event https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MZ3Ge_B3bc with a colleague from Imperial and Princeton. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://bfi.uchicago.edu/events/event/uncertainty-finance-and-climate-change-conference-2024/ |
| Description | Invited talk at IESVic & EMH Energy Dialogue Symposium (Victoria, BC, Canada) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Colleagues from University of Victoria organized a workshop to facilitate Dialogue About Inter-Regional Transmission. I was invited to give an update about progress on planning in the UK. The presentation sparked questions about the pace of the transition and best practices for planning the decarbonization of power systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://cme-emh.ca/en/event/iesvic-emh-energy-dialogue-symposium/#agenda |
| Description | Invited talk at MIT, Boston, MA, October 18th 2024. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Classic one hour seminar to researchers (Academics, and postgraduate students and a few post docs) at the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) at MIT |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://lids.mit.edu/news-and-events/events/eimc2-seminar |
| Description | Invited talk on Planning with Reliability Constraints at a Breakthrough Energy Invite only Workshop on Grid Modelling |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Breakthrough Energy, Bill Gates organisation invited me to this invite only workshop on a Grid Modelling initiative that they wish to fund to the tune of $50M. I have been advising Breakthrough about this initiative and about the hiring of an individual to spear head it globally. Since the workshop Breakthrough have funded the Energy System Integration Group, which is a partner in EPICS to the tune of $300K to host two more workshops one in Providence Rhode Island which took place in October 2024 and one in Amsterdam which took place in February 2025. These workshops are all in preparation for the launch of this initiative which will take place as soon as they announce their lead. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Invited to give a talk at the Annual meeting of the UNIFI Consortium, Feb 7th 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Universal Interoperability for Grid-Forming inverters (UNIFI) Consortium is a U. S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office funded effort to advance grid-forming (GFM) inverter technology. At their Annual meeting Feb 6 to 7th in Austin Texas Prof. O'Malley gave a talk about how EPICS and UNIFI could and should work together. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://unificonsortium.org/unifi-annual-meeting-february-2024/ |
| Description | Iowa State University Electric Power and Energy Systems (EPES) webinar on Feb 4, 2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Dr Chaudhuri and Professor O'Malley gave a online webinar the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium n Feb 4th 2025. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Lecture to EPSRC Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Lecture to postgraduate students in the EPSRC Industrial CDT in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE) on smart, local energy systems. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| URL | https://www.idcore.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Meeting with CEO of Consumer New Zealand to discuss shared UK/New Zealand consumer issues in energy, including flexibility. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Meeting with CEO of Consumer New Zealand (5th March) to discuss shared UK/New Zealand consumer issues in energy, including flexibility. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | OFGEM AI workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | OFGEM staff came to Imperial to discuss the AI strategy in the energy sector. I presented a slidedeck that summarized the take-aways from the GPST AI workshop. My presentation sparked questions with respect to missing data that OFGEM could enable access to. I talked about weather data and forecasts and the staff was surprised to hear that, but once we explained the level of detail we need vs what is available, our point was well received. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Open Innovation Team, UK Government interviewee regarding clean heat policy needs (including smart flex) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Expert interviewee with the Open Innovation Team, UK Government regarding clean heat policy needs (including smart flex) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Regional Energy Strategic Planner - Ofgem working group member |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Regular member of the Ofgem working group on the new Regional Energy Strategic Planner role. Inputting on the framework, roles & responsibilities and governance of the new function. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Regular interaction with Power System Operators |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Through leading Pillar 1 of the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) Consortium - Prof. O'Malley has very regular interactions with Power system Operators globally. The interactions are almost always concerning ther research challenges and they range all the way from their CEOs to the technical specialist. as an example in Feb 2025 - Prof O'Malley with Mr. Charlie Smith - c lead of Pillar 1 had calls with nine system operators - in the US they were SPP, ISO NE and MISO, in Canada they were Hydro Quebec and IESO (Alberta) and in Europe they were ENTSO-E (represents 40 European System Operators), 50 hertz, Amprion and Fingrid. These calls were with senior management including 2 CEOs and were related to the update of the Research Agenda of the G-PST. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | Sutton Trust summer school |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation to students participating in Sutton Trust Summer school on 'Can you reach net zero by 2050?' The presentation was based on a game by the Financial Times that asks players to make decision and see if they will be successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The presentation engaged students throughout as they were curious to understand what will make the biggest difference and we discussed why certain decisions were more or less effective. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |