PhD Position at the Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering

The University of Edinburgh

“Integrated Assessment of Quality of Supply in Future Electricity Networks”,

Contact: Dr. Sasa Djokic, e-mail: Sasa.Djokic@ed.ac.uk, tel. +44 (0) 131 6505 595.
Project Description
Traditional assessment of quality of supply is based on the results of several different power system studies, in
which analysis of system performance is usually performed separately from the analysis of end-user performance. This
approach requires additional analytical and computational efforts, as the outputs of these studies have to be post-
processed and combined before the overall quality of supply can be assessed. Being modular in nature, traditional
quality of supply assessment is also often partial.
This three-year EPSRC-funded research will introduce a major change to traditional quality of supply assessment.
It will propose a new methodology for the successful integration of reliability, power quality, security and other relevant
aspects of quality of supply analysis in an all-inclusive procedure, which will include assessment of both system and
end-user performance. In order to be fully applicable in future electricity networks, the proposed methodology requires
formulation of new and improved modelling and simulation tools. This is a necessary prerequisite, because existing
component models and system simulation procedures cannot be directly used for correct analysis of the future flexible
and actively controlled power supply systems with high penetration of distributed generation (DG), wider
implementation of demand side management and application of highly efficient, intelligent and automated control,
monitoring, protection and communication infrastructures.
To answer these challenges, the PhD research within the project will concentrate on the development of improved
component models and their use in high-performance parallel computing enabled simulation environment (at the
Edinburgh Compute and Data Facility, ECDF, http://www.ecdf.ed.ac.uk)..
Description of the PhD Research: Development of Improved Computational, Modelling and Simulation Tools
Quality of supply assessment relies on the use of several basic power system analysis tools. These include power
flow analysis, short circuit fault calculation, voltage/frequency regulation and protection coordination studies. Although
these tools are available in a number of commercial power system simulators, they are not adequately or consistently
updated with the models of recently introduced components, devices and technologies, and those expected to be
employed in the future. Furthermore, these simulators do not always incorporate in a general and flexible manner some
of the additional functionalities that will characterise operation and control of the future electricity networks. Finally,
none of them is specifically designed or capable of performing assessment of the quality of supply in large networks.
Therefore, this PhD research will identify and develop missing component models (and update the existing ones),
derive their aggregate representations and apply them in typical UK network configurations. Numerical software
models of analysed networks will be developed, with following new capabilities and distinctive properties: access to an
updated and expanded library of load models, DG models and models of advanced energy storage and power
conditioning devices; more detailed descriptions of variations in generation and demand profiles; improved
representation of transmission and subtransmission systems; ability to model system-wide propagation of harmonics
and unbalances, as well as the inclusion of relevant inter-compatible models of all control, coordination and protection
equipment and technologies. The proposed PhD research can be roughly divided into the following main tasks:
a) Identification of Typical Network Models and their Equivalent Representations, b) Development of Missing and
Updated Component Models, c) Implementation of Control, Automation and Regulation Procedures, d) Aggregation of
Individual Component Models, e) Execution of Full Time-domain Simulations, and f) Implementation of High-
performance Computing Resources.
Necessary background
You should possess a First Degree in Engineering (preferably Electrical), or in Computer Science (preferably with
Electrical/Electronics). Minimum requirement is an Upper Second Class degree or equivalent. An MSc in related area
and/or experience in power system simulation and modelling would be a bonus.

Funding for PhD studentships

Funding for UK/EU students: EPSRC will cover your annual tuition fees (GBP 3,390 in 2009/10) and you will be paid
an annual stipend to cover your living expenses (GBP 13,290 tax-free in 2009/10) for a period of 3 years.
Funding for Overseas (non-EU) students:
If you are coming from outside the EU, then you will receive the same funding as EU students (fees + stipend, please
see above), but you will have to pay the tuition fee at a higher Overseas level (GBP 12,900 in 2009/10). Accordingly,
your living expenses will have to be covered from another source, as we cannot offer any further financial assistance.

Contact:
Dr. Sasa Djokic, e-mail: Sasa.Djokic@ed.ac.uk, tel. +44 (0) 131 6505 595.