Please join The Sensing Institute for an insightful guest lecture from Yang Du, Ph.D.

Lecture Title: Reducing Renewable Uncertainty: A Roadmap Using Storage, Forecasting and Control

Abstract: Renewable energy is often described as variable, but the deeper operational challenge for power systems is uncertainty—the difficulty of predicting how much solar or wind power will be available at any moment. This talk draws on practical grid experience to explain how renewables currently operate in Australian electricity markets, how they are balanced, and why rising uncertainty poses risks as their penetration grows. It then shows how battery storage, combined with forecasting and intelligent control, can reduce uncertainty at the source and enable renewable plants to behave in a more reliable and predictable way. Finally, the seminar outlines how market mechanisms can evolve to recognize and support this new role of storage in renewable energy integration.

Yang Du is a Senior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at James Cook University, Australia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Sydney in 2013 and has held academic and research positions in Australia, the UAE, and China. In 2018, he was a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and currently visiting Columbia University.

Dr. Du’s research focuses on energy forecasting, power electronics and renewable energy integration. He serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy and has been recognized in Stanford University’s “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list.