IEEE PES Tunisia chapter has organized the first general meeting hosted by IEEE PES ENIS SBC at Galaxy Hotel, Sfax on November 24th. This event was created to gather all IEEE PES members in Tunisia section to get further insight and letting the exchange of knowledge. During this event, a highly qualified international speaker, Mr. Peter Sunderland, presented a session on his PES career with a presentation highlighting the newest available opportunities for PES members in our country along with the IEEE PES Tunisia Chapter Chair Faouzi Laouej.

This event offered an opportunity to bring different student chapters to interact and grow effective networking and helped in selecting the next Student Chapter that might organize the next edition of this general meeting. For this, PES Tunisia Chapter invited all PES student chapters after the elections, IEEE PES ULT SBC won the vote.

DLP Tour

Dr Peter E. Sutherland received the B.S at University of Maine at Orono, the M.Sc.E. at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Canada and the PhD at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). For over twenty years, Dr. Sutherland has specialized in electrical power system studies, teaching and research.  After joining GE in 1987, he led a wide variety of power system studies.  He worked in GE’s Industrial Power Systems Engineering Operation (1987-89), the GE Training and Development Center (1989-92), the Albany office of Installation and Service Engineering (1993-96), Power Systems Energy Consulting (1996-2001), GE Renewables (2013-14), GE Industrial Solutions (2014-2018), and ABB (2018-pesent). The author of many papers, winner of an IEEE IAS Prize Paper Award and active in the IEEE for many years, he has held many positions including Chair of the IEEE Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Department. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE and a PE in NY and three other states.

With the collaboration of three PES student chapters, IEEE PES Tunisia section had the honor to organize several technical sessions in different Tunisian universities.

Hosted by IEEE INSAT PES SBC, Dr. Peter presented the first lecture about “Arc Flash Hazards and NFPA 70E-2018” on 21 November 2019 in the locals of the INSAT Institut in the Capital Tunis, North of Tunisia. This lecture was designed to equip the electrical consultant, system designer or any other professional responsible for designing or modernizing commercial and industrial electrical power distribution systems with the fundamentals of the Arc Flash Energy phenomenon. It is based upon NFPA-70E-2018 ‘Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces,’ IEEE Standard 1584-2002 ‘Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations,’ NFPA70-2017, ‘National Electrical Code,’ and the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States.

IEEE PES Tunisia Chapter in ISET TATAOUIN organized the second conference in the very south of Tunisia, on 22 November 2019. The lecture was titled “Grid codes and wind farm interconnections” which was about presenting Grid codes are published by utilities and system operators to define the requirements for interconnection of generation and other facilities to the grid.  The purpose of the grid code requirements is to ensure reliability, stability, power quality, protection of equipment and worker safety. These requirements are given at the point of interconnection (POI) with the transmission or distribution system, and will be different for different sizes and types of generation.  Grid codes can cover a broad range of requirements, from continuous operational constraints to behavior during contingencies such as faults. Grid codes vary considerably based upon the issuer, their country or region and the type of transmission or distribution system.

Under the same subject of the last conference, IEEE PES ENIS Student branch chapter hosted the third lecture during the “PES Week” on 23 November 2019 in Hotel Galaxy, Sfax where DR Peter presented his researches in addition to his experience and PES career during the PES general meeting.

Nihel Ayadi
IEEE PES Tunisia Chapter, Student Chapters Coordinator