The EDP Labelec Merit Award 2023 wants to distinguish, once again, the best research work in the energy sector. After the success of the first edition, in 2022, this award for academic excellence opened a new phase of applications aimed at academics who have developed doctoral theses on the energy sector in any of the 29 markets in which EDP operates. Applications begin on Tuesday, 24 January and will continue until 30 March.

With the aim of encouraging and distinguishing research in the energy area and, at the same time, helping to find new approaches with potential application to business reality, the EDP Labelec Merit Award will grant 20,000 euros to the winning doctoral thesis.

In this second edition, the award promoted by EDP Labelec and EDP New - two group companies focused on the development of innovation projects in the energy field -, seeks the best research papers on six specific areas: renewable energy, grids, distributed generation and electric mobility, green hydrogen, energy storage and decarbonization.

The evaluation and selection process of the 20 best candidates will be carried out by a Technical Committee of EDP Labelec and EDP New, and the five best theses will then be chosen by an EDP Evaluation Committee. In the final stage, a jury made up of recognized personalities from outside the company will choose the winning doctoral thesis. All the information about the regulations and application process can be consulted on the EDP Labelec website.

With the launch of the second edition of this award for academic excellence, EDP reinforces its mission to actively contribute to the development of the energy sector, with a clear and solid commitment to innovation and energy transition.

In the first edition of the EDP Labelec Merit Award, which had 57 applications, two doctoral theses focused on renewable energies were awarded ex aequo. Carla Sofia da Silva Gonçalves, from the University of Porto, was distinguished for her work "Renewable Energy Forecasting - Extreme Quantiles, Data Privacy and Monetization" (PhD in Applied Mathematics) - a thesis that aims to contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy sources in three ways: helping decision-makers by modelling extreme power quantiles given weather forecasts; ensuring that several energy agents can make collaborative forecasts and developing a data market to promote such collaborative forecasting.
The other distinction went to Simon Camal, from the MINES Paris Tech School, Paris Science and Letters University (PhD in Energy and Processes), for his thesis on "Forecasting and optimization of ancillary services provision by renewable energy sources". In this case, his research work points to a solution that reduces the uncertainty in aggregating dispersed renewable production to obtain a smoother production profile and operation within a virtual power plant control system. This thesis proposes forecasting methods for aggregated renewable production and strategies for the joint supply of renewable energy and services.

EDP Labelec Merit Award 2023

• Who can apply: academics in any of the 29 markets where EDP operates, with doctoral theses on the energy sector
• Eligible areas: renewable energy, networks, distributed generation and electric mobility, green hydrogen, energy storage, decarbonisation.
• Application period: from 24 January to 30 March 2023
• Where to apply: EDP Labelec website