Collective action in the energy sector: insights from EU research and innovation projects

This report analyses EU-funded collective action projects in the energy field. The objective is to provide an overview of the current state of play of relevant research and innovation activities in the EU and to identify the research gaps to be addressed in the future. The report focuses on collective action projects that combine the use of new technologies, business models and community engagement approaches to support consumers in changing the way they use electricity. The analysis is also supported by an overview of projects that address the social dimension of the energy transition and promote the development of collective action initiatives at policy, institutional and societal level.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Formula for the Absorption Coefficient for Multi-Wall Nanotubes

We present a formalism for calculating the absorption coefficient of a pair of coaxial tubules. A spatially nonlocal, dynamical self-consistent field theory is obtained by calculating the electrostatic potential produced by the charge density fluctuations as well as the external electric field. There are peaks in the absorption spectrum arising from plasma excitations corresponding either to plasmon or particle-hole modes. In this paper, we numerically calculate the plasmon contribution to the absorption spectrum when an external electric field is applied. The number of peaks depends on the radius of the inner as well as outer tubule. The height of each peak is determined by the plasmon wavelength and energy. For a chosen wave number, the most energetic plasmon has the highest peak corresponding to the largest oscillator strength of the excited modes. Some of the low-frequency plasmon modes have such weak coupling to an external electric field that they are not seen on the same scale as the modes with larger energy of excitation. We plot the peak positions of the plasmon excitations for a pair of coaxial tubules. The coupled modes on the two tubules are split by the Coulomb interaction. The energies of the two highest plasmon branches increase with the radius of the outer tubule. On the contrary, the lowest modes decrease in energy as this radius is increased. No effects due to inter-tubule hopping are included in these calculations

Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory

The Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory in Petten was inaugurated on 29/11/2018. The Smart Grid Interoperability Laboratory is designed to foster a common European approach to interoperable digital energy, focussing on the smart home, community and city levels. The facility in Petten is part of a larger activity of the Joint Research Centre, as the science and knowledge service of the European Commission, encompassing electric vehicles, smart grids and batteries. The activities in 2019 are highlighted in this report.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Smart grid interoperability testing methodology

Smart grid interoperability is an important enabling aspect of electricity technology deployments. It involves all parts of the smart grid from generation to transmission and from distribution to consumption. Testing interoperability requires producing detailed test cases describing how smart grid components are intended to interact with each other. A systematic approach for developing smart grid interoperability tests may facilitate the dissemination of innovative solutions, the stability and resilience of the smart grid. This report provides an analysis of the methods applicable to smart grid interoperability tests. It comprises the body of methods and principles associated with smart grid interoperability and it proposes a methodology offering theoretical underpinning to the necessary set of methods and best practices for developing successfully smart grid interoperability testing specifications.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

The future of road transport

A perfect storm of new technologies and new business models is transforming not only our vehicles, but everything about how we get around, and how we live our lives. The JRC report “The future of road transport - Implications of automated, connected, low-carbon and shared mobility” looks at some main enablers of the transformation of road transport, such as data governance, infrastructures, communication technologies and cybersecurity, and legislation. It discusses the potential impacts on the economy, employment and skills, energy use and emissions, the sustainability of raw materials, democracy, privacy and social fairness, as well as on the urban context. It shows how the massive changes on the horizon represent an opportunity to move towards a transport system that is more efficient, safer, less polluting and more accessible to larger parts of society than the current one centred on car ownership. However, new transport technologies, on their own, won't spontaneously make our lives better without upgrading our transport systems and policies to the 21st century. The improvement of governance and the development of innovative mobility solutions will be crucial to ensure that the future of transport is cleaner and more equitable than its car-centred present.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Impact of penetration of distributed generation photovoltaic power systems on losses of power distribution systems

The present doctoral thesis deals with the penetration of Distributed Generation (DG) of electric power, and more specific of Photovoltaic (PV) Systems, in the Electric Power System (EPS). Scope of this thesis is to estimate the impact of PV systems penetration in Joule losses of the Distribution Network (DN), taking into consideration the stochasticity of both loads and power generation. A methodology is proposed, in order to find the optimal placement of PV units to minimize the losses of the DN. Moreover, an index representing the impact of the PV units in the losses is formulated. This index could contribute to the work of the Distribution System Operator (DSO) in defining and allocating cost of services to the producers. The thesis is structured as follows: · Chapter 1 is basically an introduction to DG. Various definitions of DG are given, along with its basic characteristics, and furthermore new challenges arising from its penetration, such as technical, regulatory, etc., are analyzed. · In Chapter 2, a review of the recent work, regarding the impact of DG penetration in technical aspects of the DN, is performed. The need for more thorough examination in some issues is recognized, especially the one concerning the inclusion of load stochasticity in Joule losses calculation. According to the above remarks, the scope of the thesis is defined. · The technological aspects of PV and the methods to calculate their power production are presented in Chapter 3. The chapter concludes with a report about the recent development trends in the field of PV, in the global, the European and the national context. The new legislation in Greece is briefly analyzed and the positive prospects for the future are given. · In Chapter 4, the impact of PV systems penetration in Joule losses of DNs is investigated. Firstly, a brief introduction to the concept of load stochasticity is made, and afterwards the development of a MATLAB based load flow program to calculate Joule losses is presented. In this program, stochastic values for loads are taken into consideration using Monte Carlo methods, assuming that the time series used are Markov processes. Stochasticity, however, considers not only load values but also PV power production and System Marginal Price (SMP). The impact of stochasticity in Joule losses is analyzed and based on that, the total annual losses of the DN are compared with the losses for a specific loading and/or a specific branch. Using the above mentioned program, various scenarios are examined concerning the optimal sizing and siting of PV for minimizing annual Joule losses. Finally, the impact of PV power profile is evaluated in comparison to other types of DG units. · The impact of PV units siting in annual Joule losses of a DN is examined in Chapter 5. For this reason some of the functions of the program developed earlier are expanded, in order to generate stochastic siting scenarios for PV units and investigate the impact on losses. According to the results, an index is proposed, which connects the sizing and the siting of a PV unit with the respective impact on losses of the DN. In this index the following factors are included: the correlation between the installed capacity of the PV units and the nominal power of the distribution transformers for all nodes, the size of a PV unit in relation to its distance form the feeding end of the feeder, and the possible excess of a specific limit regarding the installed capacity in a node. This index could be used to evaluate the contribution of a new PV unit in Joule losses of a DN, and perform the corresponding cost allocation. · Finally, in Chapter 6 a brief summary of the thesis along with the main conclusions from the above chapters are presented. The contribution of the thesis is pointed out and some suggestions for future work into the subject are made. The doctoral thesis concludes with a list of references and a brief display of the conference announcements and journal papers resulted during the process of this thesis. In the end, all the diagrams from the simulations of Chapters 4 and 5 are illustrated in three different annexes.Το αντικείμενο της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η διείσδυση της Διανεμημένης Παραγωγής Ηλεκτρικής Ενέργειας (ΔΠ), και ειδικότερα των Φωτοβολταϊκών Συστημάτων, στο Σύστημα Ηλεκτρικής Ενέργειας (ΣΗΕ). Στόχος της διατριβής είναι η εκτίμηση της επίδρασης που πρόκειται να έχει η διείσδυση αυτή στις απώλειες Joule του δικτύου διανομής, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη στοχαστικότητα των φορτίων και της παραγωγής. Προτείνεται μια μέθοδος εύρεσης της βέλτιστης κατανομής Φ/Β μονάδων για ελαχιστοποίηση των απωλειών και ένας δείκτης επίδρασης των Φ/Β μονάδων στις απώλειες. Ο δείκτης αυτός αναμένεται να συμβάλλει στην προσπάθεια του Διαχειριστή Δικτύου Διανομής στον προσδιορισμό του κόστους των υπηρεσιών που προσφέρει στους παραγωγούς. Η δομή της διδακτορικής διατριβής έχει ως εξής: · Στο Κεφάλαιο 1 γίνεται μια ιστορική αναδρομή στο θέμα της ΔΠ. Δίνονται οι διάφοροι ορισμοί της ΔΠ, περιγράφονται τα χαρακτηριστικά αυτής και παρατίθενται συνοπτικά τα νέα ζητήματα (τεχνικά, ρυθμιστικά, οικονομικά κ.α.) που εισάγονται με τη διείσδυση της στο ΣΗΕ. · Στο Κεφάλαιο 2 σχολιάζεται η βιβλιογραφία όσον αφορά στην επίδραση της ΔΠ σε τεχνικά ζητήματα του δικτύου και κυρίως στο θέμα των απωλειών Joule. Εντοπίζονται τα σημεία εκείνα όπου απαιτείται περαιτέρω εμβάθυνση και ειδικότερα η ανάγκη να συμπεριληφθεί η στοχαστικότητα των φορτίων όσον αφορά στη διερεύνηση της μείωσης των απωλειών Joule. Με βάση τα παραπάνω, καθορίζεται τελικά ο στόχος της διδακτορικής διατριβής. · Στο Κεφάλαιο 3 παρουσιάζεται σύντομα η τεχνολογία των Φ/Β συστημάτων και η μεθοδολογία υπολογισμού της παραγωγής ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας από αυτά. Το κεφάλαιο κλείνει με μια αναφορά στις τελευταίες αναπτυξιακές τάσεις στα ζητήματα των Φ/Β τόσο στο παγκόσμιο και το ευρωπαϊκό όσο και στο ελληνικό επίπεδο. Αναλύεται συνοπτικά το νέο νομοθετικό πλαίσιο στην Ελλάδα και παρουσιάζονται τα θετικά αποτελέσματα που αναμένονται βάσει αυτού. · Στο Κεφάλαιο 4 διερευνάται η επίδραση της σύνδεσης Φ/Β συστημάτων στις απώλειες Joule των δικτύων διανομής. Εισάγεται αρχικά η έννοια της στοχαστικότητας των φορτίων της κατανάλωσης και στη συνέχεια περιγράφεται η ανάπτυξη ενός προγράμματος ροής φορτίου σε περιβάλλον MATLAB για τον υπολογισμό των απωλειών Joule. Στο πρόγραμμα αυτό για πρώτη φορά λαμβάνονται υπόψη στοχαστικές τιμές των φορτίων με χρήση της μεθόδου Monte Carlo, ενώ για τη στοχαστικότητα αυτή γίνεται η παραδοχή ότι οι χρονοσειρές που χρησιμοποιούνται αποτελούν διαδικασίες Markov. Η στοχαστικότητα αφορά τόσο στο φορτίο της κατανάλωσης, όσο και στην παραγωγή των Φ/Β και στην Οριακή Τιμή του Συστήματος (ΟΤΣ). Στη συνέχεια, αναλύεται η επίδραση της στοχαστικότητας στις απώλειες Joule και η διαφορά της επίδρασης αυτής στις συνολικές ετήσιες απώλειες του δικτύου σε αντίθεση με τις απώλειες μιας συγκεκριμένης φόρτισης ή/και ενός συγκεκριμένου κλάδου. Με τη βοήθεια του παραπάνω προγράμματος εξετάζονται διάφορα σενάρια και διερευνάται η βέλτιστη τοπολογία και το βέλτιστο ποσοστό διείσδυσης των Φ/Β με στόχο την ελαχιστοποίηση των ετήσιων απωλειών Joule. Τέλος, γίνεται αναφορά στην σημασία του προφίλ παραγωγής των Φ/Β, σε αντίθεση με άλλες πηγές ΔΠ. · Στο Κεφάλαιο 5 εξετάζεται η επίδραση της θέσης του «Κοινού Σημείου Σύνδεσης» των Φ/Β εγκαταστάσεων στις ετήσιες απώλειες Joule μιας γραμμής διανομής. Για το λόγο αυτό επεκτείνονται κάποιες από τις λειτουργίες του προγράμματος που αναπτύχθηκε στο κεφάλαιο 4, με σκοπό την παραγωγή τυχαίων σεναρίων κατανομής των Φ/Β και εν συνεχεία τη διερεύνηση της σχέσης που συνδέει την τοπολογία και το μέγεθος των Φ/Β με τις απώλειες Joule του δικτύου. Με βάση την παρατήρηση των αποτελεσμάτων, προτείνεται ένας δείκτης που συνδέει το σημείο σύνδεσης μιας μονάδας και την εγκατεστημένη ισχύ της με την αναμενόμενη μείωση ή αύξηση των απωλειών που αυτή θα επιφέρει. Στο δείκτη αυτό λαμβάνεται υπόψη η συσχέτιση μεταξύ της εγκατεστημένης ισχύος των Φ/Β και της ονομαστικής ισχύος των ΜΣ στους διάφορους κόμβους, το μέγεθος της μονάδας σε συνάρτηση με την απόσταση της από την αρχή της γραμμής και η πιθανή υπέρβαση ενός συγκεκριμένου ορίου της εγκατεστημένης ισχύος σε έναν κόμβο. Ο δείκτης μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί προκειμένου να αποτιμηθεί η συνεισφορά μιας νέας Φ/Β μονάδας στις απώλειες Joule του δικτύου και ανάλογα να κοστολογηθεί. · Στο Κεφάλαιο 6 γίνεται μια σύντομη ανασκόπηση της διδακτορικής διατριβής μαζί με τα κυριότερα συμπεράσματα που προέκυψαν. Παράλληλα, τονίζεται η συμβολή της διατριβής, ενώ στο τέλος δίνονται ορισμένες προτάσεις για περαιτέρω έρευνα. Η διδακτορική διατριβή κλείνει με την παράθεση της σχετικής βιβλιογραφίας καθώς επίσης και των ανακοινώσεων και δημοσιεύσεων που προέκυψαν κατά τη διάρκεια της εκπόνησης της διατριβής. Στο τέλος, ακολουθούν και τρία παραρτήματα με τα συνολικά διαγράμματα των προσομοιώσεων των κεφαλαίων 4 και 5

Optimal Management for EV Charging Stations: A Win–Win Strategy for Different Stakeholders Using Constrained Deep Q-Learning

Given the additional awareness of the increasing energy demand and gas emissions’ effects, the decarbonization of the transportation sector is of great significance. In particular, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) seems a promising option, under the condition that public charging infrastructure is available. However, devising a pricing and scheduling strategy for public EV charging stations is a non-trivial albeit important task. The reason is that a sub-optimal decision could lead to high waiting times or extreme changes to the power load profile. In addition, in the context of the problem of optimal pricing and scheduling for EV charging stations, the interests of different stakeholders ought to be taken into account (such as those of the station owner and the EV owners). This work proposes a deep reinforcement learning-based (DRL) agent that can optimize pricing and charging control in a public EV charging station under a real-time varying electricity price. The primary goal is to maximize the station’s profits while simultaneously ensuring that the customers’ charging demands are also satisfied. Moreover, the DRL approach is data-driven; it can operate under uncertainties without requiring explicit models of the environment. Variants of scheduling and DRL training algorithms from the literature are also proposed to ensure that both the conflicting objectives are achieved. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Local energy communities: an insight from European smart grid projects

The paper uses an extended database of real life smart grid projects in Europe, to identify projects related with the new concept of local energy communities and provides some interesting and useful insights. Thereafter, it focuses on different new actors involved in these projects, investigating their roles and responsibilities, as well as the collaboration links among them and with the traditional smart grid stakeholders. Furthermore, the paper explores the enabling role that Distribution System Operators may play in the development and operation of local energy communities.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Optimal Management for EV Charging Stations: A Win–Win Strategy for Different Stakeholders Using Constrained Deep Q-Learning

Given the additional awareness of the increasing energy demand and gas emissions’ effects, the decarbonization of the transportation sector is of great significance. In particular, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) seems a promising option, under the condition that public charging infrastructure is available. However, devising a pricing and scheduling strategy for public EV charging stations is a non-trivial albeit important task. The reason is that a sub-optimal decision could lead to high waiting times or extreme changes to the power load profile. In addition, in the context of the problem of optimal pricing and scheduling for EV charging stations, the interests of different stakeholders ought to be taken into account (such as those of the station owner and the EV owners). This work proposes a deep reinforcement learning-based (DRL) agent that can optimize pricing and charging control in a public EV charging station under a real-time varying electricity price. The primary goal is to maximize the station’s profits while simultaneously ensuring that the customers’ charging demands are also satisfied. Moreover, the DRL approach is data-driven; it can operate under uncertainties without requiring explicit models of the environment. Variants of scheduling and DRL training algorithms from the literature are also proposed to ensure that both the conflicting objectives are achieved. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Smart Grid Lab Inventory 2018

This report is the third release of the Smart Grid Lab Inventory. It presents aggregated information about the smart grid topics of research, the technologies, the standards and the infrastructure used by top organizations that hold smart grid activities at a lab level. Several categories of smart grid research have been identified and information is provided with respect to standards and sub-topics of research. It is an update with respect to previous releases with the scope to present the state-of-the-art on smart grid research and increase the sample of participants.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market