As a part of IEEE PES Day 2020, some PES Day ambassadors along with IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter of IEEE A.D. Patel Institute of Technology (ADIT) Student Branch organized events on 24th and 25th of April 2020. The events were mainly focused on Smart Grid. The activities were conducted virtually and were scheduled into two sessions of duration of one and half hour each.

The speaker on the first day was Dr. Claudio Lima, Chair of IEEE Blockchain in Energy Standards WG, former Vice-Chair IEEE 2030 Smart Grid Standards. He delivered a lecture on “How utilities can adopt Blockchain to improve operations and create new source of revenue.” In this session the basics of Blockchain Technology was defined in detail. Also, the Strategic Planning involved in this field was discussed. Moreover, the idea of how this technology can work even at the critical time of calamities was referred. Scope and opportunities expected in the Blockchain market in the near future was shared in brief.

On the second day, the speaker was Shuvam Sarkar Roy, Smart Energy Specialist in India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF). His topic was “21st Century Grids”. In this session the speaker enlightened the audience about various initiatives undertaken by the Government of India in the field of smart grids. Many key components of smart grids like Energy Storage, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Cyber Security were discussed. Moreover, information regarding the global increase in the use of electric vehicles by means of accurate and in-depth statistics was shared. Also, the idea of Smart Grid Maturity Model was presented. The event was a huge success with 238 participants (15 International Participants). Among them 69 were IEEE members and 169 were non-IEEE members.

Dhruvinsinh Rathod
PES DAY Ambassadors [Student Branch]
Vice-Chairperson, IEEE A.D. Patel Institute of Technology Student Branch