Work Packages

Confining the project duration within 36-month time frame, India and UK research groups will work in parallel on multiple Work Packages and interface with each other regularly in order to exchange reviews/inputs and feedback for further work. There are five work packages: three are for the technical research and development (WP1 to WP3), one for demonstration of results (WP4) and one for project management and dissemination of research knowledge (WP5).

WP1: Environmentally sustainable and integrated energy systems – conceptualisation and detailed framework
This work package will focus on development multi-disciplinary in-depth conceptualization of data science and computational intelligence application for low-carbon and secure energy systems to pave the way towards the sustainable energy society in India and UK.

Task 1.1    Concept development and definition of the project requirements and background
Task 1.2    Energy scenarios assessment and develop a framework of low carbon energy network
Task 1.3    Drafting the technical details and requirements of the experimental setups.

A first workshop (kick-off meeting) will be organized to develop the integrated framework for modelling, design, management and simulation of the project. A panel of researchers and stakeholders from academia, industry and utilities will be invited to this workshop to discuss the framework and data science application for sustainable energy systems. Experience from existing research projects and field applications at Edinburgh and beyond will be drawn.  The University of Edinburgh will lead this work package with appropriate expert input from the other partners.

WP2:  Integrated energy systems – clean energy technologies and digital network interface
This work package includes: (i) modeling and interface of dynamic loads, power electronics circuits, distributed clean energy resources, energy storage, etc (ii) development of key strategies and novel algorithms in order to define interactions of smart technologies, (iii) information and communication technologies (ICT) and IoT devices for monitoring and control of sustainable infrastructure.

Task 2.1    Distributed clean energy resources and energy storage integration and impact assessment
Task 2.2    Smart technologies – IoT devices, smart metering and digital network interface for real-time monitoring and control
Task 2.3    Forecasting, demand response and intelligent energy management strategies

Primarily, this WP will collect and collate the current state of the art in the above technologies, again drawing from the extensive links of the collaborators with relevant research projects and industry applications. Integrated energy sub-systems will be tested and validated at early stage in the simulated environment. Tasks 2.1 – 2.3 will be performed by IIT Gandhinagar, MMM University of Technology Gorakhpur and The University of Edinburgh.

WP3:Data science and computational intelligence
This work package focuses on knowledge-based systems and decision support platform for effective energy management and control of energy infrastructure. This involves developing optimization and controlling algorithms using computational intelligence and machine learning techniques – big data analytics to analyze massive sensor data from different domains of energy infrastructure and make real-time decisions for optimum operations.

Task 3.1     Development of mathematical models that allow curation of intelligence from large volume of sensor data. This intelligence is quintessential for the purpose of downstream decision making tasks in order to control and optimize the system’s parameters for its efficient usage.
Task 3.2     Collection of sample data for the purpose of experimentation and validation of the developed previous model.
Task 3.3     Development of efficient learning algorithms (distributed in nature) to solve these decision making problems starting from all the way from raw data
Task 3.4    Secure energy management under wrong information either due to cyber-attack or communication mall operation
IIT Gandhinagar, MMM University of Technology Gorakhpur, and Queen’s University Belfast will be involved to accomplish this work package.

WP4:  Testing and validation
This work package focuses on to carry out simulations and tests using laboratory-scaled experimental platform, to test and validate the most promising solution and provide project outcome. Results of this testing and validation stage will provide capacity building, training and experimentation. The model validation and experimental set-up will be developed at laboratory facilities at the University of Edinburgh, IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Kanpur equipped with real-time digital simulators, National Instruments control & instrumentation equipment and Lab-volt hardware interfaces available at the three universities. Culminating to one of the key outcomes of this project, collaborative work within this WP will enable exchange of experimental protocols and procedures, improvement of test rig configurations and validation of the results across the three universities.

WP5: Project management, training and dissemination of research knowledge
This work package involves creating a framework for the seamless progress of the project as well as the effective exploitation of the research outcome and results. The framework must have synergy with the communication activities and improve the research capacity through a two-way collaboration between India and UK partners and a training programme; and to engage in wider dissemination of the findings. The main avenue for the dissemination within this project will be publications in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and book chapters.  Additionally, project participants will actively seek networking with other research consortia working in similar areas, both within their institutions and external.  The hub of the dissemination and outreach efforts of this project will be a dedicated website developed and hosted at the University of Edinburgh.  The proceedings of the workshops as well as the main outcomes of the research (experimental work etc.) will be recorded on video and will be made publicly available on a YouTube channel, featured on the project website.