Thesis Work – Strategic lifetime extension in district heating operations

About the Thesis Work

This thesis will be conducted at Vattenfall Research & Development (R&D) and forms part of the R&D Heat portfolio, which aims to develop sustainable energy solutions from both a near-term and long-term perspective.

Subject/Assignment:

• Vattenfall R&D, in collaboration with Business Unit Heat Sweden, has launched a new strategic initiative aimed at exploring innovative ways to reduce both operational expenditures (OpEx) and capital expenditures (CapEx) across the district heating networks managed by Vattenfall.
• As part of this initiative, the project will investigate how advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and other digital tools can be leveraged to extract insights from existing sensor data and other available sources.

Goal/Purpose:

• The main objective is to evaluate one of the concepts currently under development for improving the efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of district heating operations. By using data and intelligent systems, the project seeks to support smarter decision-making, predictive maintenance, and optimised asset management, by contributing to more sustainable and economically viable district heating solutions.

This thesis is suitable for one or two students.

Your Profile

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

• Education – Applicants should be in the final phase of a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Energy Engineering or equivalent
• Scope – 30 credits
• Proficient written and verbal communication skills in English. Knowledge of Swedish is a plus.

• Start date: 2026-01-19 or by agreement.
• Location: Solna/ Älvkarleby
• Application – one file containing your CV and a copy of your transcripts.
• Application deadline: 2025-10-26.
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Shahriar Badiei, shahriar.badiei@vattenfall.com, 076 764 59 66

Diversity and Inclusion – In Everything We Do

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

About Vattenfall

At Vattenfall, we are determined to enable fossil freedom. To succeed, we must first become fully fossil-free ourselves as one of Europe’s largest energy companies. But that is not enough. To contribute to a fossil-free society, we need to do more than just focus on sustainable energy production.

We believe that enabling fossil freedom requires us to address the challenge from a broader perspective than merely producing energy sustainably.

Join us on the journey towards fossil freedom.

As Vattenfall is part of Sweden’s critical infrastructure, many of our roles are security-classified. This means that, if this position is security-classified, final candidates may be subject to a special security clearance in accordance with the Security Protection Act.

To enable the fossil freedom that drives society forward – this is our purpose. We are looking for talented students who want to help us on our journey towards fossil freedom. By writing a thesis at Vattenfall, you will have a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose.