The Chair in Energy and Power Systems Modeling occupies a critical space in South Africa’s energy transition. As the energy system evolves from fossil fuel dependence to increasing use of renewable energy sources, this shift must be accompanied by the integration of energy storage systems and supporting infrastructure. Based within the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Chair undertakes extensive research and skills building to understand and mitigate the impacts of this shift on the energy grid. The Chair’s contribution has been recognised in the establishment of the Advanced Electric Power and Energy Conversion (AEPEC) Research Centre, focused on energy transition and power systems engineering and acting as a well-established contact point between academia, industry, municipalities and independent power producers.

Key to the work undertaken by the Chair are the challenges around variable renewable energy; that is the intermittent nature of energy produced by solar, wind and other renewable resources. The Chair’s work involves applications of data-driven and intelligent approaches, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, and living lab concepts in the design, protection and energy management of grid and variable renewable energy systems. At the same time the Chair is also investigating the country’s transport electrification arena as electric vehicles gradually enter the market, which comes with challenges in grid operation and planning as well as storage and e-mobility systems. The Chair is actively engaged in building the next generation of electrical power and energy engineers and researchers in her own capacity and as a key part of the AEPEC Research Centre.