The winning thesis, titled "The integration of renewable energy into North African electricity systems", by Dr. Bernhard Brand explores how an increasing penetration of renewable technologies - notably wind, photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) - can be efficiently handled by North African electricity grids.
The thesis is largely built around a linear optimization model, calculating cost-minimized expansion pathways for different mid-term scenarios for North African electricity systems. The results allow conclusions to be reached about cost-optimized power plant portfolios, the commissioning/retirements of power plants and projections for optimized transmission networks in North Africa to accommodate larger quantities of renewable electricity.
"I am honoured to receive this award and to share my findings. I believe these will help planners and decision makers, working on the region's renewable energy future, to look at innovative planning tools and models for the successful integration of renewable energy on a macro scale over longer time horizons," noted Dr. Brand.
