Company description

Enabling fossil-free living that drives society forward - that's our purpose. We are looking for talented students to help us on our journey towards decarbonization. Writing a thesis at Vattenfall gives you a unique opportunity to contribute to our purpose.

About the role

About the thesis

The Innovation and Business Development group at Vattenfall Electricity Distribution is the unit that handles innovation and business development for the entire company from idea to Proof of Concept (PoC). The thesis is carried out by Innovation and Business Development at Vattenfall Electricity Distribution in close collaboration with Grid Connections, which can directly benefit from the results of the thesis.

With the upcoming EU directive (from ACER), electricity network companies will be able to use batteries in the electricity network to manage voltage variations and maintain good power quality for their customers. At the same time, Vattenfall Electricity Distribution has ambitious climate targets; by 2030 we want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% throughout the value chain. Materials, such as aluminum cables to expand the electricity grid, account for a large share of these emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to investigate whether a climate gain, in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, can be made when installing batteries at strategic locations in the low-voltage grid.

The aim of the thesis is to conduct a life cycle analysis that compares the climate emissions between batteries in the electricity grid and laying new aluminum cables when expanding the low-voltage grid. The life cycle analysis will then be developed into a climate calculation. The climate calculation will be used as an optimization tool where connection engineers will be able to compare whether the installation of a battery or the laying of new aluminum cable is the best option in the conversion project they are planning.

• The aim of the project is to try to answer the question if Vattenfall Eldistribution can reduce its climate impact by temporarily installing mobile batteries next to substations in case of voltage regulation problems.
• This assignment is for 1 or 2 student(s).

Requirement specification

Your profile

We are looking for student(s) who want to work for fossil free and who will soon graduate from your academic studies. You are also someone who identifies with our principles: Active, Open, Positive and Safety

• Education - Master of Science in Engineering, specializing in renewable energy and/or sustainability. Life cycle assessment should also be part of your education. It is meritorious if you have knowledge of the power system.
• Scope - 30 credits
• The report can be written in Swedish or English, but the tool developed in the project (the climate calculation) must be in Swedish. Students should master Swedish in speech and writing.

Further information

• The assignment starts: During January 2026 by agreement
• Location: Solna, where some elements and tools are location-dependent.
• Application - a file with your CV and a copy of your grades.
• Last day to apply is 2025-10-26.
• Contact person and supervisor at Vattenfall: Emma Himmelmann, emma.himmelmann@vattenfall.com, 0702-343672
• There may be parts of the thesis that will not be published publicly.

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. Read more about our important work with diversity and inclusion https://careers.vattenfall.com/se/sv/jobba-med-oss/mangfald-inkludering

About Vattenfall

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

Because we are convinced that we need to enable fossil freedom, we need to look at the challenge from a broader perspective than just producing energy in a sustainable way.

Join us on the road to fossil freedom.

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