The 2023 edition of Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, Latin America (ISGT LA 2023), sponsored by the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), will be held in San Juan, PR, on November 6-9, 2023, with the theme “Disaster recovery and network transformation in times of climate change”.

The electric power system is undergoing a fundamental transformation due to need for a more resilient grid, as major weather events become more frequent and devastating. At the same time, the system is experiencing a dramatic increase in deployments of Inverter-Based Renewable Resources (IBRs), decrease of system inertia, increased need for grid observability and controllability, increased need energy efficiency and demand response, regulatory changes and the emergence of new business models and grid services. In Puerto Rico, these are influenced by territorial laws and policies targeting decarbonization, evolving customer needs, and need for flexible and resilient operation of the system, which will lead to 100% adoption of renewable energy by 2050, 60% by 2040, and 40% by 2025, with increase of energy efficiency as well as retirement of coal generation by 2028. At the same time, there is a major focus on Energy Justice in the territory. In conjunction with resilience requirements, these will result in higher adoption of technology such as microgrids and advanced controls. The changes are resulting in an enormous increase in the system complexity where the number of active control points in the grid is too high to be managed manually. Therefore, there is need for innovation in design, integration, operation, testing and evaluation of newer technologies and processes in order to enable and accelerate progress towards increased levels of automation. Additionally new structural and architectural constructs will be critical for allowing local decision-making which is a steppingstone in the transition to a “self-driving” grid.

It is important to discuss the different drivers, key enablers, new structures, and advanced technologies. ISGT LA 2023 is nested in the perfect scenario where Puerto Rico will experience major system reconstruction with a heart in resilience, while at the same time must enable 100% renewables. The brain, i.e., controls, will be fundamental to orchestrate all these parts. The ISGT LA 2023 will be the forum to discuss the latest issues, trends, and innovative technologies towards resilience and decarbonization, with economic access to energy to all. The Conference will feature keynote and plenary sessions, panel sessions, and technical papers presented in poster sessions, as well as pre-conference tutorials.

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