Regen Power was a sponsor for the Isolated Power Systems Connect Conference (IPSC-2017) held in Rottnest Island, Western Australia. The conference took place between the 13 and 17 of November 2017. The conference consisted of a two day professional development course (Nov 13 and 14), followed by a two day (Nov 16 & 17) technical workshop with international, national and local speakers. Delegates and speakers at the conference traveled from various regions such as the pacific islands (including the Cook Islands and Samoa), USA, Hawaii, and Australia. Presentations centered around issues related to high penetration of solar in remote areas, intermittency of solar radiation and issues with supplying island power. The speakers presented their experience with island power systems and the challenges associated with high energy costs, dispersed population and harsh climate.
Representing over 18 utilities, 62 delegates attended the conference. The event continued the split professional development and conference format from the previous year. The professional development course preceded the conference, and provided comprehensive knowledge and experience in solar integration and energy storage for island power systems. In addition, there was a guided tour on Nov. 15 to enable more dynamic networking between the various delegates. At 6:30pm, there was a BBQ back at the hotel. As part of the conference, technical workshops commenced from the following days. It was run by University of Tasmania, GSES, Regen Power and Hydro Tasmania
IPSC – Technical Workshop Day 1
Hosted by the Centre for Renewable Energy & Power Systems (CREPS), the two-day course included lectures on solar integration and energy storage. The topics included integration of renewable energy in isolated power systems, PV penetration, microgrid technologies and customer expectations. Day 1 started with a keynote on “Batteries for Ancillary Services” presented by Mr. Richard Rocheleau, Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. The two sessions of the day mainly focused on Australian and Pacific remote energy projects.
IPSC – Technical Workshop Day 2
The forenoon session mainly emphasized on the emerging technologies in remote area power supply. Afternoon session included Rottnest island Nexus Project tour and activities. Professor Chem Nayar was one of the trainers covering the topic of remote solar diesel micro grid systems. Professor Nayar also gave a presentation titled “Synthetic Storage using Variable Speed Diesel Generators “at the conference. Regen Power’s Solar Diesel Hybrid System was a finalist in the Australia Technologies Competition in 2014.
Over the years, IPSC has been a consistent international platform for industry academia collaboration in the field of remote power supply systems. In 2016, Flinders Island, Tasmania hosted the event. Venue for the 2018 Isolated Power Systems Connect Conference will be Maui, Hawaii. This event will center onUS technology projects – launching IPS into a global knowledge sharing platform for isolated power system owners and operators.
