MEM604 Engineering Management Capstone Report Sample

MEM604 Engineering Management Capstone 

Context

In Assessment 1, you developed a research project proposal that addressed, among others, the development of a project plan for your research culminating in a final research project. Assessment 2 required you to describe the progress that you achieved in your research, as well as reflecting on your research learning, experience, and challenges that you faced and overcame. Assessment 3 allows you to build on Assessments 1 and 2, apply the knowledge that you have gained in this course, and use new research skills that you have learned in this subject to produce a final research project.

Assessment Task

Completion and acceptance of a final research project report in 2500 words (+/- 10%) to include: the title of the research topic; aim of the research: research questions addressed; methodology, research ethics, research limitations; description of the research completed; findings and recommendations; research gaps and further research required; references.

Please refer to the Task Instructions for details on how to complete this task.

Instruction

To complete this assessment, you need to organise and write a report on the research that you have done throughout the subject, including building on the research that you presented in Assessment 2.

Solution

Introduction 

The purpose of this research is to analyse and evaluate the pros and cons of using Virtual Power Plant ideas to provide energy to businesses. Assessments 1 and 2 planned to do this task in the future by studying the target issue and eliminating a variety of elements and characteristics. MBA Assignment Expert The report will begin with the project's purpose and objectives, defining the key factors that will be evaluated and what can be achieved through it, and decide to continue with research questions analysis, the critical factors to develop a thorough understanding of the topic and the future possibilities that can be carried out. The research technique will also be addressed at length; secondary research will be used, and a synopsis of the study will be provided in relation to the research questions. The study will lastly be concluded with a discussion of findings, suggestions, and necessary future studies.

Research Topic 

Assessing, analysing, and evaluating opportunities and challenges associated with the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) concept for energy supply organisations, such as Origin Energy, AGL, Tesla, and Energy Australia.
Problem definition 

Increases in energy use were seen across the entirety of Australia from 1999 year to the year 2021-22, with a maximum use of 210 terawatt hours in 2006–2012 as well as a subsequent fall to 190-terawatt hours energy demands by 2021–22. Traditional power generation relied on fossil energy like oil, gas, & coal; nevertheless, in the past few years, sources of renewable energy like solar and wind have played a significant role in meeting electrical needs while minimising negative impacts on the environment. Although oil and natural gas use fell by 2.4% and 0.5% correspondingly during the last decade, renewable energy usage surged by 4.6%. Thus, most energy-supplying organizations are developing virtual power plants to beautifully use renewable energy sources for meeting electricity needs, after carefully analysing the rising demands for power and moving attention toward these resources. 

PROJECT PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES 

The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an analysis of the last two assignments and the research conducted in both of the previous assessments (Assessment 1 & Assessment 2) concerned with the selected topic for the study. The accompanying project's major goal is to expound on the principles of the VPP in order to have an appropriate conversation on the potential and advantages of improved energy administration that may be achieved via the production of electricity utilising renewable power sources. Furthermore particular, there are discussions surrounding many problems that are linked to VPP, including the security and safety of the batteries, the appropriate synchronisation of the power stations that have the grid, as well as the resilience of the power system.

The objectives of the research or this study are as followed- 

• To gain a piece of in-depth knowledge on the Virtual power plant and the advancements of the technology 
• To conduct a through research on the importance of the implementation of Virtual power plan
• To analyse and assess the benefits offered by conducting the research on the energy supplying organization such as AGL energy 
• To evaluate the advancements Virtual power plan will offer to the customer as well as the benefits they get by being a part of VPP 
• To give recommendations for the project by conducting an in-depth study 
• To analyse the scope of further studies in the chosen topic  

RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

i. Why it is important to implement a Virtual Power Plant?

Due to the rising need for decentralised generation and effective management of distributed energy supplies, which are both vital, it is crucial to sustain the functioning of the electrical network in the long term. In addition, virtual power plants provide a fascinating chance to create environmentally friendly power solutions that are more than the sum of their separate parts. Even if the power plants are only an idea at this point, the VPP technology has the potential to greatly expand the number of participants in the rapidly developing clean energy industry.

ii. How this research could be helpful to energy supplying organization, such as AGL energy?

AGL will have the opportunity to use solar batteries and renewable sources of energy for fulfilling the demands. Other than that, it will also help them for providing efficient resources such as wind turbines, solar panels and the batteries for generating renewable energy. 

iii. How customer will be benefited by being a part of VPP?

Customers of VPP will have the opportunity to make investments in renewable and clean energy, as a result, they will become component of the distributed energy system that is both environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Aside from that, the VPP will also provide a more interesting potential for the creation of clean power solutions that are going further than the sum of its separate elements. Consumers will have the opportunity to make investments in biofuels, such as solar battery system, in order to become a part of a decentralized energy system that is both efficient and sustainable (Wang et al., 2020). 

METHODOLOGY 

The study would be finished by making use of secondary data retrieved from reputable online sources such as blogs, articles, websites, including those belonging to government agencies, electricity generation businesses, media articles, as well as other corroborating evidence. On the other hand, there will not be any direct discussions or interviews held with the representative of any of the sources through which the data is being collected including the authors, and the owner of the organization in order to get the necessary evidence. Secondary data are information that has been gathered from previous research efforts that have been done by someone else and are then utilised for the goal of doing research and collecting data (Valcheva, 2020). Because public figures are now accessible covering a wide variety of topics, secondary data are increasingly being employed in research because it is now possible for an investigator to get the relevant data easily available to them in many circumstances.

The key reason of using the secondary sources are as mentioned below- 

• Easy to access – It is relatively simple to get accessibility to the secondary sources of information. Secondary research methods have evolved because of the Internet. These days, it just takes a few mouse clicks to access a wealth of knowledge (Valcheva, 2020).

• Present at the low cost - Most secondary resources may be accessed for free or for a little fee. It's efficient both financially and time-wise. In contrast to primary research, which necessitates starting from scratch with study design and execution, secondary research can be carried out and without any upfront costs (Valcheva, 2020).

• Offers supplementary information - Using what's at hand helps the researcher better understand the whole picture by delving into the specifics of something like the data and the people behind it. During the search for relevant information, the investigator may come across much more data than is commonly believed to exist, making a substantial contribution to the disclosure of previously unknown facts (Francis, 2022).

• Offers the insights into the entire situation - The available papers may be utilised to verify or enhance data collected for a particular inquiry. By making comparisons the pattern's socio - economic status data, such as revenue, strive to implement, social position, number of dependents, etc., with comparable data from the most latest census or even with data provided by local Governmental departments, one can verify the validity of a sample is drawn at irregular intervals from a small group in chronological order to evaluate people.

• Aids in formulating the hypothesis - Usually, the development of a study idea benefits from consulting documentary materials. While a researcher may begin with one or two hypotheses drawn from theories, other assumptions may emerge following a thorough examination of the existing data. The utilisation of original recordings becomes feasible if research ideas or hypotheses are constructed in a way that the material impacts on the topic (Francis, 2022).
Summary of research conducted against research questions 

For the following study, the researchers used a secondary data-gathering strategy. In light of this, reference materials are often used for the bulk of data collection. Government agencies, energy suppliers, and reputable online news outlets are just a few of the resources utilised in the potential to progress. In addition to secondary sources, no involves the collection of the primary source of information was used in this study. As a result, neither the organisations' officials nor the individuals who work for the organisations have been surveyed or interviewed, or met with in person (Sikorski et al., 2020). 

VPPs are indeed a component of the evolution of the electrical grid as a result of the unprecedented pace of roof solar panel installation in Australia. VPPs, as used by the energy sector, often refer to a distributed network of rooftop solar panels and batteries that are linked to the internet and used to back up the power grid. When all of the devices are working together, it's like having one giant battery that can provide an instant boost of solar energy to the grid, much like a temporary power station. Since these studies relied on secondary resources, there is a plethora of information and opportunities at your fingertips (Krishna & Hemamalini, 2022). As a result, considerable effort was needed to sift through the available data, taking into account their credibility, authenticity, and potential use in future studies. 

FINDINGS 

A VPP's consistent output of solar power does not only better for the environment than the energy generated by a traditional power plant, in addition, it helps keep the lights on during periods of high demand. Less coal is burned and all credit for such benefits goes to introduction and development of VPP. This is since fossil fuels like coal, which are used to create electricity at traditional power stations, have adverse effects on human health and the ecosystem, whereas the energy generated by solar PV power plants is a renewable resource that has no such negative consequences (the sun). It's a better, more long-term energy option that benefits the network and the local area.

Recommendations 

Training the employees- It is very well known that if a new technology is being implemented into the system and if any sort of new advancements is brought into the industry or in the company then the old employees who are not aware of its use and purpose must be trained well for effective further operating the system. Hence, it is very crucial to conduct training programs for the employees in order to carry out better and more effective operations of the VPP. If the employees are not trained properly then the mistakes will keep on happening as well as it will lead to a lot of challenges for the business to work on this technology, and such beneficial technology and the research of the decade will go waste without any proper implementation. Not only that, the poor productivity and results will also lead to a degraded reputation of the particular industry and leads to severe financial losses (Simplyenergy, 2022). 

• Hiring new and skilled individuals for the evolvement (VPP) – in order to avoid any chances of risks in the industry, it is very crucial to hire young people who are very well aware of the new technological advancements and also have a proper and authentic degree for carrying out such operations in the VPP, they will also be able to lead an guide a few individuals in this area. This will not only improve productivity but will also aid in gaining advantages in terms of finances (Marinescu et al., 2022).   

• Promoting the VPP programs - Participating in a VPP program merely amplifies the advantages of installing a solar energy and battery storage system at the residence. One can contribute to building a greener, cleaner, smarter, and much more dependable energy system in the near future by contributing surplus power stored in the battery towards the grid in the form of VPP community certificates as well as other savings that really can help cut overall energy costs (360training, 2018).

• Implementing Cloud based solutions - as its name suggests, a virtual power plant means there is a huge advancement and need for the technology and the data has to be stored at somewhere. It is not true that the data being stored will be of less amount which means that it will be big data. It is very well known that data theft is a pretty common cyber crime which is why it is necessary to look for big data opportunities and cloud-based solutions for the VPP in order to avoid issues related to data storage. Cloud-based solutions will give an opportunity to store an unlimited number of data on the cloud and also it will be easily accessible without facing any trouble and putting extra efforts, not only that the data can easily be linked to each other and make a source code appear to operate able for the end users (Simplyenergy, 2022).

Conclusions 

The report has focused on assessing and evaluating the opportunities and challenges associated with the Virtual Power Plant concepts for energy supply within organizations. It was a future work of assessment 1 and assessment 2, both of the assessments conducted a study over the aim topic and evacuated a number of aspects and parameters. The report started with the project purpose and the objectives defining the key factors that will be evaluated and what can be achieved through it, further research questions analysing the critical factors have been discussed in order to develop a thorough understanding of the topic and the future possibilities that can be carried out. There was an in-depth discussion on the research methodology as well, the chosen research approach was Secondary research along with that, a summary of the conducted study against the questions has been discussed. Lastly, findings, recommendations, and future required research were discussed in the report.   

FURTHER RESEARCH REQUIRED 

The further research required in this field is that, there is a huge scope of development in the technological advancements in this field. Internet of things and Artificial intelligence are the key technologies which are on boon these days, these both can be implemented in order to ensure utmost security as well as connectivity with the people, operators, and the organizations. This will not only aid in monitoring the data but will also aid in saving the energy consumption. 

References

360training. (2018, April 11). Improving Power Plant Efficiency. 360training. https://www.360training.com/blog/improving-power-plant-efficiency

Francis, A. (2022, December 25). MBA Knowledge Base. MBA Knowledge Base; MBA Knowledge Base. https://www.mbaknol.com/research-methodology/secondary-data-sources-for-research/

Krishna, R., & Hemamalini, S. (2022). Optimal Energy Management of Virtual Power Plants with Storage Devices Using Teaching-and-Learning-Based Optimization Algorithm. International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems, 2022.

Marinescu, B., Gomis-Bellmunt, O., Dörfler, F., Schulte, H., & Sigrist, L. (2022). Dynamic virtual power plant: A new concept for grid integration of renewable energy sources. IEEE Access, 10, 104980-104995.

Sikorski, T., Jasiński, M., Ropuszyńska-Surma, E., Węglarz, M., Kaczorowska, D., Kostyla, P., ... & Solak, B. (2020). A case study on distributed energy resources and energy-storage systems in a virtual power plant concept: Technical aspects. Energies, 13(12), 3086.

Simplyenergy. (2022). What are virtual power plants (VPP) and why do they matter? Simplyenergy. https://www.simplyenergy.com.au/blog/what-are-virtual-power-plants-vpp-and-why-do-they-matter

Valcheva, S. (2020, June 30). Secondary Data: Advantages, Disadvantages, Sources, Types. Blog for Data-Driven Business. https://www.intellspot.com/secondary-data/

Wang, H., Riaz, S., & Mancarella, P. (2020). Integrated techno-economic modeling, flexibility analysis, and business case assessment of an urban virtual power plant with multi-market co-optimization. Applied Energy, 259, 114142.