Principal speaker
Associate Professor Chiara Lo Prete
We are excited to welcome our international guest speaker, Chiara Lo Prete, Associate Professor of Energy Economics at The Pennsylvania State University, USA, for an exclusive seminar at Griffith University!Date: Friday, May 2, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Griffith University
Access: By registration only, RSVP by April 17
Online Attendance: Available - see Teams link below
Associate Professor Chiara Lo Prete's research centers on the modeling of energy markets and systems, with a focus on the areas of competition and design of electricity markets, energy system interdependencies, and energy geopolitics.
Recent work has used tools from economics, mathematics and engineering to study natural gas market design to enhance grid reliability during winter emergencies, electricity market structures for wind energy integration and resource adequacy, the weaponization of electricity trade, and emission leakage in the Western U.S.
Before joining Penn State, Lo Prete was a Ziff Environmental Fellow at Harvard University from 2012 to 2014. She earned a B.A. in Economics (summa cum laude) from LUISS University, a M.A. in Energy Economics from the Scuola Mattei, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.
In this seminar, she will present: Contracts for Gas Prioritization to Power Plants and Grid Reliability during Winter Emergencies.
Over the past decade, extreme cold weather events have led to widespread power outages, driven in part by fuel supply interruptions at gas-fired power plants. This presentation explores an alternative strategy to improve gas allocation efficiency within existing infrastructure, leveraging advance exchange agreements between industrial customers and power plants. Using an optimization model and real-world data from the 2014 Polar Vortex, the research evaluates how such agreements can enhance grid reliability.
Even though Australia's winters are milder, energy reliability challenges during high-demand periods remain a significant issue. Associate Professor Chiara Lo Prete's insights can help policymakers and industry leaders improve the resilience of Australia's gas and electricity markets, ensuring they are prepared for future demand fluctuations and emergencies.
This event is exclusively for Griffith University academics, students, and CAEEPR members. If you belong to one of these groups and haven't received an invitation, please feel free to reach out to us.
This is an invitation-only event
Event categories
Event contact details
- Lucia Stan
- 0432228681