My name is Juan Carlos Montero, I’m from Costa Rica and I work at the National Energy Control Center of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. I have been an IEEE PES member since a long time ago and like many others, I am also a volunteer in the Society. Currently I have the position of Vice President of Membership and Image.

Like many of you and also as part of the responsibility that comes with my work, I need to follow the technological trends in power systems and monitor the transformation that the energy sector is undergoing. The revolution of power systems is happening on many fronts and the amount of information that is observed in the media and on the Internet is overwhelming.

A challenge in the present times, is to be able to identify the topics that are relevant from those that are only a fashion wave. It is also a challenge to identify reliable information sources which are sharing practical experiences or high level of relevance. I believe that we all studied engineering to be able to share our technical knowledge and expertise in order to improve the society in which we live, but if we do not have the updates on recent happenings in the world we will be condemned to just follow and not be the leaders of an energy transformation.

As part of the goals for 2019, the IEEE PES team has prepared a sequence of monthly emails where we will give you a sample of the wisdom coming from the community of IEEE PES members. The technical information provided by IEEE PES allows us to listen from world leaders their experiences in the ongoing projects and major coming projects. Our IEEE PES Resource Center gives us access to understand in detail the issues that are being discussed around the world. Energy Storage, Big Data in Power Systems, Micro Grids and Cybersecurity are just some of the topics we are developing. I am here to support you for any matter and we are open to your suggestions to extend the benefits of the IEEE PES.

#MorePowerToTheFuture

#IamPESVolunteer

Juan Carlos Montero

Big data is a big deal in the power industry. Are you ready for it?

The power industry is gradually moving up the analytics ladder, from descriptive analytics, to predictive analytics, and all the way up to prescriptive analytics. Meanwhile, many power companies have accumulated large volumes of data from various sources for advanced analytics. Now big data analytics [BDA], or applying analytics to big data, has become an emerging field. As an interdisciplinary field, big data analytics has a broad range of applications in the power industry.

Do you know what a MicroGrid is?

Generally, a microgrid is defined as a group of DERs, including Renewable Energy Resources (RES) and Energy Storage Systems (ESS), and loads, that operate together locally as a single controllable entity. Microgrids exist in various sizes and configurations; they can be large and complex networks with various generation resources and storage units serving multiple loads, or small and simple systems supplying a single customer.

How much do you know about Storage?