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Supervisors: Dr Solomon Brown and Dr Rachael Rothman.

Fully funded scholarship.

This PhD project will use agent-based modelling to investigate the operation of distributed energy storage in collaboration with Drax Power Limited.

In order to take full advantage of the opportunity presented by the incorporation of renewables and to manage energy costs of customers, demand management or load shifting of energy is an important practice. Energy storage technology lies at the heart of this strategy, providing a repository when necessary for consumers as well as smoothing the natural fluctuations in renewable electricity production.

This project investigates and seeks to optimise strategies for the use of distributed energy storage assets, eg batteries, for the dispatch of these to provide FFR, EFR, peak saving and load shift, and a combination thereof. This will look across a small grid containing multiple storage devices across a number of consumers and will seek to optimise the charge/discharge cycles of individual assets to provide these services.

The project will utilise an agent-based approach to simulate the interactions between the fluctuating grid and its users, such an approach allows the study of the various technologies potentially implemented across a grid for a population and the ability to directly assess costs not only in aggregate but to individual grid clients.

The optimisation across the system will be performed in terms of both benefit to each individual consumer as well as reliability. This assessment will be made across various time horizons in order to encompass the lifetime of assets.

The project will include a long-term part-time placement at Drax Power Limited, Selby, and therefore the applicant must be willing to travel to the industrial partner.

Eligible home and EU students receive a four-year scholarship with stipend of £18,000 per year and payment of tuition fees. For further information about the project please email the CDT Manager sharon.brown@sheffield.ac.uk.