Master Thesis – Availability of HVDC connected wind farms

About the project

Vattenfall R&D is responsible for conducting business driven technical development that creates value for the company and helps us realize our strategy. We develop cost-effective, safe & sustainable solutions to improve the infrastructure of Vattenfall assets including Hydro, Wind, Nuclear, SKB, Heat and Distribution.

Currently there are limited sources for determining the availability of HVDC transmission systems for the connection of windfarms in the literature and/or publicly available statistics. Furthermore, the statistics have not been adjusted to consider trends in availability due to technological maturity, time in operation of the individual installations or weather conditions. This makes current estimations uncertain and unreliable to be considered for future projects.​

This thesis consists of:

• Conducting a literature review. Gather publicly available data from ENTSO-E and other sources regarding HVDC transmission system outages in northern Europe.
• Organize and analyze data based on relevant statistical parameters to determine correlations between number of actual failures a year and relevant environmental and technical indicators for the HVDC stations​.
• Generate a high-level availability estimation model for future HVDC converter stations relevant to the off-shore industry based on statistics gathered and conclusions of the previous analysis.

Based on the thesis results, we will be able to include more accurate HVDC link availability estimations in the business cases.  This will enhance our decision-making process by providing a clearer understanding of the energy that can be produced and delivered. In this way, we will support the optimization of wind farm business cases, which will have positive effects on the energy transition.

• The ultimate goal is to achieve more reliable availability prognosis for HVDC connected wind farms.
• This assignment is for 1 student

We are looking for students who want to work towards a fossil-freedom and who will soon graduate from your academic studies. You are also someone who identifies with our principles: Active, Open, Positive and Safety

• Education – Any of the following master programs or similar: MSc Electric Power Engineering, MSc Engineering physics (energy focus), MSc Energy systems, MSC Applied Statistics
• Analytical skills
• Statistics knowledge or interest
• Scope - 30hp
• Language requirements - English

• The assignment starts: 2026-01-19 or by agreement
• Location: Stockholm Office (Solna)
• Application – your CV and a copy of your grades.
• Application deadline is 2025-10-26.
• Compensation: from 30.000 to 50.000 SEK depending on the results of the project and the evaluation of business potential.
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Irene Manzanares, irene.manzanarescasla@vattenfall.com

Diversity and inclusion – in everything we do

We are convinced that heterogeneous teams can outperform homogeneous teams. But we can only unleash and use the power of diversity when everyone feels included. Learn more about our important diversity and inclusion work https://careers.vattenfall.com/se/jobba-med-oss/mangfald-inkludering/

About Vattenfall

We at Vattenfall have decided to make it possible to live fossil-free. To succeed, we, as one of Europe's largest energy companies, must first become completely fossil-free ourselves. But that's not enough. To contribute to a fossil-free society, we must do more than just focus on sustainable energy production.

Because we are convinced that if we are to make it possible to live fossil-free, we must look at the challenge from a broader perspective than simply producing energy in a sustainable way.

Want to know more about us? Visit www.vattenfall.se

Since Vattenfall is part of the critical infrastructure, many of our services are classified as security." This means, if this position is security classed, that the final candidates may be subject to a special security clearance that is in accordance with the Security Protection Act.

Power Climate Smarter living – that's our purpose. We are looking for talented students who want to help us on our journey towards a fossil-free life. By writing a degree project at Vattenfall, you get a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose. The only thing we ask of you is that you release your superpowers and share your energy with us.