PhD Courses in Denmark

Description: In order to reach the 2030environmental targets the Danish government aims to increase the installed capacity of renewable generation to 36 GW while installing more than 6 GW installations for hydrogen production. Green ammonia production will also increase significantly in the next years. The expected amount of these new installations poses new challenges to the power grid as its expansion or reinforcement takes usually long periods from approval to commissioning and thus postponing the targets. One of the envisaged solutions is to establish co-located plants with limited grid connection capacity. In this way the renewable energy is produced and consumed locally in a so-called hybrid plant that comprises for examples of wind turbines, solar PV systems and electrolyzers. Batteries will play a crucial role in these installations for maintaining the internal security of supply but also providing grid support functionalities. The Danish transmission system operator have recently launched the first draft of the grid connection requirements for these installations that is expected to enter into force by early 2025. It is believed that a better utilization of plant infrastructure, a steady power output over longer time periods and thus a better grid and market integration will be achieved in a shorter time. However, these new regulations are posing challenges for all expected stakeholders in the value chain. New approaches for design, control and operation of these plant are needed. This five days course is giving a systematic approach for modelling, control design and operation of Hybrid Plants using the Model-Based Design approach. It includes a wide range of hands-on exercises as well as demonstrations in a Real-Time Hardware-In-the Loop framework. The activities and main recommendations of IEA TCP Wind Task 50 and upcoming Task 61 will be included in the course materials as well as invited lectures on selected relevant topics. Lectures are supported by exercises included in assignments that shall be completed by participants. The evaluation is based on a mini report containing the solution of the assignments.

Key words: Hybrid plants, renewable generation, Power-to-X, grid and market integration, control and operation

Prerequisites: Participants must have basic knowledge at MSc level on electrical engineering and control theory. Basic knowledge on Matlab/Simulink including Toolboxes is recommended for completing the assignments.

Learning objectives: 

- Knowledge:

• Architecture, operational strategies and market integration of hybrid plants comprising of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar PV, energy storage systems and flexible electrical loads e.g. electrolyzers and fuel cells;

• Monitoring, control and interoperability in hybrid power plants

• Comprehension of the electrical aspects of hybrid plants and their analysis under stationary and contingency situations using digital platforms

• Comprehension within operation, control and optimization of hybrid plants using digital platforms

- Skills:

• Be able to judge the usefulness of the used different scientific methods for the design of optimisation, control, and/or diagnostic systems for hybrid plants using digital platforms

• Be able to verify the different scientific analysis methods combined with laboratory experiments or real measured data series

- Competences:

• Be able to understand current trends and future developments within grid and market integration of hybrid plants

• Be able to identify challenges in control and operation of hybrid plants from different stakeholder prespectives

• Be able to select the appropriate modelling granularity of subcomponents in a hybrid plant for different types of integration studies

Teaching methods: Lectures, Small assignments

Form of evaluation: Individual evaluation of the participants based on submitted report that details the solution of assignments. The mini-report shall be submitted in maximum four weeks after the end of lectures

Criteria for assessment: Pass/Fail criterion. It is required the completion of at least 66% of each assignment in order to pass

Remarks:

Total Hours: 98 hours

30 hours lectures

6 hours for preparation 

60 hours for  solving 12 assignments and prepare mini-report

2 hours online QA session regarding assignments 

Key literature: TBA

Organizer: Associate Professor Florin Iov, fi@energy.aau.dk

Lecturers: 

Associated Professor Tamas Kerekes

Associated Professor Daniel-Ioan Stroe

Associated Professor Simon Sahlin

Associated Professor Vincenzo Liso

Associated Professor Rasmus Olsen Løvenstein (Electronic Systems)

ECTS: 3.5

Time: 17 - 20 March 2025

Place: Aalborg University AAU Energy

Zip code: 9220

City: Aalborg

Maximal number of participants: 25

Deadline: 24 February 2025