Sustainable practices for electrical energy network management: A literature review and proposal

Many different approaches have been proposed for improving energy network management. Although these diverse contributions, most approaches for clearly identifying and accurately solving the real problems remain rather inefficient. This is greatly due to the absence of use of completely integrated and sustainable models with Organizations playing fundamental rolls through the use of effective and efficient decision support tools. One such typical problem is related to the accurate identification and the precise calculation of electrical energy losses, which still remains unsolved as well as the clear specification of the critical points and segments in the networks were problems do occur. Consequently, there is still a lack of effective prioritization of actions and interventions in order to reduce those problems. Therefore, in this paper we propose a model for sustainable energy network management were the organizational element assumes a crucial function.This work was supported by FCT “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” under the program: PEst20152020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hybrid energy network management: Simulation and optimisation of large scale PV coupled with hydrogen generation

4noThe power production of electrical Renewable Energy Sources (RES), mainly PV and wind energy, is affected by their primary source of energy: solar radiation value or wind strength. Electrical networks with a large share of these sources must manage temporal imbalances of supply and demand. Hybrid Energy Networks (HEN) can mitigate the effects of this unbalancing by providing a connection between the electricity grid and and other energy vectors such as heat, gas or hydrogen. These couplings can activate synergies among networks that, all together, increase the share of renewable sources helping a decarbonisation of the energy sector. As the energy system becomes more and more complex, the need for simulation and optimisation tools increases. Mathematical optimisation can be used to look for a management strategy maximising a specific target, for instance economical, i.e. the minimum management cost, or environmental as the best exploitation or RES. The present work presents a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) optimisation procedure that looks for the minimum running cost of a system made up by a large-scale PV plant where hydrogen production, storage and conversion to electricity is present. In addition, a connection to a natural gas grid where hydrogen can be sold is considered. Different running strategies are studied and analysed as functions of electricity prices and other forms of electrical energy exploitation.openopenCerchio M.; Gulli F.; Repetto M.; Sanfilippo A.Cerchio, M.; Gulli, F.; Repetto, M.; Sanfilippo, A

Governing effective and legitimate smart grid developments

Smart grids which use Information and Communication Technologies to augment energy network management have been developed in several locations including London and Stockholm. Common rationales for smart grids include: de-carbonising energy supply, maintaining security of supply and promoting affordability. However, beyond these general abstractions, smart grids seem to exhibit considerable diversity in terms of their characteristics and rationales for development. Thus, while the term smart grid may imply abstract notions of what smart grids are and might do, they are developed in response to local contingencies and diverse. In this paper we therefore explore the governance processes through which smart grids are constructed. The paper suggests that standardising smart grids through definitions and best practices that fix both problems and solutions should be avoided. Rather governance processes should be promoted in which local contingencies can be articulated and more legitimate smart grids developed in response to these

Smart Grid Technologies in Europe: An Overview

The old electricity network infrastructure has proven to be inadequate, with respect to modern challenges such as alternative energy sources, electricity demand and energy saving policies. Moreover, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) seem to have reached an adequate level of reliability and flexibility in order to support a new concept of electricity network—the smart grid. In this work, we will analyse the state-of-the-art of smart grids, in their technical, management, security, and optimization aspects. We will also provide a brief overview of the regulatory aspects involved in the development of a smart grid, mainly from the viewpoint of the European Unio

Energy performance certificate: a valuable tool for building-to-grid interaction?

New challenges were opened with the recast of Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, requiring by 2020 that new buildings be “nearly Zero-Energy Buildings” (nearly ZEB). In addition to consumer buildings, Net ZEBs are also producers’ by using as much renewable energy sources as possible to compensate the building energy load. Sustainable cities require energy-efficient buildings, i.e. buildings where the use of energy is minimized without compromising the occupants comfort, namely for heating, cooling, lighting and indoor air quality. But smart cities require energy-efficient ‘interactive’ buildings, which integrate multiplecarrier energy networks and provide up-to-date valuable information for their management, where buildings are simplified to single nodes characterized by their energy load, generation, storage and conversion, applying the load-generation approach. The information currently available in the Energy Performance Certificate is not relevant for estimating the time dependent building energy load, but it can be easily improved by including a few descriptive parameters