Thesis Work - Analysis of energy storage solution for system-level impact

Company Description

To enable the fossil freedom that drives society forward – this is our purpose. We are looking for talented students who want to help us on our journey towards fossil freedom. By writing a thesis at Vattenfall, you will have a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose. 

Job Description

About the Thesis Work 

• The Industry Decarbonisation team at Vattenfall R&D is tasked with accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to electrified solutions through groundbreaking technology and partnerships. One example of a successful project is HYBRIT: a collaboration between Vattenfall, SSAB, and LKAB, which has enabled fossil-free steel production by replacing coal with fossil-free hydrogen.

The path toward a sustainable energy system means that renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, are taking on an increasingly significant role in electricity production. However, a higher share of renewables also brings new challenges in balancing supply and demand with power generation that is dependent on weather. We are offering a thesis opportunity where your work will help us understand and shape a future energy system. We envision that you will map and evaluate the anticipated increase in renewable power production. By developing and utilizing an optimization model, you will investigate how storage capacity and load balancing can be integrated into different electricity price areas to enable a high share of renewables. Cost and system optimization are central elements of this thesis. The specific actions and focus areas may evolve as the thesis progresses.

• Create a comprehensive overview of anticipated share of renewable energy in the energy system by 2040 in a few different transition scenarios.
• Develop an optimization model that manages different renewable production profiles and forecasts the need for storage and load balancing solutions per electricity price area.
• Analyse what storage capacity is required per electricity price area to enable a higher share of renewable energy.
• Implement a cost optimization function within the model.

Goal/Purpose

• The purpose of the thesis is to analyse how storage and flexibility solutions can enable and facilitate the transition to more renewable power production in a few transition scenarios. Your goal is to model and create an understanding at the system level of how an energy system with a high share of renewables can deliver reliable electricity at a low cost.

This assignment is for one student.

Qualifications

Your Profile

We are looking for a student who wants to work towards fossil freedom and who is about to graduate from their academic studies. You are also someone who identifies with our principles: Active, Open, Positive, and Safety. 

• Education – Master of Science in Energy Engineering, Industrial Economics, Engineering Physics, or equivalent. Experience in cost optimization and programming is a merit.
• Scope – 30 credits per student. 
• The thesis is expected to be written in English.

Additional Information

• Start date: 2026-01-26 or by agreement. 
• Location: Solna, Stockholm. 
• Application – one file containing your letter of motivation, CV and a copy of your transcripts. 
• Application deadline: 2025-10-26. 
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Erik Rosengren, erik.rosengren@vattenfall.com 

Diversity and Inclusion – In Everything We Do 

We are convinced that heterogeneous teams can outperform homogeneous ones. But we can only unlock the power of diversity when everyone feels included. Read more about our important work on diversity and inclusion at https://careers.vattenfall.com/se/sv/jobba-med-oss/mangfald-inkludering. 

About Vattenfall

At Vattenfall, we are determined to enable fossil freedom. To succeed, we must first become fully fossil-free ourselves as one of Europe’s largest energy companies. But that is not enough. To contribute to a fossil-free society, we need to do more than just focus on sustainable energy production. 

We believe that enabling fossil freedom requires us to address the challenge from a broader perspective than merely producing energy sustainably. 

Join us on the journey towards fossil freedom. 

As Vattenfall is part of Sweden’s critical infrastructure, many of our roles are security-classified. This means that, if this position is security-classified, final candidates may be subject to a special security clearance in accordance with the Security Protection Act.