Each year, Think Smartgrids awards a thesis prize to young researchers whose work has distinguished itself by its quality and contribution to smart grids and the energy transition. The theses rewarded this year offer concrete solutions to the new challenges the grid operators are facing in the context of the energy transition, with systems that are increasingly complex and less predictable due to the growing share of renewable energies in the electricity mix and the rise of new uses of electricity.
On January 18, three prizes were awarded to outstanding theses for their contributions to smart grids during the association’s new year festivities. These prizes were awarded by the Think Smartgrids Scientific Council, chaired by Nouredine Hadjsaid (INP Grenoble) and vice-chaired by Pierre Mallet (Enedis). Each winner will receive €2,000 thanks to the support of RTE, Enedis and EDF, and has been offered the opportunity to present their work to industry professionals.
The women’s award was presented to Emily Little for her thesis on the future of cross-border capacity management in Europe. The opening of the European electricity market has increased the importance of cross-border exchanges, which requires the development of new methods for calculating and allocating network capacity. In addition, the growing share of intermittent renewables on the grid is creating new challenges that are driving power providers to seek more reliable forecasting models to use the existing grid as efficiently as possible.
The thesis explores the so-called “flow-based” method used in cross-border electricity trading. This calculation method allows transmission system operators to optimize trans-zonal exchange capacity, based on the actual physical boundaries of the system, and to determine the commercial capacity that can be allocated, in each direction, on the different bidding zone boundaries.
In particular, the thesis proposes to adapt this method to better integrate grid flexibilities into the market coupling algorithm, which determines the allocation of electricity trade flows. Indeed, the thesis demonstrates that the economic interest of grid flexibilities grows with the penetration of intermittent renewable energies.
Emily Little has just been recruited by the French network operator RTE, which is already using the input from her work.
Joseph de Vilmarest was then awarded the male thesis prize for his thesis ” State-space models for time series forecasting. Application to electrical markets. ” His thesis focuses on the use of adaptive “state-space” models for electric demand forecasting, based on time series. As electricity is difficult to store, accurate forecasting of electricity demand is essential to guarantee the balance of the network, which must maintain an equivalent level between production and consumption. With the evolution of electricity uses and the deployment of renewable energies, improving the reliability and adaptability of forecasting models becomes essential for the management of the power system and the energy transition.
Thanks to his work, Joseph de Vilmarest has made it possible to improve the forecasting of electrical demand with models based on different countries and different scales, from the national scale to a building. The young researcher has won two competitions on electricity consumption forecasting and his methods, available in open source, are already used at the operational level by some EDF entities.
Today, Joseph has founded the company Viking Conseil on the basis of his work. He wishes to pursue research in time series forecasting, and to apply his methods in companies that depend heavily on forecasts, such as energy companies or companies in the railway sector.
Hugo Radet, jury’s favorite, published a thesis entitled “Integrated design methods for distributed multi-energy systems under uncertainty “. In his thesis, Hugo studied the problem of the design and control of multi-energy systems integrating a high share of renewable energy. Defining the right sizing in the design of these systems is always delicate because it incorporates many uncertain parameters, such as investment costs, energy prices, and future consumption and production levels.
The work has made it possible to design dynamic mathematical methods, which take into account the operation phase of the system and its impact on the aging of the assets. The aim was to solve the problem of design under uncertainty, with practical applications to dimension and operate multi-energy systems. The methods developed can thus be used to carry out prospective and strategic studies, but also to control systems in real time. Part of the code has been transferred to an industrial company, SNAM, specializing in the collection and recycling of batteries.
Today, Hugo uses the contributions of his work on a daily basis as head of modeling and optimization for the company Verso Energy.
Through this thesis award, Think Smartgrids supports research for smart grids. Research and innovation are indeed at the heart of the smart grids sector’s concerns, while the digitization of networks plays an essential role in supporting the energy transition.