Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Boosting Power Systems Sustainability through IoT Applications

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2023) | Viewed by 12898

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Miguel de Simón-Martín

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical Engineering, Systems and Automation, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain
Interests: power systems; smart grids; power electronics; solar photovoltaics; wind energy; renewable energy; energy management; energy policies; energy markets

Dr. Stefano Bracco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and Naval Architecture Department (DITEN), University of Genoa, Via Opera Pia 11a, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Interests: optimization and simulation of microgrids and nanogrids; smart charging of electric vehicles and V2G technologies; power systems management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Enrique Rosales Asensio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus de Tafira S/N, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Interests: charging Infrastructure and grid integration; energy supply and sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Alberto González-Martínez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Digitalisation is a key ampliﬁer of the power sector transformation, enabling the management of large amounts of data and optimising increasingly complex systems. For the power sector, digitalisation is essentially converting data into value. The growing importance of digitalisation in the power sector is also a consequence of advances in two other innovation trends: decentralisation and electriﬁcation. Decentralisation is led by the increased deployment of small power generators, mainly rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) connected to the distribution grid. Electriﬁcation of transport and buildings (heating and cooling) involves large quantities of new loads, such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and electric boilers. All these new assets on the supply and demand sides are adding complexity to the power sector, making monitoring, management and control crucial for the success of the energy transformation.

Digital technologies can support the renewable energy sector in several ways, including better monitoring, operation and maintenance of renewable energy assets; more reﬁned system operations and control closer to real time; implementation of new market designs; and the emergence of new business models.

This Special Issue of Sustainability provides an overview of the Internet of Things directly applied to the energy sector, with a focus on how this technology can contribute to increasing shares of variable renewable energy (VRE) in the power system.

Dr. Miguel de Simón-Martín
Prof. Dr. Stefano Bracco
Dr. Enrique Rosales-Asensio
Dr. Alberto González-Martínez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

renewable energy
power systems
digitalization
Internet of Things
electrification
decentralization
self-consumption
electrical vehicles
smart grid

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

17 pages, 331 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Efficient Integration of Photovoltaic Solar Generators in Monopolar DC Networks through a Convex Mixed-Integer Optimization Model

by Diego Fernando Vargas-Sosa, Oscar Danilo Montoya and Luis Fernando Grisales-Noreña

Sustainability 2023, 15(10), 8093; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su15108093 - 16 May 2023

Viewed by 781

Abstract

The problem regarding the optimal siting and sizing of photovoltaic (PV) generation units in electrical distribution networks with monopolar direct current (DC) operation technology was addressed in this research by proposing a two-stage convex optimization (TSCO) approach. In the first stage, the exact mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) formulation was relaxed via mixed-integer linear programming, defining the nodes where the PV generation units must be placed. In the second stage, the optimal power flow problem associated with PV sizing was solved by approximating the exact nonlinear component of the MINLP model into a second-order cone programming equivalent. The main contribution of this research is the use of two approximations to efficiently solve the studied problem, by taking advantage of convex optimization models. The numerical results in the monopolar DC version of the IEEE 33-bus grid demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared to multiple combinatorial optimization methods. Two evaluations were conducted, to confirm the efficiency of the proposed optimization model. The first evaluation considered the IEEE 33-bus grid without current limitations in all distribution branches, to later compare it to different metaheuristic approaches (discrete versions of the Chu and Beasley genetic algorithm, the vortex search algorithm, and the generalized normal distribution optimizer); the second simulation included the thermal current limits in the model’s optimization. The numerical results showed that when the maximum point power tracking was not regarded as a decision-making criterion, the expected annual investment and operating costs exhibited better performances, i.e., additional reductions of about USD 100,000 in the simulation cases compared to the scenarios involving maximum power point tracking. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Boosting Power Systems Sustainability through IoT Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 594 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Globalization on Renewable Energy Development in the Countries along the Belt and Road Based on the Moderating Effect of the Digital Economy

by Yu Zhang, Le Su, Warren Jin and Yunan Yang

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6031; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14106031 - 16 May 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6429

Abstract

Within the context of globalization, the development of renewable energy is critical for attaining sustainable development, and the digital economy is also a critical driver for achieving it. This article incorporates globalization, renewable energy development, and the digital economy into its research framework, investigates the relationship between globalization and renewable energy development, and explores the moderating effect of the digital economy, using panel data from countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) from 2001 to 2018. It is found that globalization facilitates the development of renewable energy. The 1% increase in globalization results in a 1.06% increase in renewable energy development; the level of globalization has a significant effect on renewable energy development in high-income countries, upper-middle-income countries, and low-income countries, but not in lower-middle-income countries; the digital economy has a moderating effect on the impact of globalization on renewable energy development in countries along the B&R. Simultaneously, the effect of globalization on renewable energy development in B&R countries is influenced by the digital economy’s single threshold effect, and the effect of globalization on renewable energy development is more pronounced when the level of digital economy development is less than the threshold of 0.061. The conclusions of this article have significant implications for the B&R countries’ sustainable development in the contexts of globalization and the digital economy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Boosting Power Systems Sustainability through IoT Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

30 pages, 2799 KiB

Open AccessReview

Edge AI and Blockchain for Smart Sustainable Cities: Promise and Potential

by Elarbi Badidi

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7609; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14137609 - 22 Jun 2022

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4689

Abstract

Modern cities worldwide are undergoing radical changes to foster a clean, sustainable and secure environment, install smart infrastructures, deliver intelligent services to residents, and facilitate access for vulnerable groups. The adoption of new technologies is at the heart of implementing many initiatives to address critical concerns in urban mobility, healthcare, water management, clean energy production and consumption, energy saving, housing, safety, and accessibility. Given the advancements in sensing and communication technologies over the past few decades, exploring the adoption of recent and innovative technologies is critical to addressing these concerns and making cities more innovative, sustainable, and safer. This article provides a broad understanding of the current urban challenges faced by smart cities. It highlights two new technological advances, edge artificial intelligence (edge AI) and Blockchain, and analyzes their transformative potential to make our cities smarter. In addition, it explores the multiple uses of edge AI and Blockchain technologies in the fields of smart mobility and smart energy and reviews relevant research efforts in these two critical areas of modern smart cities. It highlights the various algorithms to handle vehicle detection, counting, speed identification to address the problem of traffic congestion and the different use-cases of Blockchain in terms of trustworthy communications and trading between vehicles and smart energy trading. This review paper is expected to serve as a guideline for future research on adopting edge AI and Blockchain in other smart city domains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Boosting Power Systems Sustainability through IoT Applications)

► Show Figures