François Bouffard
Prof. Bouffard received both the BEng (Honours) and the PhD degrees in electrical engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 2000 and 2006, respectively.
In 2003 and 2004, he was a Visiting Scholar in the E.T.S.I. Industriales, Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y Automática of the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain. From 2004 to 2006, he was a Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McGill University. He joined the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at The University of Manchester, UK in 2006, where he remained until 2010 when he joined McGill as an Assistant Professor.
Prof. Bouffard also served as Academic Advisor to the Director General of the Institut en génie de l'énergie électrique (2015-2017), and he is currently (2020-present) the vice-chair of the Power System Operation, Planning and Economics Committee of the IEEE Power & Energy Society. Since 2019, he has been serving in the role of Strategic Advisor at Brainbox AI.
His research skills and interests are in the fields of power system economics, reliability, control and optimization. Secondary skills and interests include operations research, data science, mixed-integer and stochastic optimization techniques for power system operation and planning.
Specialties:
- Power system control and optimisation with emphasis on economics and security;
- Power system flexibility;
- Operations planning methods for networks with large-scale integration of wind and other non-dispatchable generation resources;
- Demand-side integration;
- Stochastic, mixed-integer, and data-driven modelling and optimization methods for electrical energy systems;
- Treatment of economic externalities in electricity markets.
B.Eng. (Hons.), McGill; Ph.D., McGill
Power and Energy Systems
Faculty of Engineering Outstanding Academic Service Award, McGill University, 2021
John M. Bishop and family Faculty Scholar, Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design, McGill University, 2018
Technical Committee Distinguished Individual Service Award for "Excellence in technical leadership and management in the area of power system economics and market operation," IEEE Power & Energy Society, 2015
Outstanding reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 2015
Y. Huo, F. Bouffard and G. Joós, "Decision tree-based optimization for flexibility management for sustainable energy microgrids," Applied Energy, vol. 290, May 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116772
N. K. Dhaliwal, F. Bouffard and M. O'Malley, "A Fast Flexibility-Driven Generation Portfolio Planning Method for Sustainable Power Systems," IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 368-377, Jan. 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2020.2998408
Y. Huo, F. Bouffard and G. Joós, "Spatio-Temporal Flexibility Management in Low-Carbon Power Systems," IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 2593-2605, Oct. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2020.2967428
C. Sun, G. Joós, S. Q. Ali, J.-N. Paquin, C. M. Rangel, F. Al Jajeh, I. Novickij and F. Bouffard, "Design and Real-Time Implementation of a Centralized Microgrid Control System With Rule-Based Dispatch and Seamless Transition Function," IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 3168-3177, May-Jun. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIA.2020.2979790
C. Sun, G. Joós and F. Bouffard, "Adaptive Coordination for Power and SoC Limiting Control of Energy Storage in Islanded AC Microgrid with Impact Load," IEEE Trans. Power Deliv., vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 580-591, Apr. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2019.2916034
C. Sun, G. Joós and F. Bouffard, "Identification of Low-Frequency Oscillation Mode and Improved Damping Design for Virtual Synchronous Machines in Microgrid," IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., vol. 13, no. 14, pp. 2993-3001, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-gtd.2018.7066
M. Ross, C. Abbey, F. Bouffard and G. Joos, "Microgrid Economic Dispatch with Energy Storage Systems," IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 3039-3047, Jul. 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSG.2016.2624756
F. Bouffard, S. Debia, N. Dhaliwal and P.-O. Pineau, A Decarbonized Northeast Electricity Sector: The Value of Regional Integration. Montreal, QC: HEC Montréal-IET-TISED, Jun. 2018. http://energie.hec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ScopingStudy_NortheastHydroModelling_13june2018.pdf
M. Quashie, F. Bouffard, C. Marnay, R. Jassim and G. Joós, "On Bilevel Planning of Microgrids," Int. J. Electr. Power & Energy Syst., vol. 96, pp. 422-431, Mar. 2018. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2017.10.019
M. Quashie, C. Marnay, F. Bouffard and G. Joós, "Optimal Planning of Microgrid Power and Operating Reserve Capacity," Applied Energy, vol. 210, pp. 1229-1236, Jan. 2018. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.015
M. Quashie, F. Bouffard and G. Joós, "Business Cases for Isolated and Grid Connected Microgrids: Methodologies and Applications," Applied Energy, vol. 205, pp. 105-115, Nov. 2017. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.07.112
H. Nosair and F. Bouffard, “Economic Dispatch Under Uncertainty: The Probabilistic Envelopes Approach,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 1701-1710, May 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2016.2602942
A. Abiri-Jahromi and F. Bouffard, "On the Loadability Sets of Power Systems—Part I: Characterization," IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 137-145, Jan. 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2016.2547945
A. Abiri-Jahromi and F. Bouffard, "On the Loadability Sets of Power Systems—Part II: Minimal Representations," IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 146-156, Jan. 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2016.2547938
H. Nosair and F. Bouffard, “Energy-Centric Flexibility Management in Power Systems,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 5071-5081, Nov. 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2015.2512990
A. Abiri-Jahromi and F. Bouffard, “Contingency-Type Reserve Leveraged through Aggregated Thermostatically-Controlled Loads–Part I: Characterization and Control,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 1972-1980, May 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2015.2466175
A. Abiri-Jahromi and F. Bouffard, “Contingency-Type Reserve Leveraged through Aggregated Thermostatically-Controlled Loads–Part II: Case Studies,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 1981-1989, May 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2015.2466193
F. Bouffard, “Energy Storage Systems for Carbon Footprint Reduction,” CSME Bulletin, p. 10, Fall 2015. http://csme-scgm.ca/sites/default/files/BULLETIN-FALL%202015.pdf
H. Nosair and F. Bouffard, “Reconstructing Operating Reserve: Flexibility for Sustainable Power Systems,” IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 1624–1637, Oct. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2015.2462318
M. Ross, C. Abbey, F. Bouffard and G. Joós, “Multi-Objective Optimization Dispatch for Microgrids with a High Penetration of Renewable Generation,” IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 1306–1314, Oct. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2015.2428676
H. Nosair and F. Bouffard, “Flexibility Envelopes for Power System Operational Planning,” IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 800–809, Jul. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2015.2410760
J. Clavier, F. Bouffard, D. Rimorov, and G. Joós, “Generation Dispatch Techniques for Remote Communities with Flexible Demand,” IEEE Trans. Sustain. Energy, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 720–728, Jul. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TSTE.2015.2408335
A. Jahanbani Ardakani and F. Bouffard, “Acceleration of Umbrella Constraint Discovery in Security-Constrained Generation Scheduling Problems,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 2100–2109, Jun. 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2014.2352318
A. Jahanbani Ardakani and F. Bouffard, “Identification of Umbrella Constraints in DC-Based Security-Constrained Optimal Power Flow,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 3924–3934, Nov. 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2013.2271980
M. Ortega-Vazquez, F. Bouffard and V. Silva, “Electric Vehicle Aggregator/System Operator Coordination for Optimal Charging Scheduling and Services Procurement,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 1806–1815, May 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2012.2221750
A. Abiri-Jahromi, M. Parvania, F. Bouffard and M. Fotuhi-Firuzabad, “A Two-Stage Framework for Power Transformer Asset Maintenance Management—Part I: Models and Formulations,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 1395–1403, May 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2012.2216903
A. Abiri-Jahromi, M. Parvania, F. Bouffard and M. Fotuhi-Firuzabad, “A Two-Stage Framework for Power Transformer Asset Maintenance Management—Part II: Validation Results,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 1404–1414, May 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2012.2216904
E. Karangelos and F. Bouffard, “Towards Full Integration of Demand-Side Resources in Joint Forward Energy/Reserve Electricity Markets,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 280–289, Feb. 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2011.2163949
A. Molina-García, F. Bouffard and D. S. Kirschen, “Decentralized Demand-Side Contribution to Primary Frequency Control,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 411–419, Feb. 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TPWRS.2010.2048223
Please note that graduate applications are being processed through McGill's web site; see http://www.mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/apply. I regretfully cannot answer all e-mail inquiries, but students interested in graduate research will be given full consideration when their applications are received, and are welcome to apply through standard McGill channels. This way all applicants are assessed more fairly and have been screened for basic admission requirements. Note also that at this stage I cannot comment on one’s chances of getting an admission offer nor funding. The admission process is competitive, and we strive to offer admission and funding packages to the best possible students. In the process, you are allowed to nominate me as your potential supervisor if you are interested in joining my group.
Power system economics, reliability, control and optimization. Operations research, statistics and data science, mixed-integer and stochastic optimization techniques for power system operation and planning. Energy policy.
Member, Trottier Institute for Sustainable Engineering and Design (TISED)
Member, Groupe d'études et de recherche en analyse des décisions (GERAD)
Member, Réseau québécois de l'énergie intelligente (RQEI)
Affiliated researcher, Institut nordique du Québec (INQ)
Strategic advisor, Brainbox AI
Senior member, IEEE
Member, IEEE Power & Energy Society
Vice-chair, Power Systems Operation, Planning and Economics Committee of the IEEE Power & Energy Society
Secretary, Academic Committee, Institut en génie de l'énergie électrique
Licensed engineer, Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec