Profile

Dr Chris Dent, CPhys AFORS

Lecturer in the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 42451

Room number: Room E324

Biography

Dr. Chris Dent received his BA degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 1997, and PhD in Theoretical Physics from Loughborough University in 2001. After four years of postdoctorial research in Physics (Heriot-Watt University and Philipps-Universitaet Marburg) he studied for the MSc in Operational Research at the University of Edinburgh in 2005-6. Since the start of 2007 he has worked in electrical power systems research, first at the University of Edinburgh, and then from October 2009 at Durham University where he was appointed Lecturer in Energy System Modelling in August 2011. His main interests lie in optimisation, risk and reliability modelling of power systems, renewables integration, transmission network planning and power system economics. He has also worked on frequency domain modelling of wave energy converters. Dr. Dent is a Chartered Physicist and Associate Fellow of the Operational Research Society.

Dr. Dent collaborates widely with other research organisations and the power industry. Within academia, he has close links with the Electricity Research Centre at University College Dublin, and the probability and statistics group at Heriot-Watt University. He was invited to spend two weeks at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory in May 2011, followed immediately by another 2 weeks as an invited researcher in Sweden at Lund University's Focus Period on "Dynamics, Control and Pricing in Power Systems". In 2010-11 he has spent a total of 5 months on secondment to National Grid, working on probabilistic and statistical modelling of wind generation with applications to power system operation and planning. In spring and summer 2011 he spent shorter periods at the University of California at Berkeley, Caltech, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and Florida International University.

His professional activities include IEEE and Cigre working groups (most significantly at present the IEEE Task Force on Capacity Value of Solar Generation), and he represents the IEEE Power and Energy Society's Risk, Reliability and Probability Applications Subcomittee on the Wind Power Coordinating Committee. In May 2010, he co-organised the Energy Systems Week at the Isaac Newton Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge (the UK's national institute for the mathematical sciences), and in 2011 chaired an invited paper session on "Mathematical modelling for renewables integration studies" at the IEEE PES General Meeting. He is presently coordinating a Special Issue of the Journal of Risk and Reliability (Proc IMechE pt O) on energy systems.

Research Groups

Energy Research Group

Research Interests

Power system optimisation
Power system reliability and risk modelling
System integration of renewable generation
Transmission network planning
Wave energy converter modelling
Power system economics

Teaching Areas

Guest-lectured course on 'Operational Research in the Energy Industry' at the University of Edinburgh
Three lectures on power system risk modelling as part of the Durham MEng and MSc course on 'Energy Markets and Risk'
(3 hours/year.)
Dynamic Systems Modelling (Durham BEng/Meng Level 2 course) (10 hours/year.)

Selected Publications

Conference papers

Dent, C. J. (2011), Generation adequacy in future power systems, Energy Systems Day. Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge.
Ochoa, L. F., Dent, C. J. & Harrison, G. P. (2010), Distribution Network Capacity Assessment: Variable DG and Active Networks, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting. Minneapolis, USA.
Dent, C.J. (2010), Experience with Stochastic Methods for the Planning and Operation of Transmission Systems, Cigre Session. Paris.
Dent, C. J., Lannoye, E., Power, M. & Keane, A. (2010), Insufficient Ramping Resource Expectation: A New Flexibility Metric, Cigre Session. Paris.
Dent, C. J. & Bialek, J. W. (2010), Non-iterative Method for Modelling Systematic Data Errors in Power System Risk Assessment, IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting. Minneapolis.
Dent C.J. (2009), Session Summary Talk: National Experiences, Cigre/IEEE Symposium on Integration of Wide-Scale Renewable Resources into the Power Delivery System. Calgary, Canada.
Dent C.J. (2008), The security constrained optimal power flow - not a stochastic optimisation problem, CARIPLO Workshop on Numerical Linear and Nonlinear Stochastic Programming. Edinburgh, Scotland.

Edited works: conference proceedings

Zachary, S., Dent, C. J. & Brayshaw, D. J. (2011). Challenges in Quantifying Wind Generation’s Contribution to Securing Peak Demand. IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting (invited paper), Detroit.
Dent, C. J. & Gray, J. D. (2011). Component Time-to-Failure Distribution Estimation with Limited Statistical Data: A Critical Survey. IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Detroit.
Dent, C. J., Brayshaw, D. J. & Zachary, S. (2011). Model structures, data and meteorological insights for assessing wind generation’s contribution to supporting peak electricity demand. Advances in Risk and Reliability Symposium, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Dent C. J., Hasche B., Keane A. & Bialek J.W. (2010). Application of Wind Generation Capacity Credits in the Great Britain and Ireland Systems. Cigré Session, Paris, France.
Radtke, J., Couch, S. J. & Dent, C. J. (2010). Capacity Value of Large Tidal Barrages. Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems (PMAPS), 2010 IEEE 11th International Conference on, Singapore.
Dent, C. J., Keane, A. & Bialek, J. W. (2010). Simplified Methods for Renewable Generation Capacity Credit Calculation: A Critical Review. IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting, Minneapolis.
Dent, C. J., Bell, K. R. W., Richards, A. W., Zachary, S., Eager, D., Harrison, G.P. & Bialek, J.W. (2010). The role of risk modelling in the Great Britain transmission planning and operational standards. Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems (PMAPS), 2010 IEEE 11th International Conference on, Singapore.
Ochoa L. F., Keane A., Dent C. J. & Harrison G. P. (2009). Applying active network management schemes to an Irish distribution network for wind power maximisation. CIRED, Prague, Czech Republic.
Price A. A. E., Dent C. J. & Wallace A. R. (2009). Frequency domain techniques for numerical and experimental modelling of wave energy converters. European Wave Energy and Tidal Conference, Uppsala, Sweden, IET.
Dent C. J., Ochoa L. F. & Harrison G. P. (2009). Impact of voltage step change constraints on distribution network capacity for distributed generation. CIRED, Prague, Czech Republic.
Ochoa, L. F., Keane, A., Dent, C. J. & Harrison G. P. (2009). Minimising transmission reactive support required by high penetration of distributed wind power generation. 8th International Workshop on Large-Scale Integration of Wind Power into Power Systems.
Keane A., Ochoa L. F., Dent C. J. & Harrison G. P. (2009). Optimal voltage control settings for wind power. CIRED, Prague, Czech Republic.
Olmos Aguirre P. E., Dent C. J., Harrison G. P. & Bialek J. W. (2009). Realistic calculation of wind generation capacity credits. Cigre/IEEE Symposium on Integration of Wide-Scale Renewable Resources into the Power Delivery System, Calgary, Canada.
Dent C. J., Ochoa L. F., Harrison G. P. & Bialek J. W. (2008). Efficient secure OPF for distributed generation uptake maximisation. Power Systems Computation Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.
Wang D., Ochoa L. F., Harrison G. P., Dent C. J. & Wallace A. R. (2008). Evaluating Investment Deferral by Incorporating Distributed Generation in Distribution Network Planning. Power Systems Computation Conference, Glasgow, Scotland.
Ochoa L. F., Dent C. J. & Harrison G. P. (2008). Maximisation of intermittent renewable generation in active networks. CIRED Seminar: SmartGrids for Distribution, Frankfurt, Germany.

Journal papers: academic

Keane, A., Ochoa, L.F., Borges, C.L.T., Ault, G.W., Alarcon-Rodriguez, A.D., Currie, R, Pilo, F., Dent, C.J. & Harrison, G.P. (2013). State-of-the-Art Techniques and Challenges Ahead for Distributed Generation Planning and Optimization. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 28(2): 1493-1502.
Zachary, S. & Dent, C. J. (2012). Probability theory of capacity value of additional generation. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability 226(1): 33-43.
Radtke, J., Dent, C. J. & Couch, S. J. (2011). Capacity Value of Large Tidal Barrages. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 26(3): 1697-1704.
Keane, A., Milligan, M., Dent, C.J., Hasche, B., D'Annunzio, C., Dragoon, K., Holttinen, H., Samaan, N., Soder, L. & O'Malley, M. (2011). Capacity Value of Wind Power. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 26(2): 564-572.
Keane, A., Ochoa, L. F. Vittal, E., Dent, C. J. & Harrison, G. P. (2011). Enhanced Utilisation of Voltage Control Resources with Distributed Generation. IEEE Trans. Power Syst 26(1): 252-260.
Brayshaw, D. J., Dent, C. J. & Zachary, S. (2011). Identifying and understanding wind-generation's contribution to securing peak electricity demand. Journal of Risk and Reliability
Dent, C. J. & Bialek, J. W. (2011). Non-iterative Method for Modeling Systematic Data Errors in Power System Risk Assessment. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 26(1): 120-127.
Dent, C. J., Bialek, J. W. & Hobbs, B. F. (2011). Opportunity Cost Bidding by Wind Generators in Forward Markets: Analytical Results. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 26(3): 1600-1608.
Ochoa L. F., Dent C. J. & Harrison G. P. (2010). Distribution Network Capacity Assessment: Intermittent DG and Active Networks. IEEE Trans. Power Syst 25(1): 87-95.
Dent, C. J., Ochoa, L. F., Harrison G. P. & Bialek J. W. (2010). Efficient Secure AC OPF for Network Generation Capacity Assessment. IEEE Trans. Power Syst 25(1): 575-583.
Dent, C. J., Ochoa, L. F. & Harrison, G. P. (2010). Network Distributed Generation Capacity Analysis Using OPF with Voltage Step Constraints. IEEE Trans. Power Syst 25(1): 296-304.
Price, A. A. E. Dent, C. J. & Wallace, A. R. (2009). On the capture width of wave energy converters. Applied Ocean Research 31: 251-259.
Galbraith, I., Chari, R., Pellegrini, S., Phillips, P. J. Dent, C. J. , van der Meer, A. F. G. Clarke, D. G. Kar, A. K. Buller, G. S. Pidgeon, C. R. Murdin, B. N. Allam, J. & Strasser, G. (2005). Excitonic signatures in the photoluminescence and terahertz absorption of a GaAs∕AlxGa1−xAs multiple quantum well. Phys. Rev. B 71: 073302
Dent, C. J., Murdin, B. N. & Galbraith, I. (2003). Phase and intensity dependence of the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect. Phys. Rev. B 67: 165312
Alexandrov, A. S. & Dent, C. J. (2001). Quasiparticle Lifetimes in the Charged Bose Gas and the cuprates. J. Physics Cond. Mat 13: L417-L422.
Alexandrov, A. S. & Dent, C. J. (1999). Angle-resolved photoemission in doped charge-transfer Mott insulators. Phys. Rev. B 60: 15414.

Journal papers: professional

Hobbs, B. F., Ralph, D., Bialek, J. W. , Kirschen, D., O'Malley, M., Meyn, S. P. & Dent, C. J. (2010). Challenges in power system modelling. Inside OR
Dent, C. J., Nel, L. & Kirby, J. (2010). The World Croquet Federation ranking review. Inside OR
Dent, C. J. (2007). Optimisation modelling in the electric power industry. OR Newsletter

Reports: technical

Bialek, J. W., Dent, C. J. & Eager, D. (2011). Electricity Market Reform – consultation document. Comments on behalf of Durham Energy Institute.
Dent, C.J. (2010). Generation adequacy assessment with high wind penetrations.
Dent, C. J., Bialek, J. W. & Zachary, S. (2010). NETS SQSS Consultation Response: Review of Required Boundary Transfer Capability with Significant Volumes of Intermittent Generation.
Dent, C. J., Bialek, J. W. & Zachary, S. (2010). NETS SQSS Fundamental Review: April Consultation Response.
Dent C. J., Eager D., Harrison G. P., Bialek J. W., Richards A. W. & Zachary S. (2009). ‘Operating the Electricity Transmission Network in 2020: Response to Initial Consultation’, August 2009. Institute for Energy Systems.
Dent C. J., Harrison G. P. & Bialek J. W. (2009). GB SQSS Fundamental Review: Consultation Response. Institute for Energy Systems.

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