LIST bets on new energy systems

The rising demand for energy, high renewable penetration, grid congestion, lack of current power system flexibility, as well as the new user-centred regulations and upcoming business models forces us to find an alternative to our conventional and unidirectional way of using energy, in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, European energy policies and Luxembourg’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan for 2021-2030.

Let’s remember that in 2019, the Grand Duchy’s government decided to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 55% – compared to the reference year 2005 – and increase the share of renewable energy to 25% by 2030, to reach net-zero GHG emissions and 100% renewable electricity by 2050.

Intelligent Clean Energy Systems

This is the tremendous challenge the newly-created “Intelligent Clean Energy Systems” (ICES) unit, led by Dr Eng. Pedro Rodriguez, intends to address in the coming years – by developing new energy systems for both society and industry in which clean energy production, infrastructures and consumption are intelligently integrated and operated (in a fraction of a second) through advanced digital platforms and power processing technologies.

To do so, the ICES unit will be made up of two research groups of about 30 experts by 2030, with complementary competences:

• the Sustainable Energy Systems group, which will create a modern energy infrastructure to enable a lowcarbon economy;
• the Active Power Grid group, which will spread IT, computation and intelligence all over the system in a decentralised and collaborative manner.

Among all the resources its engineers could count on, LIST is currently working on a new platform – the ICESLab – to develop Intelligent Clean Energy Systems, a coordinated combination of distributed renewable generators, responsive loads, power processors, energy storage systems, information and communication systems, as well as hierarchical controllers based on advanced computational techniques.

Partnerships and collaborations

In the coming years, the ICES unit will count on both public and private entities’ support, through subventions and contracts, across the entire innovation chain – fundamental and applied research, incubation and transfer of technologies.

Among them, the European Commission, LIST’s long-standing partners – the University of Luxembourg and its Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) and Luxinnovation – the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, as well as various private companies willing to invest in intelligent clean energy systems.