Power and Renewable
Energy Systems

Research interests relate and apply to the green electrification transition and electricity markets. Photovoltaic systems are one of the main constituents towards this and which the group has particular interest in.

In 2019, for the first time ever, more energy was generated in the UK and the US from zero carbon emission sources than by conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels. Considering the expectations and the targets for a decarbonized society as well, many technological challenges are expected to appear ahead. Many of these challenges have not yet surfaced and as the integration of renewables unavoidably expands, new challenges will continuously emerge.

Electricity markets around the world are becoming more and more liberalized with production, transmission and distribution being transferred to the private sector. All these synergies require a framework that will offer robustness, speed, stability and accuracy and correctness to the day-to-day and day-ahead operations. This future aggregated energy market will be multitasked relying on the contribution of elements such as smart meters, energy storage and forecasting techniques, not mentioning, the integration of new renewable energy sources such as those of hydrogen technology. 

The main research interests and activities of the members of the lab are related to:

Our research group welcomes research and collaborations in areas that relate and apply to the green electrification transition and electricity markets. This includes research and activities on modern, carbon neutral electricity markets, management and control strategies for RES, storage, microgrids and energy communities, power quality, stability, and reliability. Considering the simple example of residential photovoltaic systems, these can be exploited by stakeholders for example to support and improve the power quality of the grid without considerable further capital investment. The grid converter can support the grid during abnormal conditions but may also be used to improve the power quality, aspects that are part of the requirements of the future smart grid. Large scale integration of renewable energy sources requires sophisticated energy management and control techniques for the efficient power transfer under faults and/or any type of grid disturbance. Proper control techniques allow grid-tied converters to feed in the required amount of power and respond to grid conditions according to the grid code regulations adopted or set by the respective grid regulatory authorities.

One possible element of future grids and smart grids is the use of dc power. Being the main form of generated energy by PV for example, the impact of dc operated systems must be investigated to determine the potential reduction of losses as well as applications related to energy markets and prosumers.

The group participates in various research projects, funded either by the Research Promotion Foundation or the European Union. Members of the team publish in international conference, peer-reviewed scientific journals and they act as peer reviewed referees and guest editors in internationally recognized journals.

Software tools engaged in teaching and research include: PSCAD for power system analysis studies, PSIM for power electronics, MATLAB and MATLAB Simulink, ElectricalOM for electrical systems design and AutoCAD.

Equipment available include: Photovoltaic module IV testers and photovoltaic trainer equipment, Electrical installation inspection and testing equipment, Power quality monitoring equipment, Logger and energy auditing equipment and Energy efficiency equipment such as thermal camera, u-value meter etc.

Technologies that relate to harnessing magnetic energy

Research Projects Experience

• Buildings’ virtual power plant towards carbon-neutral electricity and grid resilience – CoEnerBuild, EP/CETP/0923/0010 – Submitted Proposal - Date Submitted: 29/11/2023

The electric grids are modernized by being transformed into smart grids, to enable deep penetration of renewable energy source (RES), effective management of the load demand, widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and high exploitation of energy storage systems (ESS). In this context, a virtual power plant (VPP) can play a considerable role. Although each nearly-zero energy building (nZEB) is a small energy unit for the grid, the aggregation of geographically distributed buildings, which are managed to operate as a virtual entity constituting a buildings' VPP (BVPP), are considered by the grid as a large power scale energy prosumer. Unlike conventional BVPPs, the CoEnerBuild system will have a central control role on the energy management of each nZEB to regulate the operation of the loads, energy flow within the BVPP, and energy transaction with the grid and maximum exploitation of the BVPP infrastructure can be attained since nZEBs equipment sizing is determined by considering the BVPP's benefits. The project is realized by 7 partners from 6 different countries.

• Peer-to-Peer Green Energy Sharing Platform for Cold Ironing - P2P-Ironing , CODEVELOP-AG-SH-HE/0823/0197 - Date Submitted: 10/12/2023
  

Within the framework of the new REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the use of renewable and low carbon fuels in maritime transport, amending Directive 2009/16/EC, approved by both the EU Parliament and the Council in July 2023, requires ships whilst at berth to connect to onshore power supply for all of their electrical needs instead of using own engines. The objective of this requirement is the decrease of both green-house gas emissions and noise pollution within the ports.
P2P-Ironing envisions to facilitate a green solution for cold-ironing as set by European directives and international legislations thus promoting ship decarbonization. The project proposes the design, development, and evaluation of a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) transactive energy system (TES) to support cold-ironing. The system will leverage blockchain technology to realize an automated market for energy trading and exchange among the involved parties: Energy Producers, Aggregators and Consumers (Ships). Such a market serves the purpose of matching supply and demand, it can reduce the electricity bill for ships and operators and promotes the easy integration of alternative green technologies such as for example compressed biomethane (currently under development for the cold ironing process in Cyprus). As the operational model for cold ironing is not yet specified, through the project activities the role and responsibilities of the involved actors will be determined and matched to the considered market entities. Despite the wide adoption of Blockchain Based TES, for different applications and purposes, this, as of now, has not been considered for the cold-ironing process and as such the project is unique not only at the national but also at the international level.

• Peer-to-peer microgrid energy management with storage integration - PEER2MICRO, CODEVELOP-REPowerEU/1223, Date Submitted: 29/2/2024

Microgrids are well established by now as a technology that offer distinct advantages over traditional power grids as for example Proliferation of Green Technologies, Energy Cost Savings, Income Generation, Job Creation, Reduced Transmission and Distribution Losses, Energy Reliability and Resiliency. In Cyprus despite significant research activities on microgrids, the local market currently lacks a decentralized platform for managing microgrid energy sharing which can promote their wide adoption providing incentives for prosumer participation. Considering the aforementioned gap and the objectives of the call, in this project we pose the dual objective; a. Develop a peer-to-peer platform for energy sharing in microgrids and b. Develop novel energy management and pricing policies for microgrids in Cyprus.
The proposed Decentralized Energy Management Platform for Smart Communities will blend state-of-the-art digital and control technologies, will promote demand response by dynamic and flexible energy sharing between community members by predicting energy flows in all possible directions, and optimise the utilisation of the battery energy storage systems (BESS), to constitute the Energy Community (EC) a self-sustained and autonomous microgrid. The proposed platform will provide leveraged benefits to all stakeholders; the prosumers, the electricity supply company, the distribution and transmission system operators and more importantly the environment. It will give way for the much expected and mandatory higher RES penetration, electricity bills within community members will be reduced as will the transmission and distribution system losses. The project objectives are fully compatible with the objectives of the Programme and the specific Call. The project contributes directly to one of the thematic areas of the call, specifically: “Integrating renewable technologies in the energy systems. In terms of the S3CY, the project contributes to the sub-sector “5.2 Digital management and monitoring systems for the production and distribution of energy” and specifically to the focus area “5.2.2 Energy monitoring, intelligent control and optimisation of small PV systems, monitoring of PV systems for failure, maintenance and production forecasting”.

• Decentralized energy management platform for smart communities – DYNAMO, ENTERPRISES/ENERGY/1123/0048, Date Submitted: 26/1/2024

Microgrids are well established by now as a technology that offer distinct advantages over traditional power grids as for example Proliferation of Green Technologies, Energy Cost Savings, Income Generation, Job Creation, Reduced Transmission and Distribution Losses, Energy Reliability and Resiliency. In Cyprus despite significant research activities on microgrids, the local market currently lacks a decentralized platform for managing microgrid energy sharing which can promote their wide adoption providing incentives for prosumer participation. Taking into account the aforementioned gap and the objectives of the call, in this project we propose the development of a peer-to-peer platform for energy sharing in microgrids demonstrating its effectiveness using an on-site experimental setup to be provided by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus. The decentralized nature of the platform offers distinct benefits as for example security as there is no single point of failure, scalability due to the peer-to-peer architecture, drives user empowerment and tech adoption in terms of energy choices, transparency and fairness. By capitalising on these benefits the platform will provide incentives for prosumers in Cyprus to participate in microgrids thus promoting the proliferation of green technologies and social welfare.
Furthermore, the project proposed the development of a novel energy management and pricing policies for microgrids in Cyprus, with the aim of maximizing the utilization of energy generated within the microgrid and reducing the import of energy from the utility grid.