Green Energy towards sustainable development has been the topic of the ICUE 2018, an international conference organized by the Energy Program
of the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). Incorporating elements of renewable energy, low carbon strategies into economic, technological and social progress were the highlights of the conference.
The flagship biannual conference of the EECC Department’s Energy Program saw the participation of 150 delegates from 34 countries. Delegates came from as far as South Africa, Colombia, Netherlands, and New Zealand (to name a few countries) for the conference held last 24 -26 October 2018 at the Thavorn Palm Beach Resort in Karon, Phuket.
The conference was supported and sponsored by Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), Banpu Infinergy and Phuket Solar Company Limited. The conference brought together energy professionals, researchers, members of the academia, policymakers, engineers and students. The conference was also technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Power and Energy Society (IEEE PES).
On the first day of the conference, the former Minister of Energy of Thailand, Dr. Piyasvasti Amranand, shared his insights about the future of Thailand’s energy systems during this address entitled “Thailand: Path towards 1.5’C”. On the second day, Dr. Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, a senior energy economist of the Economic Research institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and an alumnus of AIT discussed the “Challenges and Opportunities for Green ASEAN Grid System”.
Field trips were also arranged for conference delegates, to see a solar PV installation site of Phuket Solar Co. Ltd. at the HeadStart International School; and a scenic wind turbine installation site operated and managed by EGAT in Phromthep Cape.
The conference was structured into 2 plenary sessions and 22 technical sessions. The technical sessions were arranged four at a time and six 100 minutes slots on topics such as power system operations, biomass technology, solar-driven technologies, smart grid integration, green urban planning, low carbon economy, GHG mitigation, climate change, energy efficiency, energy transition forecasting, power optimization and planning analysis.
Best Student Paper Awards (Gold, Silver and Bronze award) were conferred to student papers from Thailand, Singapore and China.
