Research Programme on Power Systems Operation & Planning with AI: AIT and TU Delft

The use of AI in the energy sector has opened several opportunities to improve the coordination of various actors in the industry. Using large data sets, AI can help to integrate the different energy-related sectors of transport, heating, and electricity more smartly. However, using digitalisation and AI in the energy industry has challenges. The storage and processing of vast amounts of data and concerns about cyber and privacy risks have made integrating AI into the energy industry complex. Developing new AI-based algorithms and tools is crucial to address these challenges. The program aims to provide such solutions by creating a data platform integrating different energy system planning and operation tools. Through this platform, the program will develop contextual algorithms that can learn autonomously and optimise a wide range of applications.

One of the key benefits of this program is that it builds upon the successful collaborations of the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Delft University of Technology in developing trading strategies for energy intra-day markets. The program aims to fully unleash this collaboration’s potential by developing novel AI-based methods that complement the current tooling methods. By using cutting-edge algorithmic expertise from TU Delft and combining it with the modelling and energy systems expertise from AIT, the program will develop contextual algorithms that can learn autonomously through reinforcement in various applications. In the last few years, a novel research area emerged that combines AI with expert knowledge and physical theory. This hybrid approach is called Theory Guided Data Science (TGDS) and combines the benefits of both the AI-driven and the physics-based world. This promises to improve the explainability, allows for a better generalisation and extrapolation, and curbs the required amount of training data.

Basel Morsy, myself, and Runyao Yu (left to right) in Vienna, 2024

This programme involves PhD researchers, Viktor Zobernig, Basel Morsy, Runyao Yu, Luca Hofstadler, Périne Cunat, and one Postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Jochen Stiasny. I partly work as Principal Scientist at AIT to manage this program. Co-investigators from TU Delft are Prof. Peter Palensky, Prof. Laurens de Vries, Dr. Milos Cvetkovic, Prof. Dr. Mathijs de Weerdt, Dr. Matthias Möller and the Center for Energy at AIT with Tara Esterl and Dr. Friederich Kupzog among other senior researchers . The programme runs from 2022 to 2027.

Kickoff meeting in Vienna, 2023