During this year's sub auspiciis promotion on December 7th, 2023, at TU Wien, Michael Spiegel, a Research Engineer at the AIT, received a special distinction. In recognition of his outstanding academic achievements, he was awarded a doctoral degree in the presence of the Federal President, Alexander van der Bellen.
Having been at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) for a decade, Michael Spiegel started with an internship and continued with his Bachelor's and Master's theses. Now, he has successfully completed his doctoral dissertation with the support of the AIT.
His dissertation focuses on the operation of power grids with a significant share of renewable energy sources, particularly on Microgrids—power grids capable of disconnecting during a power outage. As part of his work, Michael Spiegel developed intelligent algorithms for proactive grid management. These algorithms are crucial for precisely controlling the battery storage of a facility or biogas plants to ensure efficient operation. "That means I look into the future, consider what the weather will be like. Will there be a weather change? Accordingly, I control my grid so that I am always on the safe side while operating the network very cost-effectively" (transl. from German to English).
To prevent overload and, consequently, power grid failures, the developed algorithms can now consider even highly complex networks. His results demonstrate that enhancing reliability is achievable even with fluctuating renewable energy generation.
Michael Spiegel plans to further refine his dissertation methods and apply them in various practical scenarios to ensure optimal power grid operations.