"PhD in A Resilience-Oriented Approach for Multi-Commodity Positive Energy Districts Operation"

Job Description

Do you want to be part of a large scale national project and work on multi-commodity energy districts?

The envisioned research is part of the research program Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) performed within the Electrical Energy Systems (EES) group of TU/e. Within the IES program, research is conducted into operation and planning of future sustainable energy systems, with an emphasis on electricity systems, markets and systems integration. This research is performed in two research labs: the Digital power and energy systems lab (EES DigiPES lab) and the Electricity markets and power system optimization lab (EES EMPDO lab). The former focuses on intelligent energy network research, including: demand management and flexibility, digital twinning, data analytics, smart grid ICT architectures and systems integration in multi energy systems. The latter specializes in electricity market design (centralized & decentralized), market products & system services to integrate new technologies, forecasting, market participation strategies and risk management, large-scale, distributed, multi-objective optimization techniques applied to energy markets and power systems and AI for optimization and control in power and energy systems. The EES group has strong ties with industry both nationally and internationally, with several part-time industry researchers working in the group and a large group of strategic collaboration partners.

Recently, the Electrical Energy Systems group received grants for nationally-funded projects in Intelligent Electricity Systems. Therefore, this group currently has multiple vacancies in this field. We are currently looking for researchers with strong energy systems knowledge, electricity, heat, and gas network modelling & simulation, and research software development skills that want to develop cutting-edge knowledge and software for the energy transition. The focus of the work will be on the application of intelligent software approaches (distributed control systems, distributed optimization, market mechanisms, multi-scale modelling, etc.), in electrical power systems (energy system flexibility coordination, local energy markets, capacity & congestion management, etc.).

Information

The transition to sustainable urban energy systems is a cornerstone of climate-neutral cities. Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are emerging as a key concept in this transition, aiming to produce more energy than they consume on an annual basis. However, the operation of PEDs is increasingly complex due to the integration of multiple energy vectors (electricity, heating, gas, water, etc.), the variability of renewable energy sources, and the need for real-time coordination among distributed assets.

Resilience —the ability of a system to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and rapidly recover from disruptions— is a critical yet underexplored dimension in PED operations. This research is a part of an NWO project called “Enabling Positive Energy Districts through citizen-centered socio-technical models for upscaling of the heat transition” or EmPowerED that studies various aspects of the PEDs to deliver a theoretically informed and empirically validated scalable integrated systems co-creation approach for carbon-neutral heating that can be tailored to the specific local PED context. This PhD is part of the technical study and modelling of the project that needs to focus on a resilience-oriented operational framework for multi-commodity PEDs, addressing both steady-state optimization and dynamic response to disturbances. EmPowerED is a large project with around 38 partners including different universities, research institutes, municipalities, energy communities, distribution system operators, and technology providers. The student will have the opportunity to be a part of this project and participate in project meetings, contribute to the discussion with the end-users, energy communities, and municipalities. There would be close collaboration between the PhD students in this project and the technology providers as the outcomes of the PhD studies could be incorporated into their commercial solutions.

Current PED operational strategies often prioritize energy efficiency and carbon neutrality but lack mechanisms to ensure resilience against disruptions such as grid outages, extreme weather events, or cyber-physical attacks. Moreover, the multi-commodity nature of PEDs introduces interdependencies that can amplify vulnerabilities. Although the congestion management is and remains one of the main concerns for the stakeholders involved in PEDs, there are further research questions that come to mind when the multi-energy aspect of PEDs is considered:

• How can resilience be quantitatively assessed in the context of multi-commodity PEDs?
• What operational strategies can enhance the resilience of PEDs without compromising energy positivity?
• How do interdependencies among energy vectors affect the propagation of disruptions?
• What are the trade-offs between resilience, efficiency, and sustainability in PED operations?

Considering the above-mentioned research questions and regarding the framework of the EmPowerED project, the objective of this PhD study is defined as follows:

• Develop a comprehensive resilience assessment framework tailored to multi-commodity PEDs, considering electricity, heating, and water drainage networks.
• Design a multi-layered operational strategy that integrates resilience metrics into energy management systems on a district level.
• Model and simulate the dynamic behavior of PEDs under various disruption scenarios, with a focus on electricity and heat networks.
• Validate the proposed approach through case studies and use cases of the project.

These goals are achieved through the implementation of a comprehensive analysis of the existing resilience metrics and operational strategies of PEDs. Various scenarios need to be created and studied for each commodity (i.e., electricity, heat, water drainage) and their interdependencies’ impact on energy management within a district while maintaining energy positivity. The use of new technologies in district heating systems (e.g., low-temperature heating) and their impact should be included in these scenarios. Conceptual framework development requires establishing resilience indicators for PEDs as well as defining its dimensions considering the interdependence among various networks. The scenarios and the developed concept need to be modelled and simulated for each energy carrier flow, following an optimization problem incorporating resilience techniques. A digital twin of PED needs to be developed integrating real data (where available) and the analysed scenarios. AI models for predictive resilience assessment should be developed and tested. The results of this simulation and modelling can be integrated within the commercial interfaces of the project for the end users involved in the project.

The position is supervised by dr.ir. N. Neyestani and prof.dr. J.K. Kok.

Requirements

We are looking for a highly motivated and pro-active candidate with good communicative skills and English language proficiency. As a PhD candidate you should have the following qualifications:

• A MSc degree related to modelling and analysis of multi-energy systems, electrical power systems and/or district heating systems.
• Having a good understanding of different energy systems including electricity and heat networks as well as water drainage systems and their components.
• Experience in modelling distributed energy resources, optimization and decision making, and district level energy management.
• Experience in data-driven modelling, AI techniques, probabilities, stochastic optimization solutions is an advantage.
• Excellent modelling skills and skills in scientific programming and/or numerical computing in languages like Python, Julia, or MATLAB are advantages.
• Enthusiasm in open-source software development and motivated to learn basic skills of scientific software engineering.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and interested in expanding the research to real-world applications through participating in projects.
• Motivated to develop your teaching skills and coach MSc and BSc students.
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).
• Dutch language skill is an advantage.

Conditions of Employment

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,059 - max. € 3,881).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.