Dr. Gino Lim 
Professor and Chairman
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Houston
Friday, February 21, 2020 2:30-3:30pm
Tickle Building Room 410
Abstract
The microgrid (MG) is a distribution system that integrates the increasing number of renewable energy resources, storage systems and controllable loads to support a flexible and reliable renewable energy distribution. Microgrids can be used for a broader range of applications in rural areas and disaster restoration efforts, and enable higher efficiency in managing uncontrollable renewable energy resources such as wind and solar. I will present two optimization problems that need to be resolved for the electrical community to receive benefits of having clean and high-quality power at lower cost. The first problem is to find an optimal amount of electrical power to produce and its price when a microgrid is used to trade (sell/buy) power with distribution system. We propose a decentralized pool strategy for an MG to integrate with a distribution system through a market mechanism to reduce the complexity of the system and improve the efficiency of the electricity market operation. The second part of the talk is about a two-stage microgrid scheduling strategy in which the frequency control reserve (FCR) is considered to ensure economic, reliable and stable microgrid operation.
Bio
Gino Lim is Professor and Chairman, and Hari and Anjali faculty fellow, in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston (UH). He is a fellow of IISE. His research interests are in robust optimization, large-scale optimization models and computational algorithms, Operations Research applications in healthcare, power systems, homeland security, and network resiliency. He has published well over 100 research articles and have directed numerous funded research projects over $10M. He received multiple awards from INFORMS including the Pierskalla Best Paper Award, Moving Spirit Award, and Volunteer Service Award. He has also received the Best Paper Award in the IISE energy systems division. His excellence in teaching has been well recognized by receiving multiple teaching awards at UH. He served as Board of Directors of INFORMS, Chair of INFORMS Subdivisions Council, and the VP for Chapters/Fora of INFORMS. He was the program chair of 2017 INFORMS annual conference (Houston, TX), the chair of Bonder Scholarship committee for healthcare society of INFORMS, a past program chair for 2012 ISERC conference (FL), and a program Co-Chair of 2013 ISERC doctoral colloquium. He received both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering from University of Wisconsin – Madison.