UNIGE Summer School

University of Genoa hosted the NextMGT Summer School on Fundamentals and Applications of Energy Storage in their Savona campus, Italy on 21^st and 22^nd June 2022. Twenty-three members of the consortium were present where interactive talks were delivered by researchers both in-person and some that joined online. The event also had a wonderful Genovese networking dinner and a tour of the lab facilities. For full details on agenda, check out the document below:

UNIGE Summer School Agenda

Though the days were very warm, early-stage researchers found the event very useful. Below are some of the comments in their words:

“…In the summer school, I learnt about how Energy storage devices combined with Renewable energy sources help towards the transition to clean and sustainable power generation. This is particularly interesting for my research on SOFC+MGT hybrid system because of the increased flexibility in power generation when the hybrid system is combined with Thermal energy storage. Finally, the summer school gave me an opportunity to meet all my fellow ESRs and the supervisors…”

Vinoth Kumar Arumugam

 

“… I realised the significance of the thermal storage systems. I focus in component design in my PhD and it is quite hard to increase for example the efficiency by 1%. Thermal storage systems, though, help to recover energy and use it whenever is needed… it was the first time meeting all the ESRs; I met colleagues, with who I was working closely for almost 2 years… I come from an island where it is easy to find fresh fish, however, that was the first time that I had so much fresh seafood. I really liked the UNIGE facilities and the variety of the experiments that they are running.”

Konstantinos Eleftheriou

 

“Having an overview of the different energy storage options in the market and in development has widened the overall picture I had about energy storage. This has helped me to realize that for my research in Power-to-Power with mGTs there is a need to implement thermal energy storage or a bottoming cycle after the mGT to increase the round-trip efficiency of the system. Furthermore, having the option to ask questions and have discussions with the speakers during the coffee breaks is a great way to get to know more people and establish relationships that are already helping me to shape my research and even my career… it was great to catch up with colleagues and to get to know them better…”

Antonio Escamilla Perejon

 

“This event provided the ESRs with plenty of useful discussions about the advantages of power flexibility and energy storage in the energy transition framework… ESRs benefited from the interactions with the different academics and people from the industry. I found particularly interesting the topic regarding the role of thermal energy storage in combined cycles. Also, the inclusion of a Heat Pump in this concept, to increase the cycle’s flexibility in a fluctuating yearly demand, gave a more complete view of the effective design of the future energy grid. Furthermore, the technical presentation of the Tesla compressor/turbine explained the technology also from a manufacturing point of view and gave useful insight into how this concept could be included in my work package. However, the highlight of this event was our visit to the test facility of UNIGE. This was a great opportunity to understand first-hand how a micro Gas Turbine is operated coupled with a Heat Pump.”

Angelos Gaitanis

 

“I was looking forward to this summer school, and it was worth my expectations… I have more clarity in understanding the different types of energy storage which was limited before attending the summer school. I was happy to see that event was a blend of different presentations from Industries and academia. As I am currently working on the system dynamics modelling for the diffusion of MGTs for the Decentralised applications, in which I am planning to add a part of Energy storage… A very worthwhile and timely event for me as connecting with other ESR’s and supervisors in-person was really required specially after the pandemic which gave me more insight about other’s project and possible ideas for future collaborations as during online workshops you don’t get to have one to one conversation…”

Kirti Sharma

 

“Energy storage with its key role in energy transition can be provided through many types of technologies. In the workshop, the advantages and challenges of each technology was pointed out. It was interesting to see how characteristics of each storage technology made them suitable for different applications. As the focus of my work is system performance evaluation, the introduced storage components (as candidate to be integrated with the system) were very interesting. (it is) always nice to communicate with colleagues in person. It brings us closer together and provides opportunities to chat and have fun!”

Reyhaneh Banihabib

 

“I have learnt different things about energy storage systems for different applications from energy harvesting, decentralised applications, and large size applications both from the technical and economic point of view. The summer school was a perfect fit for my research topic as I am studying the interaction between energy storage systems and micro gas turbines. This summer school enabled me to go more in dept on relevant topics for my research as well as to see things from different perspectives… It was much better than online events as it was easier to interact, have interesting discussions and be more focused on the presentations. Also, we were able to enjoy some free time in Savona.”

Martina Raggio

 

“One of the challenges I face as an early stage researcher, is not to get completely lost in the small details of my research topic, and keep in mind the bigger picture. This workshop has been a great opportunity to expand my knowledge on the wide variety and complexity of the technologies that can be used as energy storage solutions. Renewable energy sources can be effectively employed only if adequate energy storage solutions are available, therefore, energy storage is going to play a crucial role in the coming years. Finally, it always extremely valuable to get the personal view of experienced researchers and professors on how they would tackle the challenges ahead of us.”

Filippo Faldella

 

GALLERY