Our electricity system needs to continuously match supply to demand. To achieve real-time demand and supply balance, electricity must be transported from where it is generated to where it is needed. With increasing levels of weather-dependent electricity generation and our changing patterns of consumption it is becoming very challenging and expensive to balance the grid.
Flexibility is the ability of the electricity system to adjust supply and demand in reaction to an external signal (such as price) to provide a service to the power system. Flexibility within the electricity system allows us to keep the flow of energy through the network within safe limits and provide better value to the consumer for the given infrastructure.
While it is recognised that we need more flexibility in our power system, views vary widely on how to achieve this, particularly to improve grid integration and make maximum use of solar and wind potential. The PhD position will study the key enablers of flexibility and will build mathematical models of demand-side flexibility, storage and sector coupling to understand and quantify the value flexibility can provide to a power system. The research conducted within this PhD project will answer the following three questions:
· How much value can flexibility bring to the GB electricity system in the context of net-zero?
· How will gas and electricity system interact with each other to provide increased flexibility across the whole energy system?
· What will be the role of flexibility in decarbonising heat and transport sector?
For this exciting and important PhD we are seeking a student with an interest in decarbonization of energy systems, and development and application of mathematical modelling to energy system problems. The project will require candidates to have excellent mathematical and/or computational skills and an interest in the energy sector. Prospective candidates should have or are about to receive a good Honours degree (a first class or a 2:1), an MEng or MSc with Distinction or with Merit in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Control Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics or other related disciplines.
The PhD position is fully funded (tuition fees plus a stipend for living expenses) for UK home students through the Research Excellence Framework of the University of Strathclyde. Overseas students may apply and make use of the provided scholarship, though we note that they would need to provide their own funding to make up the difference between the UK and overseas tuition fees. The student will be supervised by Dr Waqquas Bukhsh and co-supervised by Prof Campbell Booth. Dr Sami Abdelrahman, Power System Engineer at Network Operability Team of National Grid ESO, is industrial supervisor on the project and will provide guidance on application of the research.
We anticipate competition for this studentship to be intense and encourage interested candidates to apply early. Interviews will take place during April and the expected start date is October 2023.
Applicants are requested to email their CV with a statement outlining their interest and suitability for the position to Dr Waqquas Bukhsh ([Email Address Removed]). Applicants from outside the UK should also indicate how they will cover the additional cost of international tuition fees over and above the fees charged to UK students.
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