Design of electricity tariffs in a context of decarbonized, decentralized, and digitalized power systems

We offer a PhD position working on national and international research projects in collaboration with utilities and regulators. The aim is to design new tariff structures that allow the recovery of policy and network regulated costs and promote efficient responses from consumers investing in self-generation and storage technologies. The system approach will be followed by designing and using optimization and simulation tools that provide a global vision of the problem: considering all system costs (generation, transmission, distribution, policy, taxes) as well as different types of electricity customers. Quantitative assessment will be applied to several European countries. The candidate will work within the Smart and Sustainable Grids research unit in IIT under the supervision of Prof. Tomás Gómez, Dr. Rafael Cossent and Dr. Jose Pablo Chaves.

Requirements: Engineering or Economics Master Degree. The ideal candidate should have a good understanding of Electricity Systems, Operations Research, and mathematical programming. Also, she/he has to be fluent in English.

Full-time contract with combined dedication between research projects and training activities. This modality allows the Research Assistant to establish a very close professional relationship with the companies with which he/she collaborates, thus nourishing his/her research with the experience accumulated during the projects. Although this modality does not necessarily require to enroll in any program, the Research Assistant can apply for a PhD during the first two years. The Research Assistant is hired each year for a maximum period of 6. If he or she is not enrolled in a PhD program the contract cannot exceed two years. The gross salary for the first year is € 23,929.47 for 2018. In addition, the IIT covers 90% of the cost of training activities and the Research Assistant can enjoy all the advantages offered to Comillas students (Sports, Cultural Activities, Library, etc.).
Documents: Curriculum vitae, academic record, cover letter and two recommendation letters