Stanford, California
Monday, October 5, 2026 · 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM
Add to calendarThe Stanford Energy Seminar has been a mainstay of energy engagement at Stanford for nearly 20 years and is one of the flagship programs of the Precourt Institute for Energy. We aim to bring a wide variety of perspectives to the Stanford community – academics, entrepreneurs, utilities, non-profits, and more.
About the talk
The United States needs to build generation, storage, and transmission infrastructure to meet growing electricity demand. However, there is a lack of decision tools and frameworks to inform investment decisions for energy technologies amid policy, technological, and other contextual uncertainties. Prof. Azevedo will present results from several ongoing analyses that quantify the costs, benefits, and technology investments needed across the country for a variety of policy and technology scenarios (such as the need for transmission expansion under different policy contexts; the effects of increased load from data centers; the opportunities for enhanced geothermal, small modular nuclear reactors, storage technologies, and offshore wind, just to name a few, as well as the effect of different climate futures on optimal investment decisions). Prof. Azevedo uses a new modeling and data tool that has been developed by her group, PyPSA-USA, that includes characteristics of generators, transmission, candidate new generation and transmission technologies, a representation of renewable generation potential, and state- and federal-level policies and incentives.
Inês Azevedo is professor of Energy Science & Engineering at Stanford University. Her work focuses on how to transition to sustainable, realistically feasible, and equitable energy systems. She is passionate about solving problems that include environmental, technical, economic, and policy issues, where traditional engineering approaches play an important role but cannot provide a complete answer. In particular, she is interested in assessing how energy systems are likely to evolve, which requires comprehensive knowledge of the technologies that can address future energy needs and the decision-making process followed by various agents in the economy.
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Shriram Center 443 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 Room 104
Monday, October 5, 2026 · 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM
Shriram Center · Room 104