Smart Grids Big Data was the focus of the fourth annual Smart Grid Workshop held at Texas A&M University’s Memorial Student Center on April 28.
Big data is characterized by its properties of volume, variety, velocity and veracity, and it is generated in many domains associated with power system operation (generation, transmission and distribution, customers, services and markets), as well as other related domains such as weather, other energy commodity markets (gas and oil) and environment. Dr. Mladen Kezunovic, director of the Smart Grid Center and Eugene E. Webb Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, gave the opening remarks and introduced the theme at the workshop.
As invited speaker, Dr. Alireza Ghassemian from the Office of Electricity Delivery and 
Energy Reliability, Department of Energy (DOE), outlined the research needs identified by and opportunities provided by DOE.
A panel on “Current Uses of and Technologies for Big Data Smart Grids,” was chaired by John McDonald and Dr. Miroslav Begovic. McDonald is the SmartGrid Business Development Leader – North America, Global SmartGrid Strategy Group at GE Grid Solutions Begovic is the head of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M. The panel consisted of Dr. Alberto Del Rosso (Electric Power Research Institute), Brian Baldwin (Esri), Dr. Deepjyoti Deka (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and Rodolfo Bialecki Leandro (Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil).
“Future Uses of Big Data in Smart Grids” was discussed in another panel chaired by Dr. Tom Overbye from the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign and Dr. Dilma Da Silva, head of the computer science and engineering department at Texas A&M. Panelists included Dr. P.R. Kumar (electrical and computer engineering, Texas A&M), Jim O’Rouke (OSIsoft), Dr. Bri-Mathias Hodge (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and Dr. Haitham Abu-Rub (electrical and computer engineering, Texas A&M-Qatar, and managing director, Smart Grid Center-Qatar). Research results were showcased in a posters session presented by graduate students.
On the South Big Data Regional Innovation Hub, Dr. Renata Afi Rawlings-Goss (co-executive director, South BD Hub, GaTech) presented an overview.
In focus groups, the following topics were discussed:
• Big Data Types and Sources in Smart Grids, led by Baldwin and Dr. Yu Ding (Texas A&M)
• Big Data Analytics and Technology for Smart Grids, led by Dr. Mark Rice (PNNL) and Dr. Nick Duffield (Texas A&M)
• Solving the T&D Challenges with Big Data, led by Jim O’Rouke (OSIsoft) and Dr. Anita Rapp (Texas A&M)
• Solving the Customer Challenges with Big Data, led by Dr. Haitham Abu-Rub (Texas A&M -Qatar) and Dr. Le Xie (Texas A&M)
Overall, more than 100 people attended the workshop, including participants from The Texas A&M University System, the Department of Energy, CenterPoint Energy, GE Grid Solutions, Esri, Knowledge Based Systems, National Instruments, OSIsoft, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and The Electric Power Research Institute, as well as 58 students and representatives from universities in Brazil and Qatar.
The workshop was sponsored by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the TEES Smart Grid Center, The Office of the Vice President for Research at Texas A&M, the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Texas A&M and the Electrical Power & Power Electronics Institute at Texas A&M.