EASY-RES provides a very good platform for building knowledge and setting a concrete roadmap on how different ancillary services can be designed focusing on all technical aspects from A to Z.

We continue our monthly Who’s Who @EASY-RES with the interview of Advisory Board Member Vasiliki Klonari. Vasiliki is working with WindEurope in Brussels, joined the Board last year, and brings in the perspectives of the wind energy industry.

Vasiliki, please tell us about yourself!

I was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece. Today, I live in Brussels, Belgium with my husband Aimilios and our daughter Dimitra.

I studied Civil Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki specializing in structural engineering. I received my Engineering Diploma in 2007. In 2008 I moved to Milan, Italy, where I did a post-graduate MSc on Sustainable Architecture, at the Politecnico di Milano. In 2009 I moved back to Greece, Athens, where I worked for the next three years in EU R&D projects on energy efficiency (employed by Apintech) and as a freelance engineer in the design and permitting of photovoltaic projects.

In 2012 I moved to Brussels, Belgium, and worked as a PhD researcher at the Electrical Engineering unit of the University of Mons supported by a 4-year grant from ORES, one of the Belgian Distribution System Operators. In 2016 I defended my doctoral thesis on the probabilistic analysis of low voltage distribution grids. In 2016-2017 I worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Reliability unit of the Engineering School of Brussels (ULB) on maintenance strategies for offshore wind farms, for a project funded by ENGIE Benelux. In 2017 with my husband Aimilios we created ReVolta a Belgian company that integrates second-life stationary LI-on batteries. Since 2018 I have been working for WindEurope as a Senior System Integration and Digitalisation Analyst in the Business Intelligence unit.

When and how did you join the EASY-RES Advisory Board? 

I joined the Advisory Board of EASY-RES in 2020 to represent WindEurope replacing my colleague Daniel Fraile, Head of Market Intelligence at WindEurope, who had initially assumed this role.

I was only recently introduced to EASY-RES so I still need to learn more about its developments and progress. From my current perspective, I can tell that all the project objectives are well-thought separate concrete steps that can very practically enable flexibility at all voltage levels. There are many ongoing discussions and there have been projects addressing similar issues. However, the comprehensive way that EASY-RES is dealing with major questions remaining open – since many practical aspects have not yet been resolved today – is very promising. WindEurope is very interested to follow these developments and disseminate all relevant outcomes to the wind industry.

EASY-RES provides a very good platform for building knowledge and setting a concrete roadmap on how different ancillary services can be designed focusing on all technical aspects from A to Z.

As I am very new to the Advisory Board of EASY-RES I have not yet managed to participate in its exchanges. The number and scientific quality of disseminated results (scientific publications) is clearly a very strong point of interest that I can mention at this stage.

And on a more private note: Which private projects or dreams would you like to fulfil?