How can an energy community be planned so that it not only enables the members to share energy, but also provides services to the power grid while increasing economic benefits? This was the question at the heart of Advanced Optimization Models for Planning Energy Communities with Integrated Flexibility Market Support, the master’s thesis by Tiago Pintado – which received the Master’s Award, presented by the Ordem dos Engenheiros – Região Norte.
The work was part of the master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (specialising in Energy) at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. The research was carried out at INESC TEC, where Tiago Pintado is now a researcher.
The award-winning work addresses one of the key challenges currently facing energy communities: determining which technologies and equipment should be installed to maximise their economic performance. To tackle this challenge, the INESC TEC researcher developed and implemented a metaheuristic algorithm capable of testing different configurations and identifying the solution that delivers the greatest benefits, both through internal energy sharing and participation in flexibility markets.
“The main contribution was the development of a more robust decision-support model that enables energy communities to be planned in a more optimised way. This ensures that communities maximise their revenues not only through internal energy sharing, but also by providing flexibility services to the grid,” the researcher explained.
The solution could be integrated into energy management tools to support the more efficient sizing of equipment, helping organisations adapt to increasingly decentralised and complex energy systems.
According to the author, the research would not have been possible without the scientific environment provided by INESC TEC.
“INESC TEC played an absolutely fundamental role. The work built on the Institute’s existing knowledge and research in this field, and the algorithm was tested and validated using the energy management software developed by the team,” he said. Tiago Pintado also highlighted the contribution of INESC TEC researcher José Villar, whose scientific supervision proved decisive “from defining the initial research problem and developing the mathematical formulation to providing close guidance throughout every stage of the project”. José Villar mentioned that the Institute’s expertise in the energy sector, particularly in energy communities and energy markets, provides an outstanding environment for early-career researchers.
For Tiago Pintado, receiving this award represents “a tremendous recognition of the work carried out and an encouragement at this early stage of my career”. His next step is to continue advancing research in energy markets, optimisation and decision-support systems, with the aim of developing innovative solutions that contribute to a more efficient and sustainable energy transition
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