PhD Student Position: Towards Prosumer-Centric Demand Response

The proliferation of distributed energy resources (DERs) and increasing electrification of the consumer energy space are progressively enabling end-consumers to play an active role in the smart grid sphere. Indeed, rather than merely consuming energy, active consumers (known as prosumers) have the ability to dynamically produce, store, and consume energy, enabling them to take up an unprecedented proactive role on various levels of the electricity value chain.

Hence, emerging distribution systems are rapidly evolving into interactive systems relying on distributed decisions taken autonomously by their various constituents (e.g., prosumers, aggregators, system operators). These constituents can naturally possess different individual objectives, preferences, and valuation of risks, which directly affects their investment and operational decisions.

The primary objective of this PhD project is to identify and analyze the way in which prosumers make operational decisions in an inter-dependent setting and capture their effect on the operation of the grid and the provision of flexibility (i.e., possible volumetric adjustments and temporal shifts in load and generation). This, as a result, enables a better design of consumer-centric demand side management mechanisms able to achieve the full potential of demand-side flexibility by proactively anticipating consumer-side reactions, incentives, preferences, and strategic decisions.

Application
Interested candidates are welcome to apply through the application link including:
1. A copy of the candidate’s CV
2. A motivation letter highlighting the candidate’s research interests
3. The candidate’s transcripts of grades (for all received degrees starting at bachelor’s level)
4. The names and contact information of up to three references (preferably included in the CV).

For more information, please contact Dr. Anibal Sanjab: anibal.sanjab@vito.be
Expected start date of the selected candidate: November/December 2023