Interplay of Smart Grids and Intelligent Systems and Control

Smart Grids are electric networks that employ innovative and intelligent monitoring, control, communication, and self-healing technologies to deliver better connections and operations for generators and distributors, flexible choices for consumers, and reliability and security of electricity supply. Smart Grids are complex and dynamical networks in nature that face many new theoretical and practical challenges for the future developments. Intelligent Systems and Control, on the other hand, offer enabling technologies for Smart Grids developments, such as theories and methodologies for developing artificially intelligent systems and technologies that mimic human intelligence to handle complex situations in uncertain environments with simplexity. These include, for example, neural and evolutionary computation, fuzzy systems, knowledge-based systems, multi-agent systems, complex networks, decision support systems, nonlinear control theories embedded with intelligent mechanisms of sensing, reasoning and learning. In this speech, we will first give a brief introduction of both Smart Grids and Intelligent Systems and Control and their recent developments, and then examine the issues associated with interplay of Smart Grids and Intelligent Systems and Control. We will discuss potential new ways of simplifying the modelling, assessment and control tasks of Smart Grids using Intelligent Systems and Control technologies. We will also look into new research challenges that Smart Grids present to Intelligent Systems and Control research. The synergies between these two fields will also be highlighted. Some of our recent research results will be shown as case studies to demonstrate the potential that this interplay will bring to both Smart Grids and Intelligent Systems and Control.