The prize for scientific articles from the ETSi term has been awarded: January-March 2022

Publication date

The Jury of the Scientific Article of the Term Award of the Higher Technical School of Engineering (ETSi) has unanimously decided to award the Scientific Article of the Term Award of the ETSi: January-March 2022 to the following works:

 
  • “Facing the high share of variable renewable energy in the power system: Flexibility and stability requirements”
    Applied Energy, vol. 310, March 2022. DOI 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118561. 
    Authors: Karla Belén Guerra Huilca, Pedro García Haro, Raúl E. Gutiérrez, Alberto Gómez Barea. 
    Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Seville.

    The European Union (EU) has developed a series of policies to overcome the challenges of climate change and meet the decarbonization objectives of energy systems. Regarding the electricity sector, the Paris Agreement emissions benchmarks would lead to a decrease in emissions intensity of up to 75-80 kgCO2/MWh by 2030 and close to zero by 2040. In this context, renewable energy sources have become competitive technologies for electricity generation thanks to climate policies, incentives, technological development, and cost reductions. However, electricity systems with a high proportion of variable renewable energy (VRE: wind and solar photovoltaic) pose a challenge for system operators due to increased flexibility and stability requirements.  

    This study analyzes the behavior of a real electricity grid with a high share of VRE. A rule-based model called “Future Renewable Energy Performance into the Power System” (FEPPS) was developed to simulate the behavior of the future electricity system. The flexibility requirements of the future electricity system were determined from flexibility constraints, stability (inertia), and anticipated changes in grid interconnection. The results of the model (applied in Spain) indicate that the ambitious grid decarbonization targets are unrealistic due to these requirements. The renewable energy share is 33% for 2030 and 35% for 2040, well below the share forecasted by national and international organizations. CO2 equivalent emissions will be reduced to 157 and 159 kg CO2/MWh, respectively, which is well above the Paris Agreement targets. Furthermore, no scenario allows for achieving the planned environmental objectives. Therefore, in electricity systems with more than 39% renewable energy, the results suggest that new technologies with emissions below ∼113 kg CO2/MWh, a maximum cost of ∼€134/MWh, and an inertia constant greater than 5 s should be considered.
  • “Market-based clustering of model predictive controllers for maximizing collected energy by parabolic-through solar collector fields”
    Applied Energy, vol. 306, January 2022. DOI 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117936 
    Authors: Eva Masero Rubio, José Mª Maestre Torreblanca, and Eduardo F. Camacho,
    Department of Systems Engineering and Automation, University of Seville.

    In this article, they propose the dynamic clustering of predictive controllers using a strategy inspired by the intraday electricity market, with the aim of maximizing the thermal power produced in parabolic trough solar thermal power plants. In these plants, they consider that each solar collector loop is individually controlled by an agent that supplies/demands heat transfer fluid (HTF) in the market, depending on the operating conditions. Once an HTF transaction agreement is reached between loops, the agents involved form a group or coalition, acting as a single control entity. Therefore, the dynamic formation of predictive controller (PCC) coalitions is encouraged to improve the overall control objective, thereby increasing the thermal energy generated by the plant. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated by simulating two solar thermal fields of different dimensions and is also compared with other predictive control techniques. The results of this coalitional control show a performance improvement of up to 12% compared to other traditional controllers, as well as the ability to be implemented in real time for the control of large-scale solar plants.
 
The Jury for the Scientific Article Award of the Term of the Higher Technical School of Engineering ETSi: January-March 2022 was composed of Mr. Emilio Freire Macías, as President, acting as Members, Mr. Alfonso Miguel Gañán Calvo, Ms. Juana María Mayo Núñez, Ms. Consuelo Arahal Junco, Ms. Lourdes García Rodríguez, and Mr. Alejandro Carballar Rincón, who in addition to being a member acted as secretary. 
 

After evaluating the articles submitted for the Prize, the Jury members exchanged opinions and agreed on the high quality of all the publications. The jury rejected the nomination of one of the works (of very high scientific quality) for not complying with the Prize guidelines regarding the requirement that "The first author's affiliation with the ETSi or one of its Departments must be explicitly stated in the author's signature." For future submissions, it is recommended to follow the University of Seville's Guidelines for Signing Scientific Publications. Good Practices for Scientific Publications