Thesis Work – Improved Battery Parks based on new Chemistries and/or optimized ancillary systems

About the Thesis Work

At the digital energy solutions department we develop Vattenfall’s digital assets that make tomorrow’s energy systems more efficient, flexible, and secure. From decentralized solutions like, batteries, e-mobility, and demand response to automation, secure IT/OT integration, and communications, our team turns innovation into real-world impact, accelerating the transition to fossil freedom.

Energy storage, and particularly batteries, is becoming a cornerstone of the future energy landscape. Large-scale battery systems ranging from MW to hundreds of MW are now increasingly deployed alongside wind and solar farms, as well as behind the meter at customer sites. The costs of such installations have fallen dramatically, while rapid advancements in cell technologies and shifting market demands are creating new opportunities and challenges.

This project aims to investigate:

• Which emerging battery chemistries and technologies (e.g., sodium-ion, solid-state, flow batteries) are most likely to address current limitations in cost, safety, lifespan, and material supply chains.
• How new applications, such as grid-forming capabilities, provision of inertia, black start support, and sector coupling, can be enabled by upcoming battery technologies.
• Which gaps exist between technical capabilities and current market design, particularly in how system services and flexibility are valued.
• How business models can evolve to capture multiple value streams (e.g., combining grid services, self-consumption optimization, and resilience applications) and overcome today’s challenge of fragmented markets.
• What role battery recycling, second-life applications, and circular economy practices can play in addressing sustainability gaps, an area still underexplored in current deployments.
• How regulation, policy, and financing mechanisms might need to adapt to enable the scaling of novel storage technologies and business models.
• The impact of supply chain dependencies and material criticality (e.g., lithium, cobalt) on market development, and how alternatives could shift global competitiveness.
• To what extent simulation-based techno-economic models can help bridge the gap between promising lab-scale technologies and large-scale commercial adoption.

The project will develop an analytical and simulation-based framework to assess business cases scenarios from different perspectives: technology readiness, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and integration into future energy markets. This work will contribute to closing knowledge gaps on how next-generation batteries can move from innovation to real-world impact in the evolving energy system.

This assignment is for 1 master student.

Your Profile

We are looking for a student 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 – Master of Science in Energy Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science with focus on energy systems or any similar fields.
• Scope – Master thesis with 30 credits.
• Excellent fluency in written and spoken English is a must. Swedish fluency is seen as an advantage.

• Start date: Beginning of spring semester 2026, exact starting date is by agreement.
• Location: Solna offices.
• Application – one file containing both your CV and a copy of your transcripts.
• Application deadline: 2026-10-18, the hiring process is ongoing, therefore please apply as soon as possible,
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Firas Daraiseh, Firas.daraiseh@vattenfall.com .

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.