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The special resources of renewable energy identified in Romania have generated far more extensive concerns and research on their capture, storage and use. The first part of this paper presents a couple of renewable energy sources, technologies for their capture and conversion, and also several new storage methods and technologies applied worldwide, in order to know the issue, scale and complexity of the field, advantages and difficulties encountered in harnessing these resources. By this we aim to identify the new evolutions, directions and trends emerging in recent years in the field of renewable energies so that to direct our own research towards the global trend. The second part of the paper presents several already achieved results consisting, in addition to documentation studies, in filing a patent application submitted to the Romanian patent authority (OSIM), and also in developing an experimental energy conversion and storage station project, which is to be physically developed and tested in the next step. The ultimate goal is to increase the capitalization of renewable sources, with increasing energy efficiency in converting, storing and using, by optimizing the structures and promoting new solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental restrictions get every day more demanding; therefore, energy policies focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, setting clear targets relative to the renewable energy contribution in meeting electricity demand. Thus, the global tendency towards fossil fuel replacement by renewable energy sources (RES) is progressively sharpening. Sustainability of power systems with high renewable energy penetration rates is a topic of major interest, especially considering the intermittency of RES production and the actual growing trend of energy consumption. Addressing such a complex concept requires particular designs approaches, taking into account several points of view (technical, economic, social). In accordance with the established objective (certain performance or quality indexes), multiple criteria should be selected and assessed so that the final project achieves long term sustainability. In the context previously described, design, operation and control of power systems are Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) processes and follow particular algorithms. This paper presents first a brief introduction, followed by a description of the most used MCDM algorithms for RES integration in power systems. Further, a case study is detailed, applying the above-mentioned algorithms to a small-scale system, comprising RES generating components and storage elements. Results are compared and discussed in the Conclusions section, highlighting also the different weights of each criterion in the final result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the rise in energy demands for industries and households all over the world has caught the attention of environmentalists. Higher energy demands calls for more energy sources, yet majority of the energy sources have an immense effect on the environment and atmosphere. Today, smart cities are the model for future city planning and urban development by integrating information communication technology (ICT) solutions as well as energy conservation and climate change combating mechanisms where with the underlying technology known as internet of things (IOT). This research proposes Virtual Power Plants (VPP) as the most efficient means of energy distribution for smart cities. This paper explores the modern technological innovation and paradigm in the energy sector known as VPPs which perform the task of flexibly managing a consolidation of renewable energy sources by effectively storing and distributing in variable proportions as and when it is needed. As well as outlining the challenges, this research offers to explore and model the endless possibilities of powering smart cities with the VPP technology and overall, the environmental ecosystem preservation and energy conservation opportunities it presents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the great potential of renewable resources existing in Romania, in order to harness and use these renewable resources, the current paper presents some research conducted at the Institute INOE 2000-IHP aiming at creating combined/hybrid systems for generating electrical and heat energy, and also targeting the development of energy storage technologies so that they can be used in any conditions regardless of their fluctuation, especially in isolated places. To do this, on the basis of extensive documenting studies regarding the worldwide achievements in the field, using the more than fifty years experience of the institute in the field of hydraulics and pneumatics, there have been conceived functional diagrams for combined/hybrid generation systems and for energy storage technologies. The results obtained consist in achievement of innovative solutions for combined systems of producing electrical and heat energy, and also innovative solutions for storing electricity from photovoltaic panels and wind power plants, by conversion of electrical energy to pneumatic or hydrostatic potential energy, which enables continuous use of energy, regardless of momentary/temporary climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]