PhD position in Smart energy solutions to enable flexibility in European green ports

Delft University of Technology is hiring a doctoral candidate on the subject of “Smart energy solutions to enable flexibility in European green ports”. The PhD position is part of the MAGPIE project, funded by the European Union.

The energy transition requires creative solutions for the efficient use of energy. Green ports reduce their impact on emissions by reducing consumption and by making use of flexibility to optimally match the supply and demand of clean energy. Through this position, you will be developing integrated smart energy solutions for green ports by providing strategic decision support on congestion points and energy system interventions through identifying synergies and barriers in flexible energy use. You will also contribute to the development of an energy system simulator with embedded cross-sector flexible energy matching, which will allow assessing technical performance, identify congestion points, quantify flexibility needs, identify constraints, etc. This platform will require the development of statistical models for resource availability using bottom-up models and/or machine learning using data from different segments of a green port (maritime, in-port, hinterland).

This is a four-year doctoral appointment, with an anticipated start date of March 1st 2022. You will be jointly supervised by Dr. Pedro P. Vergara (assistant professor), Dr. Simon Tindemans (assistant professor), and Prof. Peter Palensky (chair). You will be a member of the section Intelligent Electrical Power Grids in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science. The project will offer opportunities to collaborate with industrial partners, but also with academics from other disciplines, as required (mathematics, operations research). Within the team, we strive to develop methods that are mathematically rigorous and have near-term application potential. We are strong supporters of open science (publishing, source code, data). You will also be expected to assist in teaching activities (student supervision, labs) related to your subject area.

About the MAGPIE project

The main objective of the MAGPIE  project is to demonstrate technical, operational, and procedural energy supply and digital solutions in a living lab environment to stimulate green, smart, and integrated multimodal transport and ensure rollout through the European Green Port of the Future Master Plan. The MAGPIE consortium, consisting of 4 of the main European ports, 9 research institutes and universities, 32 private companies, and 4 other institutes, addressing the missing link between green energy supply and green energy use in port-related transport and the implementation of digitization, automation, and autonomy to increase transport efficiency.