Mehdi Attar's research addresses a critical issue in electricity grids that can have a huge financial impact on Europe. His research shows both the potential and the limitations of an approach based on user flexibility, particularly in distribution grid systems.
Electricity grids are the systems that deliver electricity to citizens. They are under growing stress due to rising electricity consumption from technologies like electric vehicles, heat pumps, and data centres, along with increased renewable energy production from wind and solar. To keep up, grid companies must invest heavily in new infrastructure. The European Commission estimated in 2023 that €584 billion will be needed by the end of the decade – roughly €1,300 per European Union (EU) citizen.
Congestionoccurs when the electricity grid capacity limits are exceeded due to high electricity consumption or production. The usual way to solve this is to use stronger cables and transformers to increase the grid's capacity. However, this approach is expensive, takes time and causes disruption during implementation.
A more dynamic and innovative strategy, being piloted in many countries, involves leveraging the flexibility of grid users. This approach encourages users to adjust their electricity consumption or production during peak times to prevent capacity shortages. In his research, Mehdi Attar cautions that while this method appears simple and intuitive to grid operators, this perception can lead to an oversight of its complexities.
“Misuse of flexibility can result in unintended negative consequences, potentially worsening congestion. For instance, a lack of coordination between grid companies may allow flexibility to resolve congestion in one area while creating new congestion elsewhere. Therefore, it is crucial to fully understand and correctly apply this solution to maximize its benefits, particularly as the solution is still in its early stages of development,” Mehdi Attar says.
His findings emphasize that each congestion management solution has its pros and cons. Grid companies need to combine different congestion management strategies to enhance cost-effectiveness, as their expenses ultimately affect citizens through electricity bills. His research outcomes highlight the factors that should be taken into account in flexibility market design and flexibility utilization to avoid negative consequences while maximizing the benefits, ensuring that the solution is used per its characteristics and capabilities.
Mehdi Attar has been working at Tampere University since 2018 as a researcher, contributing to 17 academic publications while working on several projects, including an EU project, INTERRFACE, related to flexibility markets, and an EU project HEDGE-IoT related to leveraging edge and cloud computing solutions for congestion management. He intends to continue his research as a post-doctoral research fellow.
Public defence on Friday 14 February
The doctoral dissertation of MSc (Tech) Mehdi Attar in the field of electrical engineering, titled Market-based congestion management in power system, with a focus on distribution grids, will be publicly examined by the Faculty of Information Technologies and Communication Sciences at Tampere University at 12 o’clock on Friday 14 February in auditorium TB109 of Tietotalo building (Korkeakoulunkatu 1, Tampere).
The opponents will be Associate Professor Anh Tuan Le from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and Professor Hannu Laaksonen from the University of Vaasa, Finland. Custos will be Professor Sami Repo from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University.