Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce Award to Professor Miadreza Shafie-khah: "Trading in local energy markets is a hot topic"

The book, edited by Miadreza Shafie-khah and Amin Shokri Gazafroudi, was published in February by Springer Publishing. It is multidisciplinary, and most of the book chapters are co-written by Shafie-khah himself or by other researchers or professors at the University of Vaasa.

– I am very happy to receive this award. Trading in local energy markets and energy communities is a very hot and timely topic – not only in Finland, but all over the world, says Shafie-khah.

Professor Shafie-khah one of the world's rising stars of science

Miadreza Shafie-khah, who was appointed a full professor of sustainable and flexible energy systems at the University of Vaasa at the beginning of September, comes from Iran and holds one PhD in electrical engineering and another one in electromechanical engineering.

After his doctoral thesis, he worked as a researcher at the University of Beira Interior in Portugal and the University of Salerno in Italy. He joined the University of Vaasa in 2019 when he was appointed assistant professor on the tenure track. Under the tenure track, researchers can progress step by step to the position of full professor through regular evaluations.

Professor Shafie-Khah's research has focused in particular on electricity markets, demand response, price and renewable forecasting, and blockchains. He is one of the world's rising stars of science (World's Rising Stars of Science in 2022, Research.com). He was ranked first in Finland and 184th in the world. He is also in the top 2% of the world's most impactful scientists (list published by Stanford University and Elsevier).

Energy crisis boosts local energy markets and communities

The emergence of local energy markets is driven by factors such as the growth of decentralised renewable energy production, efficient, smart and affordable technologies, and a growing number of energy producer-consumers, also known as prosumers.  

According to Miadreza Shafie-khah, the recent energy crisis has also increased interest in the local energy markets and peer-to-peer energy trading.  A local energy market could be a town or village or even a neighbourhood. 

Shafie-khah sees energy trading as a good solution, for instance for the excess electricity produced by consumers.

– Trading energy is much cheaper than storing energy in expensive batteries, he points out.

In addition to local energy market concepts and initiatives, active players in the market and energy communities, the award-winning publication looks at the mechanisms and platforms for local energy trading and peer-to-peer energy trading. The book also covers renewable energy storages, demand response, the use of blockchains in future energy trading, and data security and privacy issues related to energy markets.

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Support for energy-related research

The OstrobothniaChamber of Commerce Award is granted to a research project, publication, or dissertation related to the energy sector and carried out at the University of Vaasa during the previous academic year.  

– We need excellence in research and development in universities, universities of applied science and business, and we want to play our part in supporting this with the Chamber of Commerce Prize, says Mikael Hallbäck, Director of the Ostrobothnia Chamber of Commerce.

Hallbäck says that the award-winning publication combines science, needs and practice with timeliness.

– Businesses from different sectors can find the book very useful for developing their own operations, he concludes.

Publication

Shafie-khah, M., & Gazafroudi, A. S. (Eds.). (2023). Trading in local energy markets and energy communities: Concepts, structures and technologies. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21402-8