Issue 21 September 2015 - European Master in Renewable Energy

NEWSLETTER ISSUE 21 –September 2015
7th EUREC Alumni Forum in Brussels
The EUREC Master Alumni Association warmly invites you
to the 7th edition of the EUREC Alumni forum. This event
will be held on October, 3rd from 10.00 to 16.00 in "Le Cercle
des Voyageurs” in the historical centre of Brussels.
Following the EUREC Master Starting Day, it will welcome
fresh students into the EUREC network.
The EUREC Alumni forum provides a platform on which
EUREC students and graduates can exchange research
findings in an active environment. Topics relating to RE job
research, small RES business models, smart distributed
systems in the EU and USA, BIPV, offshore wind foundation
and networking activities will be covered.
The programme will be divided between academic presentations, networking activities and
discussions on the network organisation. Some drinks will be offered in the evening to extend
discussions.
Issue 21–September 2015
PROGRAM
9:30 - 10:00: Welcome Coffee and registrations
10:00 - 10:10: Introduction by the Maître of ceremony
(Rory Quinn, ECN)
10:15 - 10:35: KnowRES and news about the Master programme
(Nathalie Richet, EUREC)
10:40 - 11:00: Overview of the offshore wind foundation
(Antoine des Moutis, Smulders Group)
11:00 - 11:15: Coffee Break
11:15 - 11:35: Empowering small scale farmers with appropriated RE technology
(François Veynandt, Compadre)
11:40 - 12:00: Towards 100% RE supply with smart district and cooling
(Bertrand Guillot, Engie)
12:05 - 12:25: BIPV and Architecture: a promising bridge with ample opportunities
(Salim Bouziri, SUPSI)
12:25 - 14:00: Lunch break
14:00 - 15h45: Alumni networking activities
15:45 - 16:00 Conclusions
From 16:00: After drinks at Café des Halles
(1, Place Saint Géry, 1000 Brussels)
For more information and to register, please follow this link: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/7theurec-alumni-forum-tickets-16351292155
This event is not for profit, it is being co-sponsored by EUREC, Wind-Vision and the Alumni
Association.
Issue 21–September 2015
CONTENT
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Edito: 7th EUREC Alumni Forum in Brussels
Best projects 2014 in Loughborough: Stephanie Betz and Amro Tabari
Where are they now? - Anibal Dos Ramos
KNOWRES- Knowledge centre for RE jobs
Jobs
Events
o Starting Day 2015
o Young researchers conference
o List of upcoming events
MASTER AGENDA
 Academic Year 2014/2015
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October 3rd: Alumni Forum in Brussels
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December 1st: Thesis submission deadline
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December 15th and 16th: Presentation Days in Brussels
 Academic Year 2014/2015
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October 2nd: EUREC Masters Starting Day in Brussels
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October 3rd: Alumni Forum in Brussels
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January 18th: Classes start at the PV specialisation
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February 2nd : Classes start at the Sustainable Fuel Systems specialisation
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February 8th: Classes start at the Wind, Grid Integration and Solar Thermal
specialisations
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February 15th: Classes start at the Ocean Energy specialisation
Issue 21–September 2015
BEST PROJECTS THESIS 2014: Loughborough
Stephanie Betz: Photovoltaic energy competitiveness and risk assessment for the South
African residential sector
The configuration of the global PV energy market is changing. Some
years ago, we would see Germany and Europe on the top of the charts.
Now we see US, China and Japan taking over more significant roles in
terms of new installed capacity. In this context of transforming markets,
specific emerging ‘sun belt’ regions such as those of Africa and South
America, offer significant PV market potential along with business
opportunities. For those regions, an appropriate assessment of PV market
risk, opportunities and competitiveness is necessary in order to inform
policy, regulatory and business decisions. Therefore, a fundamental
question is: how may PV competitiveness in emerging markets be
evaluated?
My project aimed to answer this question, by developing a case study on the competitiveness of
a domestic rooftop system in the city of Pretoria in South Africa. Under the scope of the project,
competitiveness is defined in light of the risks associated with the financial performance of
domestic grid-connected rooftop PV considering the market status in South Africa.
The risk analysis was implemented via a Monte Carlo simulation, which involves defining a
range of possible values within a probability distribution for every input variable in such a way
that best express its behaviour in real life. The simulation runs several repetitions of the
calculation using random combinations of the possible entry values. As a result, it gives the
correspondent range of outputs, in this case Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Net Present
Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
It is not just about numbers but also understanding the economic context of the local energy
market. South Africa faces a very limited capacity of energy supply which leads to high increase
in electricity prices. Since there are no support schemes or business models for PV, the current
motivation for households to have rooftop PV system is to be able to save on electricity bills.
That is why we first look at the concept of “socket parity”, which occurs when the energy
generation technology’s LCOE falls to or below the per-kilowatt-hour price charged by the
distributor.
The result showed that LCOE is above the electricity tariff. The main conclusion for this case is
that PV is not yet a competitive source of energy for the household considered, given the current
unfavourable conditions in SA for connecting PV into the distribution grid.
Issue 21–September 2015
The mismatch between electrical load
and PV generation profile creates a
System cost
0.08
0.16
situation where surplus of electricity
PV system specific yield
0.09
0.17
during peak generation and low
WACC
0.10
0.15
demand is not compensated. The
Inflation
0.12
0.13
O&M
0.12
0.13
economic savings are limited to the
Inverter cost
0.12
0.13
share of self-consumption from the PV
Degradation coefficient
0.12
0.12
system and to the uncertainties
System size
0.12
0.12
associated
to
electricity
tariffs
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
increases. Therefore, for this case, there
LCOE ranges (€/kWh)
is not a sufficient apparent return to stimulate investment in the domestic PV sector in SA. Then,
the next question is: what business models could be put in place in order to minimize investment
risk and improve competitiveness?
Sensitivity Analysis for LCOE
Three potential business models: net-metering, net-billing, and an energy savings performance
framework (ESPC) were assessed in terms of investment risk and compared to the base case
which is the current market status. The ESPC involves PV as an energy service by a third party,
namely an energy services company (ESCO).
Investment risk assessment for a South African residential PV system
reduced
investment
risk
PV savings (current market status)
Net-billing
Net-metering
Household (ESPC)
ESCO (ESPC)
-15,000 -10,000 -5,000
0
5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000
Ranges (90% of occurrences) for NPV (€)
In the figure, business models are ranked from higher to lower risk. As ranges of NPV
occurrences move to positive values fewer risks are associated, since chances of profitability are
increased. The transfer of capitalization from the household to the ESCO implies that rewards
can be higher for the ESCO. The black bars indicate the mean value approximately.
In summary, the project was about how the appropriate application of risk modelling has the
potential to inform decisions by investors and policy makers. This could result in improved
policy and business solutions which are able to support increased residential PV energy market
competitiveness without the need for explicit subsidy frameworks.
Issue 21–September 2015
Amro Tabari: Improved Integration of Medium Scale PV Plants on the Distribution
Network
After working for more than four years on mega projects in the Oil and
Gas industry in UAE, UK and Kazakhstan as an electrical engineer, I
decided that it was time to pursue my passion for renewables and embark
on an educational journey through the European Master in Renewable
Energy. Completing the core semester at Loughborough University and
specializing in Grid Integration of Renewables at the University of
Zaragoza, I reached the master thesis internship semester equipped with a
very deep understanding of the renewable energy applications and the
technical requirements for grid integration. I was fortunate to be offered an
internship to join the Smart Networks team in a reputable technical
consultancy: TNEI Services Ltd (part of the Petrofac group) located in Manchester, UK.
Under the supervision of Dr. Charlotte Higgins, I conducted a techno-economic study addressing
the challenges of increased integration of PV plants in the South West region of the UK through
the application of Active Network Management (ANM) techniques, specifically at times when
maximum generation coincides with minimum demand. The idea of the research was conceived
through frequent discussions carried out between TNEI Services Ltd. and Western Power
Distribution-WPD (the Distribution Network Operator of the South West Region in the UK).
With the uptake of embedded renewable generation on distribution networks, it became
increasingly challenging to maintain the network within thermal and voltage limits. The
application of ANM to provide additional thermal and voltage capacity headroom has been
successfully applied to connecting wind farms in recent years. Analysis was undertaken in this
study to explore the extension of ANM application to solar PV plants, including both technical
and commercial implications. A real power curtailment scenario was developed and applied to a
33kV distribution network located in Tiverton in the South West region of the UK, with a
number of solar PV plants already connected and accepted to connect. IPSA 2 (Interactive Power
System Analysis) a comprehensive power system analysis package that is developed by TNEI
Services Ltd. was used to create the network model.
A process was developed to describe the
application of the generation curtailment
algorithm to the network power flow model.
The algorithm, coded in PYTHON, was
based on the LIFO (Last In First Out)
technique. Once a circuit becomes
overloaded, the code curtails the last
connected generator by a predefined value
Figure 1. Investment Costs
Issue 21–September 2015
equivalent to approximately 10% of the average rated capacity of PV plants connected to the
Tiverton network. The results indicated that by applying an ANM technique to the network, the
connection of an additional 22MW of PV (35% increase on the installed capacity) was achieved
while curtailing the annual generation output of the additional plants by 12% only. A high-level
commercial assessment was performed that proved that the deployment of ANM for PV plants
generates substantial net benefits compared to a traditional network reinforcement approach (as
illustrated in the Fig. 1).
With the support of Dr. Higgins and WPD representative Mr. Philip Bale, I continued the
development of my thesis into a technical paper that was accepted to be presented and published
in the proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and
Applications-ICRERA 2015 taking place in Palermo, Italy in November 2015. I would like to
take this opportunity to deeply thank Dr. Higgins and the staff of TNEI Services Ltd. for all the
support and help they provided me over the course of the internship.
The EUREC experience has definitely been a life changing journey for me; it enabled me to
confidently present myself as a competent professional in renewable energy and introduced me
to the key players in the industry. I strongly recommend my new colleagues in EUREC to set
clear targets to achieve in the masters course and begin early in establishing connections and
building relationships with renewable energy professionals. This will definitely enable them to
excel in this booming industry.
Issue 21–September 2015
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Anibal Dos Ramos, EUREC Master 2012-2013
EUREC Master came as part of a career change
plan. At the time of the application, I had an
advanced career (13 years) in Telecom with
international experience in one of the big
companies in the market. As soon as I get in
contact with the Universities and Research centres
I certainly got the feeling that I had taken the right
decision.
The level of professionalism of all people involved, the resources available for a deep learning of
excellence and the charm of Europe brought to me and to my family an unforgettable experience
that we are thankful for.
In my particular case, I followed the first semester in Loughborough University where I must
point out the great support we received from the student accommodation centre, their help made
a difference for us and we made us feel welcome and supported. The technology available for the
classes and material was indeed very good and totally worth to spend the coolest season in the
UK. The second semester was in Zaragoza University where, one more time, I was happily
surprised by the excellence of the support material given to us and the level of the compromise
from professors who with an exceptional quality made us a great learning experience. Field visits
were especially good in this semester.
From a personal point of view, the time spent in Zaragoza was a big and an important time since
I not only had a great second semester there, I also found the internship and it was the place
where my second child was born!
Results and the experience in general had very good endings indeed. After some travelling and
some family time next thing was working for a project, which was the very first Eolic field
inauguration, where two nation presidents made speeches and cheered for the development of
green energies in their countries. You can find an article (in Spanish) here.
Now I am leading the O&M group in wind farm
with 65Mwatts of installed capacity from Suzlon. I
have a team under my responsibility to perform
preventive and corrective maintenance, not only for
the generators itself but also for seventeen
kilometers of access roads, 31 steep up
transformers and a 70Mw main transformer which
interconnects the park with the 150KV lines.
Issue 21–September 2015
So I´m here now, as I planned, working as a professional in renewable energies highly motivated
and fully thankful for the EUREC experience.
KNOWRES- Knowledge centre for RE jobs
The KnowRES experts meeting for the PV sector was held
during the 31st EUPVSEC, on Wednesday 16 September,
from 9.30 to 12.30, in Hamburg, Germany.
The event was organised in two phases:
1-Three presentations on the PV sector jobs market by Lizhen
Xu, Green jobs Specialist, Ioannis-Thomas Theologitis,
Senior Technology Advisor, Solar Power Europe and Franco Roca, ENEA.
2-Bilateral meetings between candidates and recruiters (career advice/ HR tips)
The PV sectoral report will be available on the KnowRES website in October.
Three KnowRES events are organised in October/November:
 Experts meeting for the Ocean energy sector
 Stand in Hydro 2015
 Experts meeting in the Energy Convention in Groningen
KnowRES, the Knowledge Centre for Renewable Energy Jobs,
provides job intelligence to industry, candidates and academic and
training institutions, while performing an analysis of the skills needed
by the industry to ensure that the provided education and training
courses are tailor-made to the sectors’ needs.
For detailed information, please visit the KnowRES website here:
http://www.knowres-jobs.eu/en/About-KnowRES/News-andevents/Overview/ or contact Nathalie Richet
JOBS
New offers in the Job section of the Master website:
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Research Associate position
Post doctoral position
Two Project Engineers – Wind
Site Manager Wind Farm Construction
Consultant Operations and Maintenance – Wind
Junior Project Manager
Issue 21–September 2015
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Internship - Wind
Graduate RE engineer - Solar
Renewable energy engineer – Solar PV
Intern for Wind Energy development
Solar PV Engineer
Internship opportunity - Biomass
Opportunities in RE
RE engineer
Two Project Engineers - Wind
Alumni and companies are warmly encouraged to publish job ads in the EUREC Master website:
please send the offer via email to Nathalie Richet.
EVENTS
 Starting Day 2015 and EUREC Awards ceremony
The EUREC Master Starting Day will be held in Brussels on October
2nd. EUREC students from the five core Universities will be able to
meet for the first time. They will be welcomed by EUREC and some
alumni and will meet professors from the specialisations who will
present their courses and reply to their questions. They will also follow
a workshop organised by a green jobs recruitment specialist.
During the day, the three EUREC Awards winners will receive their
prize and present their project. Winners of the EUREC Awards 2015
are:
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First prize: Pavel Petruneac, from the University of Exeter, “Computational Fluid
Dynamics of turbulence effects on the seabed”
Second prize: Christos Loukas, from the University of Patras, “Theoretical study and
construction of a single phase inverter for the interconnection of a wind turbine with the
low voltage grid”
Third prize: Jenny Miranda-Perez, from Universidad de Chile,“Qhantir Project”
The day will end up with a cocktail reception. EUREC wishes a very nice start of the Academic
Year to all EUREC students and professors!
For any information about the Starting Day please contact Nathalie
Issue 21–September 2015
 Young Researchers conference
It is our great pleasure to announce the Young Researchers’ Conference and Award: Energy
Efficiency and Biomass!
Dedicated to the next generation of professionals and experts, the two conference tracks present
the work and achievements of young researchers in the fields of biomass and energy efficiency.
Mark your calendar for the 24-25 February 2016 and
take advantage of this opportunity to interact with
researchers and industry experts from all over the
world.
The Young Researchers' Conference will be held in the
context of the World Sustainable Energy Days 2016 in
Wels/Austria. With more than 750 participants from
over 50 countries each year, the World Sustainable
Energy Days are one of Europe's largest annual
conferences on sustainable energy. Check out the
programme, video and pictures of the 2015 conference
to get an impression of the event.
The organiser covers the costs of accommodation, meals, participation and local transport
for up to 60 selected participants.
Call for Papers - deadline 9 October 2015
We invite young researchers (born after 1979) to submit contributions at www.wsed.at/call by 9
October 2015. Submissions are welcome from any scientific field. A high-level scientific
committee selects papers for oral and poster presentation. Visit this website for detailed
information.
Awards "Best Young Researcher: Energy Efficiency" and "Best Young Researcher:
Biomass"
The best contributions will be honoured with the "Best Young Researchers' Award: Biomass"
and the "Best Young Researchers' Award: Energy Efficiency". The researchers will each receive
1,000 Euro as prize money. The winners will be selected from amongst the oral presenters.
Further information: www.next.wsed.at
Issue 21–September 2015
Upcoming events
Title
RE sector
Date
Place
Conference Website
EUREC Master Starting Day
All
2 October
Brussels,
Belgium
www.master.eurec.be
EUREC Master Alumni
Forum 2015
All
3 October
Brussels,
Belgium
www.master.eurec.be
KnowRES Ocean experts
meetings
Ocean energy
21 Oct
Dublin,
Ireland
http://www.knowresjobs.eu/en/About-KnowRES/Newsand-events/Experts-meeting-forocean-energy/
KnowRES at Hydro 2015
Small
hydropower
26-28 Oct
Bordeaux,
France
http://www.knowresjobs.eu/en/About-KnowRES/Newsand-events/Overview/
KnowRES at Energy
convention
All
24 Nov
Groningen,
The Netherlands
http://www.knowresjobs.eu/en/About-KnowRES/Newsand-events/Experts-meeting-in-theNetherlands/
EUREC Master Presentation
days
All
15-16 Dec
Brussels,
Belgium
Young researchers conference
Energy
efficiency and
biomass
24-25 Feb
Wels,
Austria
www.master.eurec.be
http://www.wsed.at/en/programme/y
oung-researchers-conference-energyefficiency-biomass/
NEXT ISSUE
Issue 22: December 2015 Deadline for contributions: November13rd
For any suggestion or contribution to our newsletter, please contact Nathalie Richet
EUREC
Place du champ de Mars 2 - 1050 Brussels - Belgium
Issue 21–September 2015