Manon Cornet obtained a FNRS's Research Fellowship to explore the impact of the energy transition on electricity distribution systems
Manon's academic career
As early as secondary school, Manon Cornet was already very interested in science and mathematics. So it was only natural that she should plan to study engineering. Winner of a Fernand Pisart scholarship, she began her bachelor's degree at the University of Liège's Faculty of Applied Sciences in 2018.
Particularly at ease with mathematics and computer science, she opted for a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, specialising in Smart Grids. This enabled her to combine her skills with her interest in sustainable development and to get involved in the energy transition in a very practical way.
During her studies, Manon had the opportunity to meet Professor Bertrand Cornélusse, who heads the Smart Microgrids team at the Montefiore Institute. This team is interested in the challenges posed by the management and operation of electricity networks in the current context, which is characterised by upheavals in the typology of production sources that are becoming less and less predictable. In particular, photovoltaic panels and wind turbines, for example, whose energy source is more random than traditional power stations.
It was against this backdrop of network management and planning that Bertrand Cornélusse offered Manon a subject for her final year dissertation, dealing with the planning of electricity distribution networks. The aim was to explore how this network should evolve to cope with the increasing integration of renewable energy sources and low-carbon technologies. Her doctoral thesis is a continuation of the research project begun in herTFE.
Manon's research project
The evolution of our energy mix to limit climate change will require a significant increase in the share of renewable energy sources and the electrification of mobility, heating, and industrial processes.
Electricity networks will therefore see increased production variability and consumption, creating significant over and under-voltages and network congestion. The research focuses on the transition of electricity distribution networks, that is, the grid's medium- and low-voltage parts where companies and residential users are connected.
On one side grid operators are in charge of developing, maintaining, and operating distribution networks. On the other side, grid users must transition their energy sources, mobility, and heating systems. To cope with this transition, grid operators can perform network reinforcement to increase the permanent capacity of the grid or control grid users' demand and generation flexibility to alleviate temporary issues. Grid users can also form energy communities to co-optimize, locally, their investment in energy generation and storage and their energy usage instead of acting independently of each other.
The project aims to understand how these three options will or should interact, depending on several exogenous factors, such as energy storage systems costs. A model will be developed to reach this goal. The main challenges are to model the decentralized decision-making process between the grid operator and the grid users, capture effects that arise at different time scales, and model the uncertainty over all exogenous factors that can impact investment and operational decisions.
This thesis aims to develop the models and improve the methods to solve the complex mathematical problems resulting from the above mentioned challenges. It also aims to provide quantitative results to assist decision-making on realistic test systems.
