Johannes Schaüble is a Research Assistant and Ph.D. student at the Energy Economics Chair and the Franco-German Institute for Environmental Research (DFIU) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He has got heavily involved in international electric vehicle deployment projects. His research also focuses on methods of integrating actors in electricity distribution, including the link between the flexibility of household demand and the use of electric vehicles.
What are your research themes and why did you choose the Climate Economics Chair to exchange?
With its “Energy Transitions” research program, the Chair has intensified its analyzes of the integration of renewable energies into electrical systems. Its research program covers the links between decentralized production and the functioning of networks, in particular through the study of self-consumption. This is in line with my thesis work on local electricity markets and the conditions of their balance in the future. To analyze this issue, I developed a simulation model of a market with local flexibility that could contribute to research conducted within the Climate Economics Chair. This model simulates the balance between supply and demand in the case of network congestion, the regulation of renewable energies and capacity constraints.
How did your visit to the Chair contribute to your research work?
I found in the pulpit a workplace that allows exchanges between researchers and professionals, which is necessary to think about the energy system of the future. Thanks to the many suggestions made by the members of the Chair, my research has been enriched. In particular, this allowed me to understand the French stakes on the issues of organization of energy networks and actors that may be different from those in Germany. I hope that the Chair team has also benefited from my presence and the presentation of my work.
What are the prospects for collaboration between your Institute of origin (KIT) and the Chair?
Since the beginning of my studies and my work at the Institute, I have devoted myself to research in a Franco-German context. As a continuation of this commitment, I carried out this research visit which initiated a cooperation between the Climate Economics Chair and the Chair of Energy Economics at the KIT. I welcome this new collaboration, which will make it possible in the future to intensify exchanges between researchers, particularly during conferences, symposiums and joint research. Finally, I will of course be delighted to welcome researchers from the Karlsruhe Chair team.