Bamboo Energy S.L. and IREC collaborate in an industrial PhD thesis to develop Local Energy Communities. The essential element of the Industrial Doctorate Plan is an industrial doctoral project, which means a strategic research project of a company where the doctoral student will develop his research training, in collaboration with a research organization, and which will be the subject of a doctoral thesis.
The project presents a compendium of different mathematical models and applications needed for the successful integration of LEC (Local Energy Communities) within this new paradigm of electrical system. Traditionally, the electrical system structure has been organized in a hierarchical manner. Where, generators are located at the top on large, centralized facilities (such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, etc.). Then, TSO and DSOs transport and distribute the power towards the last link, occupied by the consumer. Based on this structure, bidirectional energy, information and economical exchange was not possible.
Nowadays, due to the increasing penetration rates of renewables, distributed generation and distributed energy resources, and also the appearance of new participants such as LEC, demand aggregators, prosumers and flexumers, the system is experiencing a structural and operational change. Where traditionally stablished flows (energy, information and economical), participants and system security measures are no longer suitable for the current and future conjuncture, thus new participants and methods must be optimally and efficiently managed and integrated into the system.
In this occasion, Antoni Company has been granted an industrial PhD thesis in Bamboo Energy S.L. in collaboration with IREC. The PhD is co-supervised by José Luis Domínguez, head of the power Systems group at IREC, and Cristina Corchero, CTO of Bamboo Energy S.L., a spin-off of IREC created in 2020 precisely to enable the provision of flexibility on the energy demand side. The company offers a scalable and versatile platform for independent aggregators and retailers to efficiently manage distributed energy resources.
Antoni Company started this project on October the 1st, 2023, and will finish in 4 years. The doctoral student will participate in training programs in specific competencies related to leadership, coordination, and management of R&D&I projects; the transfer of research results; the development of new businesses, and intellectual and industrial property, among other relevant subjects.
Acknowledgements (in Catalan):
Amb el suport del Pla de Doctorats Industrials del Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya.
