The extreme winter weather that hit Texas in mid-February caused havoc not only to the entire state grid, but also in peoples’ lives. Texas is the second largest state in the United States, and it is home to 41% of the nation's petrochemical production and 28% of the wind energy supply, making it the "heart of energy". During the cold snap, however, oil production stopped for days, natural gas generation was reduced, and wind power was crippled as turbines froze. Even the South Texas Nuclear Power Plant on the Mexican coast, which supplies nearly 10% of the state's electricity, was unable to operate because the pumps that cool the units were frozen. While demand for electricity soared, the Texas grid sustained short-term rotating blackouts.
When seen in the context of global warming, it becomes apparent that the event is a part of a growing trend of extreme weather events, which can also include heavy rainfall and heat waves in other regions. Since 1951, China has seen a significant increase in both average and extreme temperatures; extreme weather, such as heatwaves, have become stronger, more frequent, and have also lasted longer. Globally, the 2020 Global Climate Status Statement released by the World Meteorological Organisation shows that the last decade, from 2011 to 2020, was the warmest on record. The new energy and power industries are heavily influenced by meteorological conditions, which affect demand, supply, and operating infrastructure. Climate services play a vital role in all stages of planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance.
This webinar showcases some of the outcomes of the six-year Sino-British Climate Science Services Partnership’s (CSSP) China project from 2014 to 2020, a joint effort between climate scientists from both countries. This webinar will invite scientists and engineers to present the tools and services they have developed for businesses and policy makers to make them aware of current and future climate risks. We will focus on the Yangtze River Delta region of China and discuss the role and application of climate services in renewable energy projects.
Webinar Details:
Date: Wednesday 17th March 2021
Time: 16:00-17:40 (CST), 8:00-09:40 (BST)
Language: English and Chinese, with simultaneous interpretation provided
Webinar Host:
Vicky Lucas, Training Development Manager, The Institute for Environmental Analytics
Webinar Agenda:
- 16:00 - 16:05 Welcome & Brief Intro
Vicky Lucas, Training Manager ,Institute for Environmental Analytics, University of Reading
- 16:05 - 16:15 Climate Services for the European Energy Sector
Jennifer Weeks, Climate Services Scientist, Met Office
16:25 - 16:25 Seasonal climate prediction, with applications for wind energy and for Yangtze rainfall
Dr Philip Bett, Senior climate scientist, Met Office Hadley Centre
- 16:25 - 16:35 A new energy analytics platform and it’s utility for expanding the penetration of renewable energy
Andrew Groom, Business Development Manager, Institute for Environmental Analytics
- 16:35 - 16:45 Estimation of the offshore extreme winds at 100m over JiangSu province based on spectral correction and numerical simulation
Dr Rui Chang, Senior Engineer, National Climate Center of CMA
- 16:45 - 17:00 Estimation of the offshore extreme winds at 100m over JiangSu province based on spectral correction and numerical simulation
Dr Rui Chang, Senior Engineer, National Climate Center of CMA
- 17:00 - 17:05 Survey and break
- 17:05 - 17: 35 Q&A
- 17:35 - 17:40 Wrap Up
Webinar Platform:
This webinar will be held on ZOOM. It is important that you download and install Zoom (desktop client or mobile App) in advance of the session. Please use the correct Zoom version, as using a different version may result in difficulties in joining the session. Desktop client and mobile App are both available at:
https://zoom.us/support/download, and https://zoom.com.cn/download
Registration:
The webinar link will then be sent to you via email upon registration. Should you have any questions, please contact: hao.liu@cbbc.org
Speaker Profiles:
Vicky Lucas
Training Manager, Institute for Environmental Analytics, Uniersity of Reading
Originally a physicist, air quality scientist and weather forecaster, Vicky Lucas’s professional experiences include working in the UK commercial energy sector on the environmental planning of fossil-fuel stations and wind farms. Now a trainer, Vicky focusses on communicating with a range of end users delivering online and face-to-face learning activities including applying climate science and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Jennifer Weeks
Climate Services Scientist, Met Office
Jennifer Weeks is part of the International Climate Services team at the Met Office. Her work involves understanding specific user requirements in the energy and agricultural sectors and working closely with partners and decision-makers in China to provide climate information that is useful and usable.
Jennifer is also involved in developing sea level projections and running stakeholder workshops for coastal climate services in the South Pacific and South Asia regions. Jennifer holds a Masters degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Oxford.
About Met Office:
The Met Office is the UK’s national meteorological service, providing critical weather services and world-leading climate science, helping people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. They translate complex science, predictions and projections into advice that can be acted on, and work with partners worldwide to help them manage their climate-related risks. The International Climate Services team within the Met Office is working to engage with users of climate information in the energy community as part of the Climate Science for Service Partnership (CSSP) China project, supporting by the UK Government’s Newton Fund. This involves identifying requirements for climate information to develop protype climate services and inform underpinning scientific research.
Dr Philip Bett
Senior climate scientist, Met Office Hadley Centre
Philip works in the Impacts of Climate Variability team, within the Monthly to Decadal Variability & Prediction area of the Met Office. His research focuses on developing new ways of using seasonal forecasts, often with applications in the energy sector in the UK, Europe and China. This has involved understanding the capabilities and limitations of seasonal forecasting systems, as well as the requirements of potential forecast users, and ensuring that these are communicated well in both directions.
Andrew Groom
Business Development Manager, Institute for Environmental Analytics
Andrew Groom is an experienced Business Development professional working at the Institute for Environmental Analytics. Andrew’s professional experience includes 14+ years working in the UK Space sector and 10+ years working in the UK Financial sector. At the IEA, Andrew works with a highly talented development team on Re-Sat and is leading on the business development aspects of this initiative, alongside other IEA initiatives. Andrew’s academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Science degree, a Bachelor of Science Honours degree and a Master of Science degree.
Dr Rui Chang
Senior Engineer, National Climate Center of CMA
Dr. Chang Rui, now a senior engineer at the National Climate Center, has been responsible for the research, development and application services of wind and solar energy resource assessment and prediction technology for the past 10 years. According to the actual needs of clean energy development, a three-dimensional assessment method of wind and solar energy resources was developed, which improved the refinement and scientific connotation of resource assessment. The results were applied to 10 major climate service projects and national targeted photovoltaic poverty alleviation. To meet the needs of large-scale wind and solar energy industry development planning, the climate and environmental effect assessment work of major power generation projects was innovatively carried out. She has participated in more than 10 national and provincial projects on renewable energy, and published 10 papers as the first author (5 SCI papers).
Guan Wang
Electricity Meteorology Researcher, State Power Investment Corporation
Guan Wang is part of State Power Investment Corporation Wind Power Innovation Center Institute of Electricity Meteorology.
Her focuses on the resource census and evaluation of wind power and solar energy, in order to fully utilized the wind power plant’s capacity, maximized the investment efficiency of wind power projects. Seasonal climate forecasting is part of the SPIC's Yu Feng Platform System. She participates in another main technology of Yu Feng Platform called the Fast-Downscaling Wind Farm Client & Wind Farm Micro Characters Database System, including system debugging, system operation monitoring and data analysis of relevant meteorological elements. The system is mainly practice in company owned wind power projects to complete large-scale and high-resolution wind resource computation in complex terrain. She studied at the University of California, Davis, majoring in Environmental Science & Management and Statistics.
