Day four was APD Global's busiest day at the podium of CIGRE 2026 - and the questions coming back from the floor were as good as the papers going up. Dernière ligne droite: the final straight of the Session week.
Among the work presented by the delegation:
- A paper on the first grid-forming battery energy storage system in the Northern Territory - one of the first use cases of grid-forming technology in a small network, with the digital passport concept helping keep data consistent and usable across a wide range of scopes.
- Research on preventing blackouts in networks with high rooftop solar penetration.
- EMT studies for protection - evaluating distance protection performance, and the case of a grid-forming battery replacing a synchronous machine.
- Digital delivery - BIM, digital twins and automation as the first generation of what AI may eventually enable, with the caveat that AI and optimisation tools can only be scaled safely on a trusted, resilient digital foundation.
- Construction innovation - reducing cable quantities, minimising trenching, increasing factory assembly and improving construction methods to deliver schedule benefits while reducing installation risk.
The full CIGRE 2026 story - eight papers, four study committees →