Afzal S. Siddiqui is a professor in the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University and an adjunct professor in the Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis at Aalto University. Previously, he was Professor of Energy Economics in the Department of Statistical Science at University College London and a visiting professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at HEC Montréal. He holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California at Berkeley.

His research interests are in decision making under uncertainty and competition in the energy sector. He has also served as a consultant to the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission.

Lecture: Sustainable Transmission Planning

Increased penetration of intermittent variable renewable energy sources (VRES) requires variability management, which often refers to storage and transmission investment. However, the cost of damage from emissions is overlooked in favour of VRES targets. We use a bi-level framework to devise transmission plans that directly include the cost of damage from emissions. Our upper level comprises a welfare-maximising transmission planner who internalises the damage cost. At the lower level, profit-maximising firms invest in VRES capacity and operate their fleet of assets. We implement problem instances for a Western European test network in order to examine how transmission plans need to be adapted to the cost of damage from emissions and imperfect competition in integrating VRES.