Alumnus Update: Firdous Ul Nazir
Firdous Ul Nazir is a 2016 scholar who pursued a PhD in Electrical Engineering at Imperial College. He is currently a research associate in the Joint UK-India Clean Energy Centre (JUICE) London.
Below, Firdous shares aspects of his research that has him thinking about more sustainable energy creation and dissemination systems as opposed to the carbon based fuels we depend on today. The need for renewable energy has never been more necessary given the energy crisis that is currently looming over India.
My strong proclivity towards power engineering and its tremendous opportunities in smart grid applications led me to further my studies and undertake research at the highest level with a PhD. Soon after graduating from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee with a Masters Degree, I began my search for a reputable PhD Program which was aligned to my interests and skillset.
My happiness knew no bounds when I received the email stating that I was offered a PhD position in one of the top ten Universities of the World. Securing an admit from Imperial College London was a dream come true, however, little did I know that finding a sponsor for my PhD would be an arduous task. After trying hard for a whole year, and consequently deferring my PhD commencement, I was awarded the Inlaks scholarship. Words fail to describe the surreal feelings I experienced upon learning that I was awarded the Inlaks Scholarship. Thereafter, I was also awarded a departmental studentship at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London, which plugged the gaps in my finances and together with the Inlaks award were sufficient to fully cover my PhD course fees and living expenses. It was at that time I realised that I was inching towards converting my dreams to reality. Moving to a dream city and working in a dream University. I counted days to start my PhD journey at Imperial, surrounded by brilliant minds, and making London my home.
When I started my research, the electric grid was undergoing – and is still in the process of – a paradigm shift of integrating more renewables into the electricity system. It was primarily driven due to the rising concerns of climate change induced by global warming. “Global Warming” has been the flavour of the twenty first century and it is crucial to get a grasp of the fundamentals of global warming before I dive into my research, which is aligned with enabling greater renewables into the electricity mix and as a result save Earth from overheating.
There has been a developing consensus, not only among the climate scientists but also the world leaders, that human-caused global climate change is an existential threat – meaning thereby that the current rate of growth of the average temperature will render the earth incompatible for our existence. The estimated increase in average temperature is 1.18°C since the late nineteenth century, which is an unprecedented pace; considering that it took nearly 7,000 years to warm the planet by 4 –5°C after the last ice age.
The primary reason responsible for heating the planet is the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas which releases the trapped carbon present in the fossil fuel in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), a predominant greenhouse gas. According to the Environmental Protection Agency report, CO2 accounted to 80% of the greenhouse gas emission from the United States in 2019. The earth’s carbon dioxide concentration shot past the 300 parts per million (ppm) mark in 1950 and is growing at an exponential rate ever since, with the current concentrations around 416 ppm. This 300 ppm CO2 concentration line has been breached for the first time in millennia.
The major human activities responsible for CO2 emissions include electricity, transportation, heat, and industries - these activities combine to form as high as three-quarters of the total CO2 emissions. If Global Warming is a Problem, we have a solution ‘Decarbonisation’. The big question is how to decarbonise these sectors?
Imagine a world, where your cars, buses, trains, and planes are powered by electricity, instead of fossil fuel-based oils; the homes are kept warm by the electric supply; and crucially this electricity comes from clean sources of energy like solar and wind. You might have guessed that such an electricity grid will be vastly different from the present-day grid which hadn’t changed much until few years back. However, the work has already begun, and we are moving through a much-needed transition.
The envisaged electricity grid with large penetration of renewable generation needs to overcome many barriers before it can be finally realised. The traditional electricity grid, comprising of all the equipment ranging from transmission lines, towers, transformers etc., were designed and built based on the characteristics of the classical generators. However, the solar and wind-based power generators exhibit characteristics which are greatly different from the classical ones. The solar photovoltaic panels generate electricity when the sun shines, and the wind turbines rotate when the wind blows. The weather dependence of these generators makes them different from the classical generators which in turn only relied on burning fossil fuels. A solar panel exhibits considerable fluctuations in the power generation between periods of good sunshine and cloud cover. Such fluctuations make it very difficult to balance supply of electricity with the demand. Our major limitation is that we cannot store the surplus generated electricity at a grid level, so that the periods of lean generation are compensated.
This uncertainty associated with solar and wind proves to be one of the hurdles that limit their penetration into the network. The fluctuation in generated power has a direct impact on the supply voltage levels. Our domestic appliances such as the TV, fridge etc. are designed to operate at a stable voltage level around and close to 230 Volts. Should this voltage keep fluctuating all the time, the appliances may malfunction, and may eventually fail. My PhD research dealt with the above problem in detail. The focus was to develop algorithms which result in robust voltage regulation methods. The algorithms I developed, proposed novel methods of tapping into various installed voltage control devices (VCDs), like the transformers, capacitors, and inverters. The result was, it effectively allowed the VCDs to respond to the fluctuations in the power generation in a proactive manner, thereby arresting any major deviations of the voltages from the desired levels.
The electric network operators have many algorithms with different purposes and control philosophies at their disposal, which ensure smooth and reliable operation of the network. The accuracy of these algorithms depends on the models of the electrical equipment. In another of my research work, I came up with very detailed and accurate models of electrical loads. Such models will help improve the accuracy of the voltage regulation methods.
After I graduated with my PhD at the end of 2019, I have continued my research work in this exciting field. Currently, I am working as a Research Associate in the Joint UK-India Clean Energy Centre (JUICE) project. The JUICE consortium brings together leading energy researchers from ten UK universities and their counterparts from India with the aim of delivering integration of solar photovoltaics and storage technologies into power networks to help decarbonise the energy.
