PhD: Design of the Short-Term Electricity and Hydrogen Markets by 2050

Help shape the future of the Dutch energy system! As a PhD candidate in the MODES project, you’ll contribute to designing efficient and socially feasible electricity and hydrogen markets. Join an interdisciplinary team and work with leading researchers and industry partners to develop innovative market models that support a sustainable, flexible, and integrated energy system.

Your job
This PhD position is part of the research project MODES (Market Organisation of the Dutch Energy System), which is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) within the framework of the National Research Agenda (NWA) programme. The position is embedded in an interdisciplinary research team composed of researchers in engineering, economics, law and public policy from seven Dutch universities, two Universities of Applied Science, the Dutch Research Organization TNO, and a consortium of industrial (e.g., TenneT) and institutional partners (e.g., Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth).

The current market organisation of the Dutch energy system is not aligned with the ambition of climate neutrality by 2050. Current markets, policies, and regulations do not adequately address the need for investments, nor the demand for flexibility (crucial in integrating renewables), or the requirements coming from the integration of multiple energy carriers and small consumers. MODES’ overarching research goal is to propose a market design that can support an integrated, flexible energy system that meets public expectations in terms of reliability, affordability, and equity, during and after the energy transition. To this end, the project is organised around nine work packages (WPs) with corresponding PhD positions.

This PhD project focuses on the design of electricity and hydrogen markets, and aims at developing new market design that are both efficient and feasible from a societal perspective. To this end, the project includes the development of novel market design principles that facilitate technology-neutral scheduling of intermittent renewables, distributed resources, and multiple energy carriers. The identification of mathematical models and case studies to test the new market design(s) is an integral part of the thesis and will integrate with existing energy system modelling capabilities available at project partners. Finally, proposed reforms need to be analysed in light of societal feasibility and acceptance.

Balancing between spatial and temporal resolution, evaluating economic efficiency in light of fairness, and obtaining practical insights for the future organisation of the Dutch energy system are key challenges to be addressed. Ultimately, you will provide evidence-based recommendations on implementable policy options regarding wholesale electricity and hydrogen markets.

In practice, your tasks and responsibilities are the following:

• You analyse recent academic developments in market design, such as power-based scheduling, uncertainty-based market clearing, and multi-period look-ahead markets, and propose market design (bidding, clearing and coordination mechanisms) reforms for the Dutch energy system.
• You construct suitable case studies to assess their potential advantages using relevant performance indicators and to test their incentive compatibility with reforms proposed e.g., in network regulation.
• You select a number of promising market design reforms and integrate them into a large-scale model to further test them under alternative scenarios capturing the evolution the Dutch energy system towards 2050.
• You analyse practical issues such as feasibility and acceptability of the proposed reforms by engaging with societal stakeholders (traders, consumers, policy makers).
• You publish research results in peer-reviewed academic journals as Open Science contributions, and contribute to related policy briefs. Active participation in a series of doctoral students’ workshops, and workshops with consortium partners is also expected.
• You present your work at international conferences.
• You teach in one of our Bachelor's or Master's programmes (this accounts for 10% of your time).

You have a strong interest in the fundamental and applied aspects of energy market design. You enjoy cooperating with industrial and institutional partners and you thrive in an interdisciplinary research environment. This position may be the right fit for you, if you:

• have a Master’s degree in (Energy or Electrical) Engineering, Energy Science, (Energy) Economics, Operations Research, or related field;
• possess good mathematical and programming skills coupled with basic understanding of energy technologies, networks, and markets;
• are able to communicate well in an academic/professional environment;
• have experience with optimisation techniques such as linear or mixed-integer linear programming or want to learn about it;
• do not already have a PhD degree and are willing and able to move to the Netherlands for the duration of the MODES project.

We equally encourage applications from candidates interested in academic and/or industrial careers.

• A position for one year, with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,901 and €3,707 (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth’s core to its surface, including man’s spatial and material utilisation of the Earth – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. With 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Spatial Planning, Physical Geography, and Sustainable Development.

The Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is an internationally renowned institute in the domain of energy, environmental and sustainability sciences. Within the Sustainable Development Department, the Energy & Resources (E&R) group focuses on transitioning to a sustainable energy and resource system, with special attention to integrating the efficient use of energy and resources with renewable energy supply solutions, at various scales. In the E&R group the challenges are analysed in a variety of dimensions: from fundamental material sciences and technology assessment, to governance, and combining bottom-up and top-down approaches. The group has a strong track record in areas such as energy efficiency, sustainable bio-based production of energy and materials, low-carbon energy solutions (including wind, photovoltaics, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage), and process and energy system modelling.