Public defence in Systems and Operations Research, M.Sc. Nikita Belyak

Title of the doctoral thesis: Modelling and solution methods for renewables-driven energy markets

Doctoral student: Nikita Belyak
Opponent: Prof. Carlos Henggeler Antunes,University of Coimbra, Portugal
Custos: Prof. Fabricio Oliveira, Aalto University School of Science, Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis

Pressed by climate change, many countries have paid significant attention to a sustainable transition of energy systems towards carbon neutrality. One can find numerous ongoing investigations on decarbonisation strategies ranging from advancing the existing generation technologies and proposing new ones, such as carbon capture and storage technologies. A common tool allowing one to understand the impact of the potential solution on economic and social aspects of life is energy systems modelling. One can highlight two essential parts related to energy system modelling: i) formulating the model and ii) solving the model. Formulating the model usually implies defining the set of mathematical relationships representing the real-world problem. Solving the mathematical model implies the application of some algorithm to mathematically derive the optimal solution for the problem. 

Despite being vastly used in numerous applications, energy modelling tools have been criticised for providing insufficient precision of the information for the policymakers. Among the others one can pinpoint two major points of criticism: i) a large number of simplifications is usually made when modelling real-world energy systems and ii) very few attempts are made to consider multiple energy system agents (e.g., for example, transmission system operators and generation companies) within the scope of a single energy model. 

This dissertation aims to address both aforementioned points of criticism. First, it studies the extent to which transmission system operators can impact the decisions of the private generation companies regarding their decisions on the expansion of the conventional and renewable (i.e., green) generation infrastructure. Therefore, the mathematical model proposed in the dissertation considers transmission system operators, generation companies and national policies regarding the carbon tax and renewable generation incentives in a distinct energy model. Additionally, this dissertation proposes a solution algorithm that can be applied to solve the aforementioned energy model as well as to the mathematical models from other fields that have similar structure. The solution method allows one to solve the mathematical model even in cases when the model thoroughly represents large-scale and complex energy system in detail, i.e., one does not assume a significant number of simplifications when formulating the model.

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Contact information:

Doctoral theses in the School of Science: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/52