Master Thesis - Heat load profile prognosis in future district heating

Company Description

We have been electrifying industries, powering homes and transforming life through innovation and collaboration for more than 100 years. Empowered by our goal, we are determined to enable fossil free living. To succeed we, as one of Europe's leading energy companies, must be fossil-free ourselves.

But that’s not enough. That’s why we are looking beyond our own industry, to see where we can really make a difference.

Join us in our journey towards a fossil freedom.

Power Climate Smarter living - that’s our purpose. We are looking for the brightest students to make this happen. Together you will contribute to a fossil free future. You will have a unique position to contribute to our purpose. All we ask from you is to use your Superpowers and share your energy to help us achieve our goal.

Job Description

Summary department information

The project will be performed at Vattenfall R&D. The thesis is part of the R&D Heat portfolio with the goal of developing sustainable energy solutions near and long term.

Thesis background/subject / assignment

Reliable and updated prognoses of future heat load and volume demand are necessary to operate and future-proof the district heating sites in the most efficient and optimal way. We believe that today’s method to generate prognosis for future heat load profiles could be improved and further developed with an updated model that can take into account more factors that can have an impact on the heat load. Such factors are for example higher resolution of outdoor temperature, building insulation, weekday or holiday, future customer needs and behavior to mention a few.

Thesis goal / purpose - What is the goal and purpose of the thesis?

Develop a heat load profile prognosis tool with ability to include more detailed factors and have better flexibility for future changes. It would then give improved support in the short and long term business planning.

The scope of the work can include, but are not limited to the following:

• Investigate the factors affecting the hourly load profile of district heating customers’ heat demand and aggregation effects. Potentially the cooling and steam demand may also be included.
• Develop a standardized method to predict future temperature profiles based on historical hourly data.
• Expand the existing method to account for future temperature variations and weather scenarios and create a more precise load profile.
• Create a load profile that reflects future customer needs, changes and behavior, not solely relying on historical data.
• Develop a standardized method that can be expanded and adjusted when new forecasts are available in the future.
• Utilize a reliable modelling tool, preferably Python, to create a future-proof methodology.
• This assignment is for one or two student(s).

Qualifications

We are looking for a student/students to join our journey towards a fossil free future. You are soon to be graduated from your academic studies. You also identify yourself with our principles: active, open, positive and safe.

• Education – applicants should be in the final phase of a master's degree in mechanical or energy engineering or equivalent.
• Scope – The degree project is at master's level, corresponding to 30 higher education credits in the main area.
• Very good command of English is required. Swedish is a plus.

Additional Information

• Start of assignment: 2025-01-13 or by agreement
• Location: Solna
• Application – a combined document with your CV and cover letter, and grades are to be submitted in the application.
• Deadline for application is 2024-12-08. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and the position can be filled before the deadline, the ad will then be removed.
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall is: Elise Back, elise.back@vattenfall.com, 0730740122

Diversity & inclusion - in everything we do

At Vattenfall we build on the fact that diverse teams can outperform homogeneous teams. But we can only unleash and leverage the power of diversity, if we make everybody feel included. Read more about our important work on diversity & inclusion https://careers.vattenfall.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion/

Since Vattenfall is a part of the Swedish critical infrastructure, many of our services are security classed. If this position is security classed the final candidates might be subjected to a security vetting process, according to the Swedish legislation.