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About

About

Ricardo Bessa was born in 1983 in Viseu, and received his Licenciado (5-years) degree from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal (FEUP) in 2006 in Electrical and Computer Engineering. In 2008, he received the M.Sc. degree in Data Analysis and Decision Support Systems from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto (FEP). He obtained his Ph.D. degree in the Doctoral Program in Sustainable Energy Systems (MIT Portugal) at FEUP in 2013. Currently, he is Coordinator of the Center for Power and Energy Systems at INESC TEC. He worked on several international projects such as the European Projects FP6 ANEMOS.plus, FP7 SuSTAINABLE, FP7 evolvDSO, Horizon 2020 UPGRID, Horizon 2020 InteGrid, H2020 Smart4RES, H2020 InterConnect, HORIZON ENERSHARE, and an international collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. At the national level, he participated in the development of renewable energy forecasting systems and consultant services about energy storage and AI. Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy and received the ESIG Excellence Award in 2022. He is co-authors of more than 60 journal papers and 120 conference papers, and IEEE Senior Member.

Interest
Topics
Details

Details

  • Name

    Ricardo Jorge Bessa
  • Role

    Centre Coordinator
  • Since

    01st February 2006
071
Publications

2025

Budget-Constrained Collaborative Renewable Energy Forecasting Market

Authors
Gonçalves, C; Bessa, RJ; Teixeira, T; Vinagre, J;

Publication
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Abstract
Accurate power forecasting from renewable energy sources (RES) is crucial for integrating additional RES capacity into the power system and realizing sustainability goals. This work emphasizes the importance of integrating decentralized spatio-temporal data into forecasting models. However, decentralized data ownership presents a critical obstacle to the success of such spatio-temporal models, and incentive mechanisms to foster data-sharing need to be considered. The main contributions are a) a comparative analysis of the forecasting models, advocating for efficient and interpretable spline LASSO regression models, and b) a bidding mechanism within the data/analytics market to ensure fair compensation for data providers and enable both buyers and sellers to express their data price requirements. Furthermore, an incentive mechanism for time series forecasting is proposed, effectively incorporating price constraints and preventing redundant feature allocation. Results show significant accuracy improvements and potential monetary gains for data sellers. For wind power data, an average root mean squared error improvement of over 10% was achieved by comparing forecasts generated by the proposal with locally generated ones.

2025

Carbon-aware dynamic tariff design for electric vehicle charging stations with explainable stochastic optimization

Authors
Silva, CAM; Bessa, RJ;

Publication
APPLIED ENERGY

Abstract
The electrification of the transport sector is a critical element in the transition to a low-emissions economy, driven by the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and the integration of renewable energy sources (RES). However, managing the increasing demand for EV charging infrastructure while meeting carbon emission reduction targets is a significant challenge for charging station operators. This work introduces a novel carbon-aware dynamic pricing framework for EV charging, formulated as a chance-constrained optimization problem to consider forecast uncertainties in RES generation, load, and grid carbon intensity. The model generates day-ahead dynamic tariffs for EV drivers with a certain elastic behavior while optimizing costs and complying with a carbon emissions budget. Different types of budgets for Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions of purchased electricity consumed by a company) are conceptualized and demonstrate the advantages of a stochastic approach over deterministic models in managing emissions under forecast uncertainty, improving the reduction rate of emissions per feasible day of optimization by 24 %. Additionally, a surrogate machine learning model is proposed to approximate the outcomes of stochastic optimization, enabling the application of state-of-the-art explainability techniques to enhance understanding and communication of dynamic pricing decisions under forecast uncertainty. It was found that lower tariffs are explained, for instance, by periods of higher renewable energy availability and lower market prices and that the most important feature was the hour of the day.

2025

Human-AI interaction in safety-critical network infrastructures

Authors
Mussi, M; Metelli, AM; Restelli, M; Losapio, G; Bessa, RJ; Boos, D; Borst, C; Leto, G; Castagna, A; Chavarriaga, R; Dias, D; Egli, A; Eisenegger, A; El Manyari, Y; Fuxjäger, A; Geraldes, J; Hamouche, S; Hassouna, M; Lemetayer, B; Leyli-Abadi, M; Liessner, R; Lundberg, J; Marot, A; Meddeb, M; Schiaffonati, V; Schneider, M; Stadelmann, T; Usher, J; Van Hoof, H; Viebahn, J; Waefler, T; Zanotti, G;

Publication
iScience

Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming every aspect of modern society. It demonstrates a high potential to contribute to more flexible operations of safety-critical network infrastructures under deep transformation to tackle global challenges, such as climate change, energy transition, efficiency, and digital transformation, including increasing infrastructure resilience to natural and human-made hazards. The widespread adoption of AI creates the conditions for a new and inevitable interaction between humans and AI-based decision systems. In such a scenario, creating an ecosystem in which humans and AI interact healthily, where the roles and positions of both actors are well-defined, is a critical challenge for research and industry in the coming years. This perspective article outlines the challenges and requirements for effective human-AI interaction by taking an interdisciplinary point of view that merges computer science, decision-making sciences, psychological constructs, and industrial practices. The work focuses on three emblematic safety-critical scenarios from two different domains: energy (power grids) and mobility (railway networks and air traffic management). © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

2025

AI-assistant for intelligent design of controllers in power systems

Authors
Bost, L; Fernandes, FS; Bessa, RJ;

Publication
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GRIDS & NETWORKS

Abstract
The increasing penetration of renewable energy sources in power systems has heightened the importance of grid-forming (GFM) converters, which emulate the dynamic behavior of synchronous machines and are crucial for ensuring stability in converter-dominated grids. However, the complexity of modern grids calls for innovative control mechanisms to unlock the full potential of GFM technology. This work presents a novel automated framework for control design in power systems. Simulated annealing is used to evolve the structural design of control systems represented as graph-based models. The method achieves greater flexibility by using control graphs instead of traditional tree-based representations, supporting complex feedback loop configurations. A simplification process is also included to reduce complexity and improve interpretability, ensuring practical applicability. Validation on a two-generator power system with one GFM converter demonstrates the method's ability to design robust controllers that enhance system stability, achieving better performance metrics, such as smoother frequency responses with significantly reduced frequency deviations compared to benchmark configurations. The improved frequency response arises from differing terminal angle profiles, enabling faster, stronger power responses that quickly arrest frequency deviations during disturbances.

2025

A Conceptual Approach for Causal-Driven Demand Response Optimization in Electric Mobility

Authors
Silva C.A.M.; Watson C.; Bessa R.J.;

Publication
International Conference on the European Energy Market Eem

Abstract
The electrification of transportation, driven by the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and increased integration of renewable energy, is critical to decarbonizing mobility and society. Demand response strategies, such as dynamic pricing, enable indirect control of charging processes, but their success relies on accurately estimating consumer responses to tariff changes. Observational data can provide insights into consumer behavior, but the presence of confounding variables motivates the use of causal inference techniques for a reliable elasticity estimation. This study proposes a data-driven framework for optimizing dayahead charging tariffs, leveraging causal discovery and inference algorithms validated on a synthetically generated dataset. A sensitivity analysis explores the impact of data availability on elasticity estimation and the performance of the resulting demand response strategy. The findings highlight the potential of causal machine learning to characterize consumers and, ultimately, the need for regular characterization to improve the efficiency of demand-side management.

Supervised
thesis

2024

Data driven optimization of integrated energy systems

Author
Pedro Miguel Cardoso Félix

Institution
UP-FEUP

2024

David Gomes de Almeida Rocha

Author
David Gomes de Almeida Rocha

Institution
UP-FEUP

2024

Optimization of EV dynamic tariffs in hybrid PV and storage charging stations

Author
Filipe Manuel Gonçalves Lobo

Institution
UP-FEUP

2024

Energy management and storage to decarbonize high-performance computing centers

Author
Liliana da Silva Torres Rodrigues

Institution
UP-FEUP

2024

State Estimation for Evolving Power Systems Paradigms

Author
Gil da Silva Sampaio

Institution
UP-FEUP