PRR Project

Summary

The researcher will work on short-term forecasting in Power and Energy systems (PES), including load forecasting, forecasting of distributed energy generation installations (with emphasis on renewable energy sources as wind and solar), forecasting of consumers’ actual flexibility delivery, and market price forecasting. The accuracy and effective automated performance of the forecasting methods is of most importance to ensure the sustainability of energy generation and use and reasonable energy costs enabling economic development and fair solutions to energy-related societal challenges. The advancement of the state of the art in this field is crucial to enable the efficient energy resource management, promoting energy efficiency, the increased use of renewable energy sources, and reasonable energy costs. The research should consider the existing models that are adequate to address the problem, with focus on Machine Learning (ML) methods. The overall accuracy of ML learning methods is remarkable, but significant errors for periods with particular conditions prevent their regular use in practice. Despite the recent advancement on ML methods for forecasting, significant and faster advancements are required so that energy efficiency and renewable energy goals are met ensuring a fast and just energy transition.The Auxiliary Researcher to be hired will perform the following tasks:- Study of the state of the art in the research field and experimentation of existing models- Design and development of ML contextual models as well as intelligent and automated choice through reinforcement learning of the most adequate forecasting method for each context- Design and development of new explainability models to overcome the issue of the black-box nature of ML methods- Design and development of models to automatically process the explanations and use the obtained knowledge in coordination with experts’ knowledge to generate a hybrid forecasting model based on data and knowledge- Test and validation of the proposed models using GECAD’s labs and demonstration infrastructures using use cases and large sets of realistic case studies considering buildings, energy communities, local markets, demand response, energy storage, and electric vehicles.- Preparation and submission of proposals for R&D project funding in competitive calls, with emphasis on internacional projects- Projects’ teams, work packages, and tasks coordination, including  international projects and tasks with partners from different countries and of different nature- Contribution to GECAD R&D Projects, including participation in meetings and production of Deliverables and other Reports- Cooperation with other researchers of GECAD, from senior researchers to young researchers, in the aims of the research activities in the scope of the job- Coordination of Laboratory activities, including prototyping, and preparation of case studies, simulation studies, and the respective analysis and presentation of results- Supervision of MSc and PhD theses- Ensuring that the R&D activities impact is significant, at national and international level- Coordination of design and computational implementation of methods, algorithms, and computational applications and systems- Coordination of the integration and reformulation of existing and developed computational applications and systems- Coordination of the availability of all the source codes regarding the developed software, within the scope of the work plan, and the proper manual documentation- Communication and dissemination activities, and knowledge transfer actions- Writing of Scientific Papers to be submitted and published in reference scientific journals- Proactive activities regarding Ethics, Data Protection, Security, and Inclusive and Open ScienceThe candidate scientific profile should include:- PhD degree in the position scientific domain and demonstrate a strong research record in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods with applicability to PES- Relevant scientific work in at least two of the following areas: Electrical Engineering, Informatics Engineering, PES, Energy Forecasting, ML, Explainable AI- Extensive experience in preparing proposals and participating in scientific research and development projects with external funding, with emphasis on international project,- Participation and coordination of teams, work packages, and tasks in scientific projects with external funding, with emphasis on international projects- Have authored a minimum of 6 papers published in journals indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI), in the last 5 years prior to the submission of the application, in the activities field to be developed.- Scientific dissemination and knowledge transfer actions, including participation in events with oral presentation and demonstration of scientific activities results, and students’ supervision- Very good oral and written communication skills in English.