Analysis of measures to increment the share of renewable energy in distribution grids

The actual power system is undergoing a period of transformation. The introduction of renewable energy power parks in the grid started the transition from a high voltage connected generation model towards a model where part of the generation assets will be connected to medium and even low voltage grids. Furthermore, the fast-changing world of technology is starting to allow passive users to generate and manage electricity, and thus, take a new position towards the grid. This transformation entails new opportunities and challenges for a power system that was initially thought to be vertically integrated and with unidirectional power flows. Europe is already giving its directives to ease the transition towards a more decentralized power system; however, some member states are faster than others when transposing them. Taking advantage of the different speeds between member states, this thesis aims to analyse and compare those pioneering regulatory frameworks in terms of renewable energy sources connection to distribution grids. This should allow the thesis to identify which kind of measures are the best ones to increase the share of renewable energy sources. In order to carry out the research, a systematic review of technical and energy policy articles has been carried out consulting the ScienceDirect, the IEEE Xplore, and the ResearchGate databases, together with European directives and regulations in the field of energy policies and member states network codes for connection of generation assets. The core of the thesis is based on a few institutions and documents which we would like to highlight. To set the technical basis of the impact of renewable energy sources, the book Integration of Distributed Generation in the Power System has been used. In terms of conceptualizing the regulatory framework the Florence School of Regulation technical reports The EU Electricity Network Codes and the Clean Energy Package are essential to this thesis together with the European energy e-Directive and e-Regulation. The report The smartEn Map: European Balancing Markets Edition (2018) published by smartEn has been used as a reference point to study the state of the art of balancing markets. Finally, the network codes for Low Voltage Grid Connection of Generators from Italy, Germany and Denmark are the base for the development of the energy storage section. The European directives and regulations point towards a market-based approach to overcome the challenges and benefit from the opportunities that the transition towards a distributed power system will create. The thesis go from a holistic view, considering the new European guidelines, to a study of those member states that are already half-way on their transition towards a distributed power system based on renewable energy sources. This is will give an overview of the current regulatory framework and find the main outlines of the forthcoming one. Finally, comment that one of the outcomes of the research carried out during the thesis is the participation in the conference paper "RESOlvD: ICT services and energy storage for increasing renewable hosting capacity in LV distribution grids". The paper has been approved for publication, and it can be partially consulted in the Annex A of the thesis

Future Trends and Challenges for Mobile and Convergent Networks

Some traffic characteristics like real-time, location-based, and community-inspired, as well as the exponential increase on the data traffic in mobile networks, are challenging the academia and standardization communities to manage these networks in completely novel and intelligent ways, otherwise, current network infrastructures can not offer a connection service with an acceptable quality for both emergent traffic demand and application requisites. In this way, a very relevant research problem that needs to be addressed is how a heterogeneous wireless access infrastructure should be controlled to offer a network access with a proper level of quality for diverse flows ending at multi-mode devices in mobile scenarios. The current chapter reviews recent research and standardization work developed under the most used wireless access technologies and mobile access proposals. It comprehensively outlines the impact on the deployment of those technologies in future networking environments, not only on the network performance but also in how the most important requirements of several relevant players, such as, content providers, network operators, and users/terminals can be addressed. Finally, the chapter concludes referring the most notable aspects in how the environment of future networks are expected to evolve like technology convergence, service convergence, terminal convergence, market convergence, environmental awareness, energy-efficiency, self-organized and intelligent infrastructure, as well as the most important functional requisites to be addressed through that infrastructure such as flow mobility, data offloading, load balancing and vertical multihoming.Comment: In book 4G & Beyond: The Convergence of Networks, Devices and Services, Nova Science Publishers, 201

Integration of energy and urban planning dynamics for cities' climate-neutrality

145 p.La sociedad se enfrenta a la emergencia climática, donde las ciudades juegan un papel crucial como concentradoras de población, productoras de PIB, consumidoras de energía, generadoras de residuos y emisoras de GEI. Con la premisa de mejorar una respuesta eficaz de las administraciones locales a esta crisis, este doctorado se centra en dar soporte a aquellas ciudades que están dispuestas a iniciar su viaje hacia la neutralidad climática (cero emisiones netas de CO2) y en cómo orquestar esta transición desde un enfoque local. En términos de planificación del proceso hacia una meta tan ambiciosa, esta investigación ha identificado la falta de integración entre las dinámicas de planificación energética y urbana como una barrera clave en esta transición. En consecuencia, el objetivo de esta investigación es mejorar ese nivel de integración por diferentes medios. Primero, a través de un liderazgo integrado de procesos estratégicos municipales; en segundo lugar, mediante el uso de herramientas y procedimientos de gestión de datos adecuados que permitan la integración de elementos energéticos y espaciales en la toma de decisiones; y finalmente, a través de una involucración adecuada de los agentes locales en el proceso de planificación hacia la neutralidad climática. Todas estas hipótesis son analizadas por 4 estudios de investigación conectados entre sí, y validados posteriormente a través de su aplicación en el proceso de coordinación del plan de neutralidad climática de Vitoria-Gasteiz

2020-11-18 Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee meeting minutes for November 18, 2020