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Staff Profile

Dr Ilias Sarantakos

Research Associate

Background

Qualifications:

  • Ph.D. in Power Systems, Newcastle University, UK, 2018.
  • Dipl.-Ing. Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Greece, 2013.

Current projects:

I am a member of the Power Systems Research group and have been working on several projects covering various aspects of power systems.

  • Turning Accelerated Decarbonization Challenge into an Investment Opportunity: Port of Tyne Case Study (supported by Port of Tyne and Siemens) (Jul 2022 - Present) – I am the Principal Investigator of this project, which was recently funded through flexible funding of the EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub.
  • Multi-energy Control of Cyber-Physical Urban Energy Systems (MC2) (Apr 2021 - Present) – The MC2 consortium consists of 6 partners between the UK and China: Cardiff University, Newcastle University, the University of Manchester, Tianjin University, Tsinghua University, and Northeast Electric Power University. I am investigating the optimal scheduling of integrated energy storage – soft open point devices (I. Sarantakos et al., IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 2022), as well as the reliability contribution of soft open points in distribution networks (I. Sarantakos et al., IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2021).

Past projects:

  • Clean Tyne - UK Blueprint for Decarbonization (with Port of Tyne & Siemens) (Oct 2021 - Mar 2022) – The project was part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which saw £30m in total invested in a number of initiatives to reduce emissions from the maritime sector. I was the lead researcher in this project, developing decarbonization scenarios and data-driven optimization methods. The aim was to minimize carbon emissions through the use of shore power and electrification of cargo handling equipment whilst satisfying the constraints of the electricity network of the port. The success and importance of this project was recognized by the Secretary of Transport, Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8uAUCl2wEs&t=1200s).
  • CLEARHEADS: CLimate-Energy modelling for Assessing Resilience – HEAt Decarbonisation and the Northwest European Supergrid (with University of Reading and AFRY) (Aug 2021 - Jan 2022) – I investigated the capacity value (equivalent firm capacity) of interconnectors in this project.
  • A Pragmatic Approach to Evaluating the Security Contribution of Smart Network Interventions (Northern Powergrid and Imperial College London) (Dec 2018 - Oct 2021 ) – I was the main researcher in this project (from Newcastle University side) with NPg and ICL. I have developed a novel capacity value assessment tool that helps NPg planning engineers to routinely evaluate the security of supply contribution of different assets/solutions (such as demand response, energy storage, enhanced thermal ratings, remote control, automation) for a given feeder. This tool informs optimal investment decisions for network operators, which results in significant savings, which eventually reduces customer bills. 
  • Enhanced Understanding of Network Losses (Northern Powergrid) (Dec 2018 - Jun 2020) – I was the main researcher in the “Enhanced Understanding of Network Losses” project with Northern Powergrid (NPg), which is the local electricity distribution network operator. The aim of the project was to strengthen NPg’s submission to Ofgem (gas and electricity regulator in the UK) with the ultimate aim to get a reward because of providing enough evidence for understanding and managing network losses. According to https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/riio-ed1-losses-discretionary-reward-decision-tranche-three-2020, only NPg passed the ‘Understanding of losses’ criterion, which was the only one that we could influence, and that was attributed to our project. This is extremely important, as it results in significant savings for the network operator, which means considerable reductions in customer bills.
  • Siemens RCAM Dynamic (May 2015 - Jun 2017) – Analyzing and suggesting potential improvements for Siemens RCAM Dynamic power system asset management tool. Incorporating the output of this tool into power system optimization.

Research Interests:

  • Distribution Network Operation and Planning
  • Power System Optimization
  • Reliability Evaluation of Power Systems

 



 


Publications