64 IEEE power & energy magazine january/february 2006

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TTHE SECOND TRANSMISSION &Distribution (T&D) Conference &Exhibition in the Asia-Pacific Regionwas held in the Chinese scenic coastalcity of Dalian from 14–18 August2005. The meeting was cosponsored bythe IEEE Power Engineering Society(PES) and the Chinese Society forElectrical Engineering (CSEE) in coop-eration with China Electric PowerResearch Institute (CEPRI).

The theme of this conference was“Security and Sustainable Develop-ment under Deregulation.” Lu Yan-chang, CSEE president, and Hans B.Püttgen, IEEE PES president, openedthe conference with welcome addressesat the opening ceremony on 15 August2005. This was followed by fivekeynote speeches in the plenary ses-sion, which drew more than 400 atten-dees. The titles and the speakers were

✔ “Current Status and Develop-ment of National Grid in China,”Yinbiao Shu, vice president,State Grid Corporation of China

✔ “South China HVAC and HVDCHybrid Grid: Development andChallenges,” Maozhen Yuan,chair, China Southern PowerGrid Co.

✔ “Electrical Power Systems:Challenges and Opportunities,“A.G. Phadke, Virginia Tech.

✔ “Wind Power for Power Sys-tems,” J. Charles Smith, execu-tive director, Utility WindInterest Group

✔ “Technical Measures for Trans-ferring Capability Improvement

successful outcomesthe T&D conference and PES election results

The exhibition.

At the opening ceremony (from left): Wu Yusheng, president, CEPRI; Yuan Maozheng,president, China Southern Grid; H.B. Püttgen, president, IEEE-PES; Lu Yanchang, presi-dent, CSEE; Shu Yinbiao, vice president, State Grid Company of China.

in Power System,” Jianbo Guo,chief engineer, China ElectricPower Research Institute.

After the electric power industryrestructuring in 2002, two power gridcompanies were established in China:State Grid Corporation of China andChina Southern Corporation. Leadersof these two companies addressed theconference. Yinbiao Shu, vice presidentof State Grid Corporation of China,reported the installed generation capac-ity reached 439 GW in 2004 in China,and all six regional power grids inChina have been interconnected afterthe completion of a high-voltage dc(HVDC) back-to-back project in June2005 that connected the central andnorthwest power systems, Tibet, andsea island local power grids. A Chinesenationwide interconnection has beenformed since then (see Figure 1). It wasannounced that State Grid has made adecision to construct a nationwideultrahigh-voltage (UHV) backboneproject. An ultrahigh-voltage ac(UHVAC) pilot project will construct a650-km transmission system, includingtwo substations and a switchgear sta-tion beginning this year. Three

UHVDC lines with distances of 1,500-km each will be constructed from2008–2011 for the transmission ofhydropower from southwest China tothe central and east grids.

In “South China HVAC and HVDCHybrid Grid: Development and Chal-lenges,” Maozhen Yuan, president ofChina Southern Power Grid Corpora-tion, commented that the South Chinagrid is a complicated structure withcompact connections and presents diffi-culty of operation. He shared the devel-opment strategies and goals of the SouthChina Power Grid for dealing with prob-lems and challenges such as grid stabili-ty, online supervision and control of thesystems, and reactive voltage balancing.The South China Power Grid is intenton improving the management of thesecurity and stability of the control sys-tem to enhance the PSS management,improve the dc modulate function andprevent the low-frequency oscillation,enhance the dynamic voltage supportability, and operate a uniform, open, rea-sonably structured, and reliable modernpower grid.

The technical program consists offour panel sessions covering the topics

of UHVDC, power market design,wide-area measurement/monitoring sys-tem (WAMS), and wind-farm intercon-nection. There were 32 panel sessionsand three poster sessions. More than 400full papers were presented by authorsfrom 29 countries. The conference pro-ceedings consisted of 472 papers. Thepresentations of the five keynote speech-es and four panel sessions can be down-loaded from the conference Web site:http://conference.epri.ac.cn/t-d2005ap/.The exhibition featured 60 participants.

During the conference, a PES-CSEE meeting was organized to dis-cuss further cooperation issues and ascontinuation of the agreement signedfive years ago. On 16 August 2005, aconference banquet was held in whichRuomei Li, chair of the OrganizingCommittee, expressed gratitude to allthe coorganizers for the success of theconference. Technical visits combinedwith sightseeing tours were arranged tothe Huaneng Dalian Power Plant andthe Nanguanling 500-kV Substation.

Election ResultsThe 2005 IEEE elections affected PESmembership in three distinct contests:

66 IEEE power & energy magazine january/february 2006

figure 1. Nationwide grid interconnections of China.

ac Interconnection:Northeast–North- Central China

dc Interconnection:Central – East ChinaCentral – South ChinaCentral – NorthwestTransmission CapacityBetween Regions: 11.4 GW

Tibet

Northwest

Central China

South China

North China

Northeast

EastChina

Taiwan

500-kV ac2001/05800 MW

± 120-kV dc2005/07360 MW

500-kV ac2002/041,000 MW

± 500-kV dc2004/023,000 MW

500-kV ac2001/121,200 MW

± 500-kV dc1989/094,200 MW

500-kV ac2003/09800 MW

january/february 2006 IEEE power & energy magazine

those for the IEEE 2006 president-elect (and 2007 IEEE president), the2006 vice president-elect, technicalactivities (who will become the 2007vice president, technical activities),and the Division VII director for2006–2007. The successful candidatesfor these offices are

✔ 2006 IEEE President-Elect: LeahH. Jamieson

✔ 2006 Vice President-Elect, Tech-nical Activities: Peter W. Staecker

✔ 2006–2007 Division VII Direc-tor: William O. Kennedy

The successful candididates whowill serve during the presidency ofJohn McDonald in 2006–2007 are

✔ President-Elect: Wanda K. Reder✔ Secretary: Noel N. Schulz✔ Treasurer: Alan C. RotzOur congratulations to all the candi-

dates and to the winners! p&e

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John R. Conrad, chairman emeritus of S&C Electric Com-pany, died on 30 August 2005 at the age of 89. Conrad, anationally known leader in the electric power industry,shaped the company into a global supplier of switchingand protection equipment and services for electric trans-mission and distribution systems and large power users.

He was educated at Yale and the University of Chicago and joined S&Cin 1945 at the request of his father, company cofounder Nicholas J. Conrad.Under his leadership, S&C grew from 125 employees 60 years ago to itscurrent workforce of 2,000 worldwide. The company has wholly ownedsubsidiaries in Canada, Mexico, China, and Brazil.

Conrad was active in many industry-related organizations, including theIEEE and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. In 1994, he wasthe recipient of the IEEE Power Engineering Society’s Award for Excellencein Power Distribution Engineering. He received the Washington Award fromthe Western Society of Engineers in 1998, joining such luminaries as HenryFord, Enrico Fermi, and Neil Armstrong. This was a particular honor forConrad because he was not an engineer by training.

John Conrad is survived by his spouse of 47 years, Arlys M. StreitmatterConrad, three daughters, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

In Memorium: John Conrad