Ricardo Prata and Gabriel Maciel, both Técnico alumni, won the APREN Award 2018. The second award winner in the category of MSc dissertations was also a Técnico alumnus: Filipe Fernandes. The winning works are directly related to renewable energy, which was the topic of this edition.

Gabriel Maciel decided to apply for the APREN award because he knew that he had a strong chance of success. “I finished my dissertation last November at Técnico, with a final grade of 19”, he explains. In addition, the presentation he made in the previous day at APREN conference, “went very well” and, at the end, he felt that “he had fulfilled his duty”, he shares. He knew that he had won the APREN Award 2018 in the category MSc dissertations in the same day. “This was the culmination of a wonderful time in my life”, he stresses. “Having designed an innovative structure from scratch was key to win this award”, highlights Gabriel Maciel, who focused his dissertation on wind energy. Currently he is collaborating with Vestas Wind Systems A/S, in Porto.

Ricardo Prata’s thesis was carried out under the PhD Programme in Engineering and Public Policy. According to the author, the thesis analyses and evaluates “the influence of growth of wind and solar production in the Portuguese Electric System”. “I would like to highlight that one of the main conclusions of my work is the need to coordinate energy policies between Portugal and Spain, once they both share a common electricity market”, says Ricardo Prata.

The role of the Reversible Water Plants in the Electric System and in the Energy Markets are the subject of Filipe Fernandes MSc dissertation. According to the author “The Reversible Water Plants play a key role in renewable energy integration, namely the wind energy”. “