About the Project
The UCL Energy Institute, in partnership with GreenRunning, are seeking applications for a fully funded studentship on the topic:
“Evidencing and authenticating energy demand side response using high frequency electricity disaggregation and distributed ledger technologies”.
Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Demand (LoLo CDT: http://www.lolo.ac.uk/), and co-funded by GreenRunning (https://www.greenrunning.com/) this highly innovative project is look to bring together two of the most interesting recent developments in the energy field: high frequency electricity disaggregation for individual appliance identification and distributed ledger (‘blockchain’) technologies for authentication of demand response and as a transaction platform for DSR trading.
About the Project
Supervisors: Professor David Shipworth, UCL and Dr Peter Davies, GreenRunning Ltd.
Studentship: The studentship covers UK/EU fees and enhanced tax free stipend of approx. £18,200 per year (for eligible applicants for 4 years (start date September 2018), along with a substantial budget for research, travel, and centre activities. Applicants should meet the EPSRC eligibility criteria.
Rapid penetration of distributed generation technologies such as photovoltaics wind and hydro, combined with electricity network constraints, is leading many to explore radically different configurations of the energy system. One of the hallmarks of this reconfiguration is the need to balance supply and demand at both the local and national levels in order to accommodate increasing penetration of intermittent renewable power into the grid. Such intermittent renewable power frequently lies that the extremities of the grid, creating problems for grid connection and load balancing, and requiring significant infrastructure upgrade costs unless alternative solutions are found.
To help demand follow supply there are two broad classes of solutions: demand-side response (shifting the timing of demand to meet available power supplies); and local energy storage (at the local grid or building level). In order to support uptake of DSR and local storage four key conditions must be met. Firstly, consumers must see value in it, this value can be financial, social (e.g. community participation) or phychological (e.g. risk aversion). Secondly, there must be some way of verifying that a specific customer has provided the DSR service - either through exporting electricity from local generation, storage, or by demand reduction at peak times. Thridly, there must be a way to record and authenticate that DSR service, to ensure trust in the system from all parties. Forthly, there must be a way to transact that service, so all units of energy generation, storage or reduction are uniquely accounted for both physically and financially. This is a very challenging problem, but one in which recent advances in electricity load disaggregation, and the development of distributed ledgers (‘blockchains’) offers significant new potential to address.
The research will address the following questions:
1. What blockchain architectures can be used to authenticate demand-side response within timeframes that would allow participation in the different elements of the energy market – from the half-hourly wholesale market to the fast frequency response energy market?
2. What forms of evidence, and what level of confidence, will regulators and market actors accept as evidence of a demand-side response in order to allow participation in energy trading of that response?
3. How do these acceptable forms of evidence vary depending on the timeframe of the energy market mechanisms?
4. What are the social, policy, regulatory, data protection, communications technology, and hardware enablers and constraints to end user participation in energy trading?
For further information on the project, see UCL Energy Institute website: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/energy/news/2018/jun/ucl-phd-studentship-blockchain-enabled-peer-peer-energy-flexibility-trading
Person Specifiaction (special skills required)
We are seeking applicants with good degrees (min 2:1) in computer science or data science, or strongly quantitative degrees with a substantial component of data analysis and programming. Previous experience in, or knowledge of, the energy system is preferable but not required.
The successful candidate is expected to possess the following qualities:
• Demonstrable skills in scientific or data-scientific programming (such as Python, R, Go, C++, Solidity, etc);
• A strong interest in blockchain technologies and their applications outside of the cryptocurrency field;
• A strong interest in entrepreneurship and working with start-up companies in the energy sector;
• A strong interest in the energy transition and new energy business models;
• Ability to use own initiative and prioritise workload;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written);
• A high level of attention to detail in working methods.
How to apply
Your pre-application should be submitted by email direct to the LoLo Centre Manager ([Email Address Removed])
The application should include the following:
• A covering letter clearly stating your motivation, and stating your understanding of eligibility according to these guidelines: https://epsrc.ukri.org/skills/students/help/eligibility/
• CV
• Names and addresses of two academic referees
• A copy of your degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) of degree(s),
Following the interview, the successful candidate will be invited to make a formal application to the UCL Research Degree programme. Guidance will be provided.
For any details regarding the project contact Professor David Shipworth [Email Address Removed]; for details about the LoLo CDT and our programme, please contact Dr Cliff Elwell, [Email Address Removed].
Funding Notes
The studentship covers UK/EU fees and enhanced tax free stipend of approx. £18,200 per year (for eligible applicants for 4 years (start date September 2018), along with a substantial budget for research, travel, and centre activities. Applicants should meet the EPSRC eligibility criteria: https://epsrc.ukri.org/skills/students/help/eligibility/
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