Innovation and Technology
Barriers: from Research to
Implementation in Energy
Research
Andreas Sumper
Full Professor and Head of the Enertronics
Group of CITCEA-UPC
Barcelona, 16th November 2021
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About CITCEA-UPC
Research an innovation centre of the BarcelonaTech-Universitat Politèncica
de Catalunya-UPC
Enertronics, digital grids, big data and energy economics
Electrical power conversion and AC/DC grids
Mechatronics and power electronics
60 people in total: 11 professors, 25 engineers, 3 administrative staff,
10 PhD students, 20 Master and Bachelor students
More than 150 customers
10 patents
More than 600 conference papers
More than 400 journal papers
1 spin-off company
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Mind the Gap!
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Research
Project
Start-up
Technology
Transfer
Regulation
Stand-
ardization
Training
Dis-
semination
Product
Patent

Flexible Energy Production, Demand and Storage-based Virtual Power
Plants for Electricity Markets and Resilient DSO Operation
CITCEA-UPC role
 V2G charging algorithms for flexibility
management
 Voltage Control Application (VCA)
 Island-mode Power Management Application (IPMA)
 Power Quality Service (PQS)
 Global Energy Management System
 Integration into the flexibility market
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FEVER: Flexible Energy System
DSO Legacy
Systems
Flexibility
Trading

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Stakeholder view
 A general agreement is that solutions to manage LV grid actively
 Investments are expected to happen at medium voltage (MV) level.
 Capital expenditure friendly regulation, as opposed to operational
expenditure friendly one, is a significant barrier for investment in
smart technologies.
 Flexibility services are effective in managing the grid.
 It is expected that the battery solution will become a very lucrative
option in the next 2-5 years.
 Reactive power management is a relevant issue.
 When asked about business models for smart technologies,
including storage, all the stakeholders had different views.

Regulatory analysis
• Clean Energy Package (CEP)
• e-Directive (EC 2019/944)and the e-Regulation (EC 2019/943)
• the CEP sees flexibility markets as vital to promote the widespread of new
agents and technologies in the energy sector
• “Distribution system operators shall not own, develop, manage or operate
energy storage facilities”
• Specific network codes for energy storage and aggregation are foreseen
• Regulation outcomes of the FEVER project
• Flexibility in distribution networks of the e-Directive is establishing that
distribution system operators should procure services from providers with
transparent non-discriminatory and market-based procedures.
• The main issue lies in how novel assets like storage may participate in
market-based procedures.
• With the establishment of market-based procedures to use flexibility in
distribution networks, it is needed to explore new hybrid approaches, also
taking into account the Operational Expenditure (OPEX).
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Contact
andreas.sumper@upc.edu
david.agustin.ripoll@upc.edu
www.citcea.upc.edu
Technology and Knowledge Transfer from the University to Industry
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