Workshop on Empowering Microgrids with Smart Grid Attributes: Developments in U.S. and Africa (To be held January 28-31,2019 in Abuja, Nigeria)

该项目的目标是组织第一次国际研讨会，专门评估赋予微电网智能电网属性的各种选择，重点关注美国和非洲的发展。该项目由电气、通信和网络系统部和国际科学与工程办公室联合资助。研讨会将邀请能源专家、研究人员、大学学者/学生、政策制定者和市场参与者作为全体会议和小组会议的参与者和特邀演讲者。它将使人们对美国和非洲在不同环境、气候变化不确定性和不断增长的电力需求下的可再生能源应用和微电网发展有新的认识。此外，它将增加优化和控制能源使用的新技术的知识库，以降低成本并尽量减少温室气体；在智能微电网发展中提高可再生能源的性能；以及社会、监管和政策问题，因为它们会影响微电网在不同非洲国家和美国的设计和部署。它将促进美国和非洲学生的研究、教育活动和培训，以适应微电网和智能电网技术发展的挑战，并促进美国和非洲参与者在期刊和会议论文集上联合发表文章。了解美国和非洲在部署微电网和智能电网方面的最新进展，将有助于在这两个大洲实现可持续的未来能源输送。该研讨会将使美国与会者了解欧洲和亚洲在非洲的微电网开发商的发展工作，这将加强美国和非洲研究人员之间的合作。此外，它还将补充美国和其他国际机构为改善撒哈拉以南非洲地区的电力供应所做的其他努力，特别是侧重于增加美国和撒哈拉以南非洲地区可再生能源部署的创业和投资。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of this project is to organize the first international workshop devoted to evaluating options for empowering microgrid with smart grid attributes with a focus on developments in the United States and Africa. The project is jointly funded by the Division of Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems and the Office of International Science and Engineering. The workshop will involve energy experts, researchers, and university scholars/students as well as policy makers and market players as participants and invited speakers at plenary and panel sessions. It will result in new understanding of renewable energy resource applications and microgrid development in U.S. and Africa under different environment and uncertainties in climate change and growing demand for electricity. Further, it will add to the knowledge base for new technologies for optimization and control of energy use to reduce cost as well as minimize greenhouse gases; increase the performance of renewable energy sources in development of smart microgrid systems; and social, regulatory and policy issues as they affect design and deployment of microgrid in different African countries and the United States. It will promote research, education activities and training of students from U.S. and Africa to accommodate the challenges of development of microgrid and smart grid technologies, and joint publication between U.S. and African participants in refereed journals and conference proceedings.Understanding of recent developments in deployment of microgrid and smart grid both in the U.S and Africa will lead to a sustainable future energy delivery in the two continents. The workshop will expose the U.S. participants to the developmental work of the European and Asian microgrid developers in Africa, which will enhance the collaborative work between the U.S. and African researchers. In addition, it will supplement other efforts being made by U.S. and other international agencies to improve electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially with focus on increasing entrepreneurship and investment into renewable energy deployment in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.