The audience in Adelaide 10-11 May 2022, at CIGRE’s CIDER (Conference on the Integration of Distributed Energy Resources) conference seemed happy and excited to be able to meet in person after a long time away.

There were some very good presentations from both industry and academia on hot topics such as:

• High penetration of the DER and its challenges
• System strength and a weak grid
• Grid forming vs grid following inverters
• Microgrids

However, the most interesting presentation for me was the Keynote Speech presented by Brendon Hampton, Manager of Network Strategy, SAPN. The topic was “Creating the clean energy future.”

Although the topic may sound very high level, non-technical and something that we have been hearing a lot of in the last couple of years, the way Brendon competently presented it with some concepts about life made it refreshingly different; he spoke of how we are all here to make a difference, even a little, and shared some inspirational quotes from others, combined with some real-world examples. This offered a different perspective about renewables, etc., which really awakened my interest, though I generally lean towards more technical topics. He is definitely a great presenter and thought leader.

I also exchanged ideas with an associate lecturer at the University of Melbourne, including a potential collaboration. I was invited to give a lecture in one of their suitable courses on various interesting subjects and challenges, sharing an industry point of view. This was a pleasant surprise and one I look forward to participating in.

Thanks to the CIGRE Australia organizing committee, the conference was well prepared in a beautiful venue, next to the beach, with a stunning view of the sunset in Adelaide.

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