Following on from the virtual CIRED 2020 conference in Berlin,  the CIRED 2021 event was intended to be held in Geneva. However, due to the uncertainties of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that the ongoing situation would restrict numbers of people who could be physically present, so the CIRED organizers decided to host it again as a virtual event, held over four-hour days between 20-23 September.

My paper “Optimised Reactive Power Dispatch to Increase Network’s Electric Vehicle Hosting Capacity” was selected as a paper for CIRED 2021 and was presented as a poster presentation. The paper details the finding from the Virtual Statcom NIA project completed in 2020. The paper shows how a reactive power flexibility service can

• Increase network’s hosting capacity without network reinforcement
• Reduce network losses
• Resolve or reduce network constraints without curtailing active power from generation or loads

The paper will be available on the CIRED repository later this year.

The result of months of planning and preparations by all involved was clear to see, with contributors from around the globe interacting on various topics about how the distribution networks around the works are innovatively tackling the challenges of a net-zero carbon world.

We’re now preparing for the next CIRED conference with abstracts currently under review. We all hope to be able to physically attend in person in 2022.