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10th Anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section—the Future of Energy

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 2879

Editors

Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Dufo-López

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, Calle María de Luna, 3, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: renewable energy; electrical power systems; energy storage; batteries; pumped hydro storage; hydrogen
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jesús Sergio Artal-Sevil

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: power electronics; resonant and soft-switched power converters; modeling and control of converters; design and simulation of electrical machines for vehicle traction; solid-state transformers; FACTS; power conversion applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global energy landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift driven by the urgent need for decarbonization and the rapid evolution of disruptive technologies. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section, this Special Issue serves as both a retrospective of a decade of innovation and a roadmap for the future.

This anniversary Special Issue, "The Future of Energy," serves as a visionary platform to explore the next generation of energy systems. We invite researchers to submit original papers and comprehensive reviews that address how we will produce, store, and consume energy in the coming decades. The goal is to highlight the transition from traditional fossil-fuel dependency to a diversified, resilient, and sustainable global energy matrix.

Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Dufo-López
Prof. Dr. Jesús Sergio Artal-Sevil
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy efficiency
  • renewable energy generation
  • emerging energy technologies
  • energy storage (batteries, pumped hydro storage, hydrogen, thermal storage, CAES…)
  • decarbonizing industrial processes
  • biofuels
  • hydrogen economy
  • advanced heating and cooling solutions
  • evolution of electric mobility
  • power-to-X
  • low-carbon technologies in energy systems
  • energy harvesting
  • grid integration and ancillary services
  • off-grid energy systems
  • analysis, simulation and optimization of energy systems
  • power electronics for energy systems
  • energy management
  • energy optimization
  • carbon capture, utilization, and storage

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 9923 KB  
Article
Real Missing-Region-Constrained Self-Supervised Inpainting for Borehole Electrical Imaging Logs
by Chuanhao Li, Chengwu Xu, Tingting Li, Qi Yao and Mengying Wang
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(14), 7320; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16147320 - 22 Jul 2026
Viewed by 288
Abstract
Borehole electrical imaging logs provide important sensor-derived information for identifying fractures, bedding structures, and reservoir heterogeneity. However, strip-like missing regions commonly arise from uneven tool pad distribution, incomplete borehole coverage, and acquisition limitations, which can distort geological structures and reduce interpretation reliability. Because [...] Read more.
Borehole electrical imaging logs provide important sensor-derived information for identifying fractures, bedding structures, and reservoir heterogeneity. However, strip-like missing regions commonly arise from uneven tool pad distribution, incomplete borehole coverage, and acquisition limitations, which can distort geological structures and reduce interpretation reliability. Because the true values inside real missing regions are unobservable, complete ground-truth labels are generally unavailable. This study therefore proposes a real missing-region-constrained self-supervised inpainting framework for borehole electrical imaging logs. The key idea is to use real missing masks to define safe intact regions and to generate artificial strip-like training masks only within those reliable regions, thereby avoiding supervision contamination from originally missing or adjacent unstable areas. A UNet-based inpainting model is developed, and two attention-enhanced variants, UNet-SE and UNet-CBAM, are evaluated together with Telea and Navier–Stokes baselines. In addition to the main comparison, mask-level ablation, model-level ablation, repeated-seed robustness analysis, and lightweight expert-assisted geological assessment are used to examine the reliability of the proposed strategy. The results show that learning-based methods consistently outperform conventional approaches for structurally complex strip-like gaps. UNet-CBAM achieves the best overall performance, with mask-MAE, mask-PSNR, and mask-SSIM values of 14.8, 21.2 dB, and 0.8, respectively. The safe-region-constrained strategy further reduces supervision contamination and improves reconstruction quality compared with random or less restrictive mask-generation strategies. These findings indicate that the proposed framework offers a practical self-supervised solution for improving the quality and interpretability of sensor-captured borehole imaging logs when complete labels are unavailable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section—the Future of Energy)
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23 pages, 8880 KB  
Article
Load Frequency Control of Interconnected Multi-Area Power Systems: A Single-Phase Second-Order Observer Sliding Mode Control Design
by Cong-Thanh Pham, Thieu Quang Tri, Van Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, Hoai Duong Minh and Nguyen Minh Tam
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(12), 5862; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16125862 - 10 Jun 2026
Viewed by 232
Abstract
The increasing integration of renewable energy sources into interconnected multi-area power systems (IMAPSs) has led to a significant reduction in synchronous inertia, making frequency regulation considerably more challenging. While existing studies have explored the use of integral sliding mode load frequency control (ISMLFC) [...] Read more.
The increasing integration of renewable energy sources into interconnected multi-area power systems (IMAPSs) has led to a significant reduction in synchronous inertia, making frequency regulation considerably more challenging. While existing studies have explored the use of integral sliding mode load frequency control (ISMLFC) schemes to stabilize area frequency and tie-line power flows in IMAPSs, these approaches predominantly rely on conventional two-phase sliding mode control. Such methods, however, have demonstrated notable limitations in maintaining the stability of IMAPSs under increasingly complex operating conditions. In addition, all the IMAPS state variables must be measured, which can cause difficulty in real IMAPS applications. Therefore, this study proposes a novel load frequency control (LFC) strategy that coordinates the single-phase sliding mode control and state observer methods to solve these above limitations. First, a dynamic IMAPS model with single phase sliding mode control based on state observer scheme is established under renewable resource uncertainties and load disturbances. Then, a novel linear matrix inequality (LMI) based on Lyapunov functional is constructed to analyze the stability of the IMAPS. Furthermore, the decentralized single-phase sliding mode load frequency control (DSPSMLFC) method is developed for the LFC of the ISMLFC. Finally, three testing scenarios are employed to verify the efficiency and advantage of the proposed DSPSMLFC approach in MATLAB/Simulink R2023a. The simulation results confirm that the proposed DSPSMLFC scheme can improve the LFC of the IMAPS under renewable resource uncertainties and load disturbances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section—the Future of Energy)
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17 pages, 1226 KB  
Article
Mathematical Optimization of Hybrid Renewable Systems in Isolated Zones and Performance Assessment of the Real System in La Miel (Panama)
by Lisnely Valdés-Bosquez, José L. Atencio-Guerra, Manuel Pino and José A. Domínguez-Navarro
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(10), 4926; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16104926 - 15 May 2026
Viewed by 429
Abstract
Background/Objectives: This paper presents a bi-objective mathematical programming model for sizing hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) in isolated mini-grids and compares the optimized solutions with the first-year operation of a real system deployed in La Miel, Panama. Methods: The model minimizes the levelized [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: This paper presents a bi-objective mathematical programming model for sizing hybrid renewable energy systems (HRESs) in isolated mini-grids and compares the optimized solutions with the first-year operation of a real system deployed in La Miel, Panama. Methods: The model minimizes the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and the expected energy not served (EENS), using an ε-constraint approach over a one-year time series (8760 h) of measured demand. For La Miel, the annual demand is 132,578 kWh with a peak load of 28.4 kW. Four configurations are evaluated: (A) diesel-only, (B) photovoltaic (PV)+diesel, (C) PV+batteries, and (D) PV+diesel+batteries. The results are compared with the installed plant (E) including 107 kWp PV, a 40 kVA diesel generator, and lead-acid battery banks (4560 Ah nominal capacity). Results: The optimized hybrid configuration (D) achieves near-zero EENS with an LCOE of 41.4–41.8 cts-USD/kWh, compared to 56.6 cts-USD/kWh for diesel-only. The real system achieves EENS = 0% with LCOE = 48.3 cts-USD/kWh and an annual renewable penetration of 53.2% (up to 68.4% in March 2020), while the optimized case reaches 79.6% on average (up to 95.3% in March). Conclusions: The distinctive contribution of the study is the direct ex ante versus ex post comparison between optimized planning outcomes and the documented first-year operation of the installed system. Operational constraints observed on site (e.g., minimum battery SoC of 60% to comply with voltage quality limits) and demand growth explain part of the LCOE gap between optimized and real performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section—the Future of Energy)
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25 pages, 2423 KB  
Article
Solar-to-Hydrogen Production Potential Across Romania’s Hydrogen Ecosystems: Integrated PV-Electrolysis Modelling and Techno-Environmental Assessment
by Raluca-Andreea Felseghi, Claudiu Ioan Oprea, Paula Veronica Ungureșan, Mihaela Ionela Bian and Ligia Mihaela Moga
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 3110; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16063110 - 23 Mar 2026
Viewed by 924
Abstract
This study develops and applies an integrated modeling framework to assess the solar-to-hydrogen-to-power potential across Romania’s five hydrogen ecosystems defined in the National Hydrogen Strategy. The methodology couples PVGIS-based photovoltaic yield simulations, based on hourly solar irradiation data and including system losses, with [...] Read more.
This study develops and applies an integrated modeling framework to assess the solar-to-hydrogen-to-power potential across Romania’s five hydrogen ecosystems defined in the National Hydrogen Strategy. The methodology couples PVGIS-based photovoltaic yield simulations, based on hourly solar irradiation data and including system losses, with MHOGA-based electrolysis simulation, enabling a quantitative-energetic-environmental (Q-E-E) system-level assessment. A 1 MW photovoltaic plant was simulated under three mounting configurations (15° fixed tilt, optimal tilt, and solar tracking) and interfaced with alkaline (AEL) and proton exchange membrane electrolysers (PEMEL). Specific photovoltaic yields reach up to 360 kWh/m2PV·year under tracking conditions, producing up to 7.5 kg/m2PV·year (AEL) and 6.8 kg/m2PV·year (PEMEL), expressed per unit of photovoltaic surface area to enable consistent comparison across the configurations considered. The modeled round-trip efficiency of the full solar–electricity–hydrogen–electricity chain is 38.32% for AEL and 34.57% for PEMEL. Life-cycle-based emission modeling yields 0.92 kg CO2/kg H2 (AEL) and 1.03 kg CO2/kg H2 (PEMEL), while avoided emissions exceed 250 g CO2/kWh relative to grid intensity. Land-use modeling indicates area requirements between 9402 and 18,804 m2/MW, depending on the Ground Coverage Ratio. Results demonstrate that system configuration exerts a stronger influence than regional solar variability in determining hydrogen yield, highlighting the need for integrated techno-environmental optimization for large-scale deployment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 10th Anniversary of the Energy Science and Technology Section—the Future of Energy)
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