Published on June 18, 2021 Updated on June 18, 2021

Julien Garçia Arenas (Ir.2020) won the CREG 2020 award for the best Belgian MSc thesis on the energy sector.

Julien Garcia Arenas The CREG (Commission de Régulation de l'Électricité et du Gaz) awarded the 2020 prize to Julien Garçia Arenas, Ir electromec 2020, for his MSc thesis entitled "Simulation of integrated systems: a first contribution towards a technoeconomic assessment tool for multienergy systems". Co-directed by Patrick Hendrick (ATM) and Pierre Henneaux (BEAMS), the work, developed in the context of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, focuses on the exploitation of the synergies between energy vectors in integrated systems represents an opportunity for a cost-effective transition towards a carbonfree energy economy.

"The objective of this MSc thesis was to develop a first techno-economic tool able to optimise the interactions between energy carriers such as electricity, hydrogen, methane and heat, and to apply it to the case of Belgium for two target years: 2030 and 2050", explains Julien, hired as a researcher at ATM since September. 

The CREG has been awarding its prize for the best Belgian dissertation on the energy sector every year since 2015. The CREG prize is awarded for a final year Master's thesis, directly related to the CREG's competences, written by a student in the final year of a Master's degree at a Belgian university or college, who has demonstrated creativity, innovation and relevance in this thesis. The winner will receive €2,500 from the CREG and the opportunity to complete an internship at the CREG.