About Us
We are a research group dedicated to solving the challenges in energy systems, focusing mainly on power systems. We are part of the Institute of Energy and Environment at the University of Strathclyde.
A main goal of our research is to create methods to improve the operation and planning of energy systems. We develop and maintain open-source Python tools that empower academics and researchers to conduct through analysis. Our work has led to several real-world industrial applications.
News
30 June - 3 July, 2025
Conference: IEEE PowerTech 2025
Waqquas and Ben attended the biannual IEEE PowerTech conference, this year in Kiel, Germany. They presented their research on ‘Explainable DC Optimal Power Flow Decisions’, building on findings from Ben's Master's thesis. The work aims to improve the transparency of optimisation tools in electricity markets, particularly regarding economic dispatch decisions, which are becoming increasingly difficult to comprehend due to the complexities of modern power system optimisation problems.
The full paper can be found here.
1 November, 2024
Conference: Manchester Energy and Electrical Power Systems (MEEPS) Symposium 2024
Alinane and Ben participated in the annual Manchester Energy and Electrical Power Systems (MEEPS) Symposium at the University of Manchester. This year’s event, themed ‘Powering Tomorrow: Opportunities for Innovation in Energy Systems’, drew over 50 attendees from academia and the energy industry, including representatives from universities across the UK and Europe.
Alinane delivered an oral presentation on ‘Physics-Informed Deep Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Load Shedding Scheme in Power Systems with Heterogeneous Resources’. His work was well-received by the audience, sparking numerous engaging questions and discussions. Ben had the opportunity to present first findings from his MSc thesis in a poster presentation titled ‘Towards Explainability in Power Systems Optimisation – A Counterfactual Approach’ for which he received the EA Technology Research for Innovation Award. Thanks again to our friends at the IEEE PES UoM Student Branch Chapter for organising this special event. More information about the symposium can be found here.
18 July, 2024
Paper: A Data-Driven Exploration of Britain’s Balancing Mechanism
On average, the National Grid ESO spends £5,947 per minute to balance the electricity system. In the time it takes to read this message, over £2,800 might have been spent to maintain this balance. Our research finds that a significant portion of these costs stems from inadequate network infrastructure. The paper detailing these findings is currently under review, and a preprint is available here.
3 - 5 July, 2024
Conference: 1st International Conference of Net Zero Carbon Built Environment
Shengming presented a paper based on his MSc research at the ZCBE conference held at the University of Nottingham.
25 June, 2024
Project: Developing a tool for wind curtailment analysis
We have launched a joint project with RES to develop an assessment tool for wind curtailment. This is the first innovation project under the newly established RES Centre of Innovation at Strathclyde.
24 June, 2024
Paper: Balancing the great British electricity system — Bulk dispatch optimisation
A paper documenting the bulk dispatch optimiser is published in Electric Power Systems Research. This tool is currently in use at the Electricity National Control Centre (ENCC) for decision-support in small BMU and battery zones. You can watch a video of Colin Webb demonstrating the Bulk Dispatch Optimiser here. Below are some links to media coverage about the work:
27 - 31 May, 2024
DTU Summer School
Shengming attended the DTU summer school.
1 May, 2024
Project: VoltXpanse - a collaborative research project with National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET)
Ultra-high-voltage transmission technologies provide a potential solution to increase the power transfer capability while minimising transmission losses. The VoltXpanse project aims to investigate economic, efficient, and deliverable UHV transmission solutions, e.g. 765 kV AC and 800 kV DC, to increase the power transfer capability in the GB transmission system. Our research group is providing the assessment tools required to evaluate the feasibility of deploying such technologies in the GB system.
20 March, 2024
IEEE Strathclyde Student Branch
Richard, Sam, and Benjamin are members of the organizing committee for Strathclyde's IEEE student chapter. For more information about the chapter, please visit here.