Special Session 27
Optimization, Control, and Market Mechanisms for Future Active Distribution Networks
With the rapid penetration of renewable energy resources, power-electronic-interfaced devices, and flexible demand, distribution networks are evolving from passive infrastructures into highly dynamic, actively managed systems. This transition brings fundamental challenges to the optimal operation, control, and market coordination of future distribution networks, especially under high uncertainty, limited observability, and increasing interaction between physical and economic layers. This Special Session aims to provide a forum for researchers and practitioners to present recent advances in modeling, optimization, control, and market design for active distribution networks with high penetration of renewable energy resources. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:1. Optimal operation and planning of active distribution networks
2. Flexibility modeling of distributed energy resources, storage, and demand response
3. Grid-forming and grid-following control strategies for inverter-based resources
4. Distributed and hierarchical control of renewable-rich distribution systems
5. Voltage and frequency regulation in low- and medium-voltage networks
6. Distribution-level electricity markets and coordination with wholesale markets
Chairs:
Assoc. Prof. Changsen Feng, Tongji University, China
Changsen Feng received the B.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering from Shandong University in 2013 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2019, under the supervision of Prof. Fushuan Wen (IEEE Fellow). He is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tongji University. He has held visiting research positions at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation) and the Technical University of Denmark. His research interests include renewable energy integration, optimal operation and voltage control of distribution networks, low-inertia power systems, electricity markets, game theory, and deep reinforcement learning for power system applications
Prof. Chao Deng, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China
Chao Deng received his Ph.D. degree in Control Science and Engineering from Northeastern University in 2018. From May 2018 to April 2021, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Since June 2021, he has been with the Advanced Technology Research Institute of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China, where he is currently a Professor. He has published more than 40 papers in IEEE Transactions and IFAC journals, including IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and Automatica as the first author and corresponding author. He is currently the Associate Editor of the Journal of Control and Decision. He was the recipient of the Best Paper Award of the International Conference (ICCAR) in 2022. His research interests include distributed fault-tolerant control, security control of cyber-physical systems, and secondary control of smart microgrid systems.
Assoc. Prof. Tianlei Zang, Sichuan University, China
Tianlei Zang is an Associate Professor at the College of Electrical Engineering, Sichuan University. He obtained his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Southwest JiaotongUniversity in China in 2017. From 2013 to 2014, he was sponsored by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and studied as a joint PhD student at the University of Toronto, Canada. From 2017 to 2020, he pursued postdoctoral research at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University in China. He is a Senior Member of IEEE. Additionally, he was selected for Sichuan Province's "Tianfu Emei Plan". His research areas include energy management and optimization control of energy systems, as well as security analysis, active protection, and resilience enhancement of cyber-physical energy systems.
Prof. Menglin Zhang, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), China
Menglin Zhang is a Professor at the School of Automation, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Wuhan University in 2017.She was a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) from 2017 to 2019, and later at the Center for Electric Power and EnergyY, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) from 2019 to 2021. Her research focuses on energy management and distributed optimization in distribution systems. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including Applied Energy, IET Renewable Power Generation, and IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. She has published over 20 SCI -indexed journal papers as the first and corresponding author, two of which are recognized as ESI Highly Cited Papers. She has led and participated in 11 research projects, including two at the national and international level. In 2024, she was honored with the Chutian Scholar award in Hubei Province.
Assoc. Prof. Zening Li，Taiyuan University of Technology, China
Zening Li is currently an Associate Professor at Taiyuan University of Technology and the Deputy Director of the Shanxi Energy Internet Engineering Research Center. His research interests primarily focus on power system operation and control, resilience enhancement of urban coupled networks, and energy management for polar clean energy systems. He currently presides over multiple national and provincial-level research projects, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Project and a sub-project of the National Key R&D Program of China. In recent years, he has published over 20 papers as the first or corresponding author in high-impact journals such as the IEEET Transactions series, Applied Energy, and Proceedings of the CSEE. Among his publications, five have been selected as ESI Global Top 0.1% Hot Papers, five as ESI Global Top 1% Highly Cited Papers, and one was awarded the Annual Excellent Paper by CSEE JPES. Additionally, he serves as a Youth Editorial Board Member for Electric Power Construction and Energy Conversion and Economics, and acts as a Guest Editor for several SCI-indexed journals.