Abstract

Digital twin technology has gained significant attention in recent years as a powerful tool that offers new ways to improve the design, performance, and maintenance of power electronic systems. This keynote speech aims to provide a comprehensive overview of digital twin technology, including its key enabling techniques and their application in power electronics. In particular, the focus of the speech will be on two main enabling techniques. The first one is fast real-time simulation methods, which allow to create virtual models of power electronics systems and simulate them in real-time. The second one is real-time data communication interface algorithms, which facilitate communication between the virtual models and the physical environment, allowing for continuous monitoring and adjustment of the systems. Additionally, the use of an artificial intelligence-assisted modeling approach to achieve high-fidelity real-time models of power electronics will be introduced. The benefits and limitations of these techniques will be highlighted. Furthermore, the challenges associated with combining power electronic real-time models and renewable energy source real-time models to create power system digital twins will be discussed. Several case studies of digital twin implementation in power electronics will also be presented. The future directions, challenges, and opportunities of power electronics digital twin technology will conclude the keynote. Overall, this keynote speech aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of digital twin technology applied to power electronics field, as well as its potential to shape the future of power systems.

Brief Biography

Prof. Fei Gao is currently the Deputy Director of the French CNRS research institute FEMTO-ST (750 researchers) and a Full Professor at the School of Energy and Computer science of the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbeliard (UTBM). He received from UTBM the PhD degree in renewable energy with distinguished Youth Doctor Award in 2010. His main research fields include fuel cells for transportation and real-time simulation technology for modern power electronics and energy systems. Prof. Gao is a Fellow of IEEE and IET. He is the recipient of 2020 “IEEE J. David Irwin Early Career Award” from IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2022 “Leon-Nicolas Brillouin Award” from SEE France, and 2022 industrial “Sustainable Future Visionary Award” from Typhoon HIL. Prof. Gao is a Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE Industry Applications Society. He is the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Industrial Electronics Technology News, the Assistant Deputy Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, and an Associate Editor of 4 IEEE Transactions. He currently serves as the Strategic Planning Committee Chair of IEEE Transportation Electrification Community, the Vice-Chair of the Technical Committee on Electrified Transportation Systems of IEEE Power Electronics Society and the Secretary of Industrial Automation and Control Committee of IEEE Industry Application Society.