UPCOMING EVENTS
Data Centres as Power System Loads
4 - 6 August 2026
Sebel Quay West Suites, Sydney
In-person only event
Presenters: Babak Badrzadeh & Sorrell Grogan
Target Audience for this technical course includes:
Power System Planning Engineers, Modelling Engineers and Operational Engineers involved in the design, operation, planning and management of power systems.
Energy Policy and Regulation Personnel working in regulatory bodies or organisations that govern power system planning, operations, and market mechanisms who have an engineering background.
Grid Connection Engineers responsible for assessing the impact of data centres and assessing agreed performance.
Cost: AUD 3,900 + GST Earlybird Rate: AUD 3,000+GST
About the course:
This three-day technical training course explores data centres as large power system loads, focusing on grid interaction, electrical architecture, and dynamic performance. Participants will develop a practical understanding of data centre fundamentals, including load characteristics, workload types, and power transfer architecture, while directly comparing these systems with inverter-based resources to identify key similarities and differences. The course examines critical subsystems such as UPS, energy storage, cooling infrastructure, and grid interfaces, with emphasis on operating modes, transfer pathways, and disturbance response.
Participants will be introduced to key technical issues including grid impacts, fault ride-through capability, transfer and reconnection risks, and the effects of workload ramps, variability, and oscillatory behaviour, including natural, forced, and torsional oscillations. The course draws on international incidents, standards, and emerging performance requirements to ground discussions in real-world experience.
The course also develops practical skills in dynamic modelling of data centres, including UPS systems, DC-link behaviour, cooling systems, and supervisory controls. Performance assessment, validation techniques, and monitoring approaches will be discussed as will case studies that illustrate real-world behaviour of data centres and broader system impacts.
PREVIOUS EVENTS
System strength training
22 - 25 June 2026 (25 June half-day)
Quay West Suites, Melbourne
In-person only event
Presenter: Babak Badrzadeh
Target Audience for this technical course includes:
Power System Planning and Operational Engineers involved in the design, operation, planning and management of power systems.
Energy Policy and Regulation Personnel working in regulatory bodies or organisations that govern power system planning, operations, and market mechanisms who have an engineering background.
Grid Connection Engineers responsible for assessing the impact of system strength on generator performance and grid connections.
Renewable Energy Developers working on renewable energy zones (REZs) and integrating renewable technologies into power systems.
Academics and Researchers studying power systems stability, dynamics, and quality, and exploring innovative mitigation measures or screening methods.
About the course:
A 3.5-day intensive training program covering the fundamentals of system strength, its implications for planning, operations and grid connections, power quality and protection challenges, and practical screening methods. The course is intended for power system engineers, planners, network operators, renewable energy developers, OEMs, consultants, regulators and technical managers who need to understand how system strength is changing in power systems with high levels of inverter-based resources. It is particularly relevant for those involved in system planning, real-time operations, connection studies, power quality, protection, and the assessment of grid-following and grid-forming inverter technologies.
Participants will gain a clearer and more practical understanding of why system strength is no longer just a fault-level issue, and how low system strength can affect stability, voltage waveform quality, protection performance, inverter control behaviour and project risk. The course is designed to help attendees make better technical judgements, ask more informed questions, interpret study results more effectively, and identify credible mitigation options such as synchronous condensers, grid-forming inverters and control-system tuning. As the technical performance envelope of modern power systems continues to evolve, this course provides a structured and practical way to build confidence in one of the most important challenges for secure and efficient grid transformation.