Heriot-Watt University
School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
EPSRC-funded PhD studentship in the management of uncertainty in
energy networks.
Applications are invited for a 3.5 year EPSRC-funded PhD studentship
to study mathematical and statistical aspects of the control of energy
networks under uncertainty, especially that introduced by significant
future reliance on renewable energy sources. Candidates should have a
strong mathematical background and a particular interest in
probability and statistics.
The student will work as part of the team for an EPSRC project
undertaken jointly by the Universities of Cambridge, Durham and
Heriot-Watt. Some background to the project is given below, and more
details are available at
http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewPanelROL.aspx?PanelId=5041&RankingListId=6951.
While the student will be based at Heriot-Watt, he or she will have
significant opportunities to visit the other institutions.
The studentship is open to applicants of all nationalities. The
successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend which is
currently £13,590.
The studentship is available from the summer of 2011. A slightly
later start date may be possible.
Further enquiries should be addressed to one of:
Dr S Zachary ([log in to unmask])
Prof S Foss ([log in to unmask])
For more details of the probability and statistics group at
Heriot-Watt see
http://www.ma.hw.ac.uk/ams/res/
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Project Background
Electrical power grids are complex networked systems. Demand and
supply must be balanced on a minute-by-minute basis, generating
capacity cannot in general be instantly switched on or off, and
sources of generation capacity are often located far from the urban
and industrial areas they must serve.
The need to reduce carbon emissions has led to new policy which will
transform the grid. Notably, renewable sources such as wind power
produce supplies which are highly variable and often unpredictable.
This variability may be combatted both through the time-shifting of
demand and through the use of buffering and storage of electrical
energy over short time scales. However, these possibilities raise
complex mathematical and statistical questions:
- will geographic diversity of supply help to reduce volatility?
- will demand response through pricing help to reduce the impact
of volatility?
- to what extent can buffering and storage assist in the
balancing of supply and demand?
- how may we schedule generation units and calculate efficient
reserves for a reliable grid in this more complex setting?
- how do we do better forecasting?
The aim of the project is to develop mathematical, probabilistic and
statistical techniques to assist in answering these questions, to
develop the techniques to manage the volatilities and uncertainties in
future networks, to measure their costs, and to assess the comparative
effectiveness of the various forms of time- and space-shifting of
energy which may be used. These techniques will be developed in the
context of the transmission and distribution networks: while
buffering, storage and the time-shifting of demand all correspond to
moving energy through time, the ability of the network to move energy
through space - determined by the capacities in its links and the laws
of physics - is inextricably linked to the benefits of moving energy
through time.
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