Dr. Siobhan Powell
Weinbergstrasse 56/58
WEV J 421
CH-8092 Zurich
E-Mail:
Siobhan is a Senior Researcher in the Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics of ETH Zurich. She joined the group in September 2022 and is supported by an ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship.
Siobhan researches the decarbonization of electricity and transportation, with a particular focus on improving the grid impacts of electric vehicle (EV) charging. In her Ph.D. she studied the roles of driver behavior, charging infrastructure networks, and smart charging in driving EV charging demand.
She specializes in modeling and she has expertise in using data-driven methods, optimization, and machine learning. Her research questions have covered many different scales of the problem: short-term operation or long-term planning; individual driver behaviors or state-wide demand modeling; distribution grid equipment or bulk-power system generator dispatch. She is also interested in the role and design of policies related to the energy transition.
Siobhan earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in DownloadMechanical Engineeringvertical_align_bottom from DownloadStanford Universityvertical_align_bottom, California in 2022 and 2018. At Stanford Siobhan was advised by Professor DownloadRam Rajagopalvertical_align_bottom of the Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab (S3L). She also worked closely with the Grid Integration, Systems, and Mobility (GISMo) Downloadgroupvertical_align_bottom at DownloadSLAC National Accelerator Laboratoryvertical_align_bottom and the Interdisciplinary Energy Systems (INES) research Downloadgroupvertical_align_bottom led by Professor DownloadInês Azevedo.vertical_align_bottom
Siobhan developed the SPEECh model of large-scale electric vehicle charging demand. SPEECh stands for Scalable Probabilistic Estimates of Electric vehicle CHarging. This project was supported by GISMo, by close collaboration with the DownloadCalifornia Energy Commissionvertical_align_bottom (CEC), and by the Bits & Watts Initiative of the Precourt Institute for Energy.
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Siobhan earned her B.Sc.(Eng) from DownloadQueen’s Universityvertical_align_bottom in 2016 in the Mathematics & Engineering Program.
In her free time, Siobhan loves to read, sing, and skate, and to cook for her family and friends.
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles
2024
Wu, J.; Powell, S.; Xu, Y.; Rajagopal, R.; Gonzalez, M. C. (2024): " Planning charging stations for 2050 to support flexible electric vehicle demand considering individual mobility patterns." Cell Reports Sustainability, 2024. DOI: Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsus.2023.100006vertical_align_bottom
2022
Powell, S.; Cezar, G.; Min, L.; Azevedo, I.; Rajagopal, R; (2022): “Charging infrastructure access and operation to reduce the grid impacts of deep electric vehicle adoption.” Nature Energy, 1-14. DOI: Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01105-7vertical_align_bottom.
Powell, S.; Cezar, G.; Rajagopal, R.; (2022): "Scalable probabilistic estimates of electric vehicle charging given observed driver behavior." Applied Energy, 309, 118382. DOI: Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118382vertical_align_bottom
Buechler, E.; Powell, S.; Sun, T.; Astier, N.; Zanocco, C.; Bolorinos, J.; Flora, J.; Boudet, H.; Rajagopal, R; (2022): "Global changes in electricity consumption during COVID-19." Iscience 25, no. 1, 103568. DOI: Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.103568vertical_align_bottom
Powell, S.; Cezar, G.; Apostolaki-Iosifidou, E.; Rajagopal, R; (2022): "Large-scale scenarios of electric vehicle charging with a data-driven model of control." Energy, 248, 123592. DOI: Downloadhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123592vertical_align_bottom
2020
Powell, S.; Can Kara, E.; Sevlian, R.; Cezar, G.; Kiliccote, S.; Rajagopal, R.; (2020): "Controlled workplace charging of electric vehicles: The impact of rate schedules on transformer aging." Applied Energy, 276, 115352. DOI: external pagehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115352call_made
Presentations
2023
June 26, 2023: “Using long-run marginal emissions to reflect future grid changes in pricing signals for electric vehicle charging”, Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. (S. Powell)
June 23, 2023: “Unlocking Inter-day Flexibility in Electric Vehicle Charging to Support Future Grids’ High Renewable Integration”, 8th International Electric Vehicle Conference, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. (S. Powell)
2020
November 3, 2022: “Co-Optimizing the EV and Grid Transitions”, Stanford Global Energy Forum, Stanford University, U.S.A. (S. Powell)