Advance models for urban renewable energy hubs

Master or Semester project 2024-2026

Context

UrbanTwin is a project funded by the Swiss ETH Joint Initiatives in two Strategic Areas: Climate and Environmental Sustainability and Engagement and Dialogue with Society.

UrbanTwin aims to develop and validate a holistic tool to support decision-makers in achieving environmental goals, such as the Energy Strategy 2050 and the vision of climate-adaptive “sponge cities” in Switzerland. The tool will be based on a detailed model of critical urban infrastructure, such as energy, water, buildings, and mobility, accurately simulating the evolution of these interlinked infrastructures under various climate scenarios and assessing the effectiveness of climate-change-related actions.

Realisation

The student will be contribute to Working Package 4 - Analyze the potential for renewable energy generation and the promotion of efficient energy use in local communities.

Depending on the interests and capabilities, the student will be working in one of the following subjects:

  • Develop models of renewable energy hubs integrating the local potentials, the energy infrastructure for the distribution and transmission of multi-energy grids, and aspects of security of supply for the optimal planning and operation
  • Investigate the renewable energy potential from wastewater at the level of local communities (heat)
  • Investigate water management and planning including potential alternative sources and uses of water (e.g., rainwater, greywater)
  • Develop predictive models for renewable energy hubs, based on advanced monitoring techniques combined with AI methods such as deep and self-learning

We are looking for higly motivated students with good computational skills (knowledge of Python is recommended)

If your are interested in working in one or more of these topics, contact us so we can develop a work plan that combines our objectives and your research interests.

Contact [mailto:catarina.braz@epfl.ch], [mailto:bingqian.liu@epfl.ch] and [mailto:luc.girardin.epfl.ch]