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Giovanni Sansavini, Ph.D. - Global Resilience Institute. Boston, MA, UNITED STATES

Giovanni Sansavini, Ph.D.

Professor, Mechanical and Process Engineering | Global Resilience Institute

Boston, MA, UNITED STATES

Giovanni Sansavini is an expert in energy networks, cascading failures, and critical infrastructure.

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Biography

Giovanni Sansavini is an Assistant Professor at the ETH Zürich in the department of Mechanical and Process Engineering.

Areas of Expertise (3)

Cascading Failures

Energy Networks

Critical Infrastructure

Education (1)

Virginia Polytech Institute and State University: Ph.D.

Languages (3)

  • English
  • Italian
  • Romanian

Articles (5)

Predicting communication delays in open networks for frequency control of smart grids


2018 IEEE International Energy Conference (ENERGYCON)

Huadong Mo, Giovanni Sansavini

2018 The use of open communication networks in wide-area power systems (WAPS) introduces random delays into the transmissions of frequency measurements and control signals, which deteriorate the load frequency control (LFC) performance. Current works focus on providing sufficient delay margin or proposing robust controller to maintain the WAPS stability. In this paper, a Smith predictor is designed to further compensate the LFC performance reduction caused by unreliable communication. Time delays are predicted via the discrete hidden Markov model (DHMM) and via the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) model, and are the input to the Smith predictor. The case study is carried out on a single-area WAPS with the Ethernet-based network, implemented via the Truetime simulator. The results show that the use of Smith predictor is more effective in eliminating load disturbances and enhances robustness against delays as compared to delay-margin-based and robust controllers. Furthermore, the Smith predictor using the DHMM can achieve better LFC performance than the one using the EWMA.

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Identification of critical states in power systems by limit state surface reconstruction


International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems

Alexander E David, Giovanni Sansavini

2018 The shift from centralized, controllable conventional power production to decentralized, uncertain energy generation from renewable sources poses challenges to the quality of service of electric power systems. Critical operating states may arise from combinations of environmental and system variables, and result in the violation of component safety margins, ultimately leading to instability and cascading outages. To anticipate and prevent the occurrence of unsafe operations, this paper proposes a method for the online indication of criticality in power systems. The criticality indication is based on the reconstruction of the limit surface of the electrical infrastructure, i.e. the interface separating the set of input parameters leading to safe and critical operations. Safe and critical regions are identified for varying values of the input parameters using a modified version of the DC-optimal-power-flow-based OPA model, which embeds a dynamic line rating (DLR) scheme and accounts for the effects of environmental parameters, e.g. ambient temperature, on transmission capacity and system operations. The methodology is exemplified on a modified version of the North Italian 380 kV transmission grid, in which 25% of the conventional generation capacity is substituted by wind power. Upon the occurrence of critical states, two mitigation strategies are applied, i.e. line switching and distributed generation (DG), and the proposed criticality indication detects the proximity of the investigated power system to adverse operating conditions. Furthermore, the case study indicates the benefits of dynamic line rating compared to the traditional seasonal line rating. For the analyzed system and operating conditions, DG more effectively mitigates the critical states as compared to line switching.

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Stochastic unit commitment and reserve scheduling under gas-supply disrupted scenarios


2018 IEEE International Energy Conference (ENERGYCON)

Andrea Antenucci, Giovanni Sansavini

2018 Gas network operations may affect the day-ahead generator commitment and the scheduling of power reserves, due to the interdependencies between the gas and the electric infrastructures. Moreover, abnormal operating conditions in the gas infrastructure, i.e. large losses of supply, may further exacerbate the gas-electric interdependencies, by inducing massive electric gas load shedding. To address this issue, we assess the day-ahead electric power and reserve scheduling when gas security of supply is compromised. The day-ahead scheduling of electric generators is computed via stochastic optimization. Gas load shedding is evaluated through a transient gas flow model. The general methodology is exemplified with reference to simplified gas and electric power infrastructures of Great Britain under the 2030 Gone Green scenario. Results show that the failures of the Bacton and of the IOG terminals induce the largest pressure violations in the gas system. To prevent unsafe operations, the electric system must re-schedule gas-fired power plants from the South to the central part of Great Britain, and activate coal and pump storage units that cause an operative cost increase of 5% in the investigated case study. These results support operators and regulators by providing a techno-economical evaluation of the gas-electric interdependencies.

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Adequacy and security analysis of interdependent electric and gas networks


Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability

Andrea Antenucci, Giovanni Sansavini

2018 In this article, adequacy and security assessments on the coupled operations of the electric and gas networks are performed. Extreme operating conditions and fault of components are considered as events that can impact the interdependent systems. The electric and gas networks are represented by an event-based direct current power flow model and by a transient one-dimensional mass flow model, respectively. Furthermore, the automations and safety strategies enforced by transmission system operators are represented within an original modelling approach. A quantitative analysis is performed with reference to the simplified energy infrastructures of Great Britain. Results highlight the contingencies which can jeopardize security and identify the components that are prone to fail and induce large gas pressure instabilities and loss of supply, and the locations in the gas grid that are susceptible to pressure violation. Moreover, a simulated 30% increase of the peak gas demand in 2015 is a limit for safe operations of the gas network, but the coupled systems are robust enough to avoid the spread of a cascading failure across networks. These results allow preventing critical operating conditions induced by the interaction between networks and can guide safety-based decisions on system reinforcements and the development of mitigating actions.

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Gas-Constrained Secure Reserve Allocation With Large Renewable Penetration


IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy

Andrea Antenucci, Giovanni Sansavini

2018 Gas-fired generation provides flexibility to the power system for peak-load shaving and reserve allocation. Large penetration of renewables strengthens the gas-electric coupling. Consequently, constraints to the operations of the high-pressure gas transmission system may endanger the security of power supply. To address this issue, we assess the impact of gas constraints on the day-ahead electric power and reserve scheduling. Furthermore, we investigate the effect of unforeseen, large negative ramps of wind power generation on the gas network operations. The day-ahead scheduling of electric generator dispatch and reserves is determined via a stochastic, N-1 secure optimization. Minimum-pressure constraints update the scheduling of electric generators and reserves. The simplified energy infrastructure of Great Britain in the 2030 Gone Green scenario is investigated for diverse gas load and wind availability conditions. Results show that large gas demands decrease linepack and cause gas-fired units to shut down due to minimum pressure violations. In scarce-wind conditions, gas network limitations largely affect reserve scheduling and nonelectric gas curtailments are needed to comply with pressure safety margins. Conversely, reserve planning including gas constraints prevents pressure violations caused by unexpected wind fluctuations. These results support operators and regulators by providing a technoeconomical evaluation of the gas-electric interdependencies.

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