Educational Background
B.E (Electrical & Electronics Engg.)
M.E (Power Systems Engg.)
Work Experience
Industry (8 Years)
Academic & Research (11 years)
Research Interests
Power System Protection
Microgrids
Microgrid Controllers
Contact Details
james.187ee004@nitk.edu.in
Research Description Note
Coal has been a major source of energy and has been used extensively for generating electricity since its inception. In the course of time, other fossil based sources like natural gas, residual fuel oil, petroleum coke and diesel also came into use. These sources contributed to the production of 17,386.4 TWh of electricity in year 2020. Also, non-fossil fuel based sources such as nuclear contribute about 2,750 TWh of electricity. The renewable sources of energy such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass contributed to 7,727.3 TWh of electricity production in the year 2020. With the use of fossil based energy sources, the CO2 emission steadily increased to 13.6 Gt in 2019.
Fueled by the steady decline in fossil fuels and increase in CO2 emissions, recent advancements in the field of power electronics, efficient electrical machines, battery technology and lower per unit production cost of electricity have propelled the use of renewable energy sources for the production of electricity.
The traditional electricity grid has failed to supply power to its customers during calamities such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, wars and blackouts due to its centralized generation and distribution structure. One of the key solutions to this problem is that a localized generating source can provide power to its local load forming a Microgrid thereby enhancing resiliency. The generating sources in a Microgrid would include renewable energy sources along with emergency backup sources such as diesel generators and battery based or non-battery based storage units with the unique feature that a Microgrid can be connected or disconnected from the main grid whenever required. This makes Microgrid provide clean, sustainable, efficient and stable power to the end users.