Master Thesis – Impact of spatial differentiated discount rates and…

Work group:

IEK-3 – Techno-ökonomische Systemanalyse

Area of research:

Diplom & Master

Job description:

Your Job:

Energy system modelling is a common approach for policy advice, which often seeks for minimum occurring costs regarding various exogenous factors. However, on global scale investment costs and risks cannot be assumed equal. Investment risks are commonly applied as a discount factor in energy system models and the massive impact of including differentiated risks is already proven. Nevertheless, no realistic approach exists so far to reflect the cost impact of the various risks within these models. Besides differentiating discount rates, the investment cost of the required hydrogen infrastructure can differ country-wise as well. Often, either uncertain and intransparent approaches are applied, or the risks are not differentiated at all This leads to under-, or overestimation of the energy cost conducted in models and, finally, could end up in misleading results for policy advice as those results are highly sensitive to these costs and discount rates. Your task will be to develop globally applicable, transparent approaches to include risk and capacity cost differences into energy system models. Therefore, you will first compare existing approaches for inclusion of differentiated discount rates and investment costs. After that, you will develop our models further by applying your gained knowledge and your own ideas further. Concrete steps could be but are not limited to:

• Literature research on existing approaches to integrate risks and to differentiate investment costs in energy system modelling regarding various technologies and countries
• Developing your own approach to include regional and technological risks considering exogenous factors
• Developing your own approach to differentiate investment costs of the required hydrogen infrastructure
• Implementation of your ideas in existing python-based models
• Evaluation of the impact of your approach

Your Profile:

• You are in your master studies of economics, industrial engineering, or a comparable course of study.
• Interest in today`s challenges of the energy transition and the economic consequences
• High self-motivation to solve complex problems
• Independent way of working
• Basic programming skills (Python) advantageous
• Very good knowledge of German or English

Our Offer:

We work on the very latest issues that impact our society and are offering you the chance to actively help in shaping the change! We support you in your work with:

• An interesting and socially relevant topic for your thesis with a forward-looking theme
• Highly motivated, international working group in one of the largest research centers in Europe
• Intensive supervision at a flexible workplace (100% home office possible)
• Excellent scientific equipment and the latest technology
• Flexible working hours and adequate remuneration

The position is initially fixed for 6 months.

We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation / identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organisation.