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Valentin Drouet: Organising Energy Transition

Valentin Drouet

Valentin Drouet is completing the third year of his thesis at the department of nuclear activities at Saclay (DEN-IN - Université Paris-Saclay, CEA). This nuclear energy specialist strives to “optimise the control of pressurized water reactors (PWR) for intermittent load monitoring of new renewable energies (ENR).”

Tell us about your thesis subject and your research work.

I work in the field of nuclear energy, at the frontier between nuclear and renewable energies. The aim is to have all these different means of energy production on the French electricity network together. Given the increase in the proportion of renewable energy, France will be faced with the problem of intermittent energy sources in the coming years. For example, when there is no wind, wind turbines cannot produce electricity. In order to maintain electricity supplies, other means of production, including nuclear power, will need to adapt rapidly. Existing power plants were not designed for that purpose. We will show that we can solve this problem by slightly modifying the way they are operated. I use simulations, because experiments are very expensive in the nuclear field.  We use a simulator that I designed using calculation tools developed at CEA.

What is your academic background? Why did you decide to do a thesis?

I took a preparatory class in mathematics and physics, and then joined a general engineering school, École des Mines de Paris. I was very interested in nuclear energy. There is a lot of talk about renewable energy when we talk about energy transition. There is much less talk about organising energy transition from current production sources. My thesis topic, proposed by CEA, was a good fit with my expectations.

Why did you decide to participate in the My Thesis in 180 Seconds competition?

The general public is concerned about energy transition, but they rarely have access to scientific and technical debate about how it is organised. That is why communicating about my research seems like a logical step.

What do you intend to do when you finish your thesis?

I hope to continue to work in this area that I find very interesting. I would really like to join EDF, the French electricity company. As part of my thesis, I have carried out simulations and proposed ideas. I would now like to learn about how the French nuclear park is actually managed.