The Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation will host World Bank Senior Energy Specialist Marcelino Madrigal, who will present “Transmission Planning and Renewable Energy: Global Experience and Emerging Practices from the Developing and Developed World,” at 11:30 am on Friday, October 26 at the Galvin Center on the 16th floor of IIT Tower.

In their efforts to move toward a lower-carbon power sector, developed and developing countries are facing the need to considerably expand their transmission networks to serve the needs of renewable energy. The most cost effective renewable energy resources needed to decarbonize the electricity supply are usually located far from the existing transmission networks and consumption centers. Thus, transmission networks need be expanded and upgraded in order to reliably and cost-effectively connect and transport renewable energy supplies. Policy makers need be aware that renewable energy scale-up goes hand in hand with the expansion of transmission networks and that proper planning and regulatory actions are therefore necessary. The presentation will describe emerging approaches being undertaken by transmission utilities and regulators to cope with the challenge of expanding transmission for renewable energy scale-up. The challenge becomes surmountable if the conducive planning and regulatory approaches are implemented. Proactively planning and regulating transmission networks have been identified as key to ensure that transmission networks are expanded efficiently and effectively. New planning tools (methods) with certain features are greatly contributing to the overall effort to scale-up renewable interconnection. Linking planning with clear and stable cost recovery regulations is crucial. Based on the evolving experience and on established theory and practice, the report also proposes some principles to develop country-specific approaches to planning and regulation of transmission networks. The presentation will make an overview of some our work in various countries in different parts of the globe.

Marcelino Madrigal is a senior energy specialist at the World Bank’s Energy Anchor Unit.  He specialized in the technical and economic operations and planning of power systems and markets and associated regulatory aspects.  Prior to joining the Bank, he worked for four years the Inter-American Development Bank in the areas of electricity transmission, distribution, and regional energy (electricity and gas) integration and market design projects. Before that, he was with the Energy Regulatory Commission in Mexico as deputy general manager for research and regulatory development, and at the Energy Ministry as chief of staff for Electricity were he led different activities regarding electricity tariff regulation, renewable energy regulation, investment decision making, and electricity reform. He has extensively published in topics related to operations and planning of power systems and markets, and has delivered training in related fields to a number of electric utilities, regulators, and system operations in different countries. He was assistant professor at Morelia Institute of Technology national excellence research center in electrical engineering in Morelia, Mexico. He holds a B.Sc, M.Sc., and Ph.D degrees in electrical engineering all with emphasis in the technical and economic operations, planning, and design of power systems and markets. He has received several awards, among them, the Outstanding Young Power Engineering Award by the IEEE Power and Energy Society in 2006.