From 8–10 October 2025, I attended the IEEE Power and Energy Student Summit (PESS) 2025 in Munich, hosted at the Chair of Electric Power Transmission and Distribution of the Technical University of Munich. The summit brought together students, researchers, and engineers working on smart grids, renewable energy systems, storage, and the practical challenges of the energy transition.
I was honoured that our paper, "Integration of PV and V2G Technology in an Island Grid: A Real-Time Simulation Study of Kastellorizo", received the 3rd Best Paper Award. The work originated from my thesis at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Patras, supervised by Prof. George Konstantopoulos, and was carried out in co-supervision with Prof. Thomas Hamacher at the Chair of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Systems of the Technical University of Munich.
The paper examines how photovoltaic generation and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology can support the operation of a small non-interconnected island grid. The case study focused on Kastellorizo, using actual grid data from HEDNO, and the island's medium-voltage network was modelled on the Typhoon HIL real-time simulation platform.
The results showed that V2G can improve the grid's frequency response during disturbances, while also reducing diesel generator output and CO₂ emissions in the simulated scenarios. More broadly, the study points to the potential of combining renewables and electric mobility in small, vulnerable power systems.
Many thanks to my co-authors Theodoros Kavvathas, Prof. George Konstantopoulos, Dr. Anurag Mohapatra, and Prof. Thomas Hamacher for the guidance and collaboration throughout this work.
Beyond the award itself, PESS 2025 was a valuable opportunity to discuss energy system research with people working on similar challenges from different perspectives. It strengthened my interest in island grids, storage, electric mobility, and real-time simulation as part of the future power system.