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Staff Profile

Professor Janusz Bialek

Prof of Power & Energy Systems

Background

Professor Janusz Bialek (FIEEE) was born and educated in Poland gaining MEng (1977) and PhD (1981) degrees in Electrical Engineering from Warsaw University of Technology. Since 2019 he has been Professor of Power and Energy Systems at Newcastle University, UK. 

 

Previously, Janusz held Full Professor positions at the University of Edinburgh (2003-2009), Durham University (2009-2014), and Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in Moscow (2014-2022) - dubbed “Russian MIT” – where he was the founding Director of Center for Energy Systems. He resigned from Skoltech in 2022 in protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2015-2020 he was Non-Executive Independent Director of KEGOC, Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company. In 2012 he was seconded to the Department of Energy and Climate Change of UK Government as the EPSRC Science Policy Fellow. He was a Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University (2008) and EPFL (2000). Janusz is a member of the Dispute Resolution Panel of Single Electricity Market on the island of Ireland and has been a consultant to the UK government, International Energy Agency, European Commission, Scottish Government, and several UK power companies.

 

Janusz’s main research interest is in the application of advanced mathematical methods to address techno-economic problems connected with the transformation of the power supply industry to a low-carbon economy. His background is in power systems, but his research is interdisciplinary and he collaborates closely with economists, mathematicians, statisticians, physicist and social scientists. He has published widely on integration of renewable generation in power systems, smart grids, power system dynamics, preventing electricity blackouts and power markets. He is a co-author of a widely-used textbook “Power System Dynamics Stability and Control”, published by J. Wiley, which is now in its 3rd Edition.

Janusz has been Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator of multi-million research grants funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK), Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI, USA), Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science, and UK power industry.

Janusz is trilingual in English, Polish and Russian.

Research

 RECENT MAJOR RESEARCH GRANTS

PI and Co-I of 16 major projects funded by UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, UK), 3 projects funded by Ofgem and the UK’s industry, 4 projects funded by Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo Alto, USA – the main industry-funded R&D organisation in USA, and 1 project funded by Ministry of Education and Science (MES), Russian Federation.


Main EPSRC grants:

  • PI for Newcastle University of “Multi-energy Control of Cyber-Physical Urban Energy Systems (MC2)”, 2020-2023. The project is led by Cardiff University and involves also Manchester University, Bristol University and Chinese universities: Tsinghua University, Tianjin University, and Northeast Electric Power University.
  • Project Manager and Principal Investigator of “Preventing wide-area blackouts through adaptive islanding of transmission networks”, 2009-2013. It involved Southampton University and The University of Edinburgh.
  • PI for Durham University (until 2014) of “Pumped Thermal Electricity Storage”, 2012-2016, The project was led by Cambridge University and included Imperial College.
  • PI for Durham (until 2014) of “High Energy And Power Density (HEAPD) Solutions to Large Energy Deficits”, 2014-2018. The project involves collaboration with Bath (lead), Cardiff, and four Indian Institutes: Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITK), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) Jaipur. 
  • Co-Investigator (Co-I) until 2014 of “Development and Evaluation of Sustainable Technologies for Flexible Operation of Conventional Power Plants”, 2013-2018. It involved the universities of Durham, Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, and Edinburgh.
  • Co-I (until 2014) of “Energy storage for low-carbon grids” (2012-2016) awarded in a prestigious Grand Challenges in Energy Storage call. This interdisciplinary project led by Imperial College involves Imperial College, Durham, Sheffield, Cardiff, St. Andrews, Cambridge, Leeds, Oxford, University College London.
  • Co-I (until 2014) of “The Autonomic Power System” awarded in a prestigious Grand Challenges in Networks call (2011-2015), £3.4M. This interdisciplinary project involved Strathclyde, Imperial College, Manchester, Edinburgh and Sussex universities.
  • PI for Durham University of “Coarse geometry and cohomology of large data sets” project awarded in Maths Underpinning Digital Economy and Energy call (2011-2015). This was an interdisciplinary project led by mathematicians in Southampton University.
  • Co-I of “Mathematical foundations for energy networks: buffering, storage and transmission” project awarded in Maths Underpinning Digital Economy and Energy call (2011-2015).
  • PI for initially Edinburgh University (and then Durham University) of SuperGen “Flexible Networks (FlexNet)” consortium, 2007-2011. This consortium included the following universities: Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial College, Cambridge, Manchester, Strathclyde, Bath, Birmingham, Surrey and Cardiff with a strong industrial support from National Grid and a number of Distribution Network Operators including ScottishPower, EdF Energy, Electricity North West, CE Electric, Central Networks (E.ON) and Scottish & Southern.
  • PI for Edinburgh University of SuperGen 5 “Enhanced Management and Performance for a Sustainable UK Energy Infrastructure (AMPERES)”, 2006-2010. This consortium included the universities of Edinburgh, Manchester, Southampton, Strathclyde, Liverpool, and Queens Belfast with a strong industrial support from the National Grid, Advantica and a number of Distribution Network Operators including ScottishPower, Scottish & Southern, United Utilities, Western Power Distribution, Central Networks, Yorkshire Electricity Distribution, Northern Ireland Electricity and EdF Energy.

·     PI for Edinburgh University of “Autonomous Regional Active Network Management System (AURA-NMS)”, 2006-2009, £200k. This consortium included the following universities: Imperial College, Strathclyde, Durham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bath, and Loughborough with industrial support provided by ScottishPower, EdF and ABB.

  • PI for Edinburgh University of “Smart Grid Oscillation Management for a Changing Generation Mix”, 2006-2008 (co-funded by DTI under Technology Programme). This consortium included Queen’s University Belfast,  National Grid, Northern Ireland Electricity and Psymetrix Ltd.
  • PI for Edinburgh of SuperGen 1 "Future Network Technologies" consortium, 2003-2007. The consortium involved the following universities: Edinburgh, Imperial College, Cambridge, Manchester, Strathclyde, Birmingham, Bath, de Montfort.

 

Projects funded by the industry and other UK bodies:

·       Co-I of “Customer-led Network Revolution” project awarded by Ofgem in Low Carbon Network Fund initiative (2011-2014), £54M. It was UK’s biggest smart grid project at the time.

·       Co-I of “Investigating the Role of Energy Storage Systems in Smart Grids” project awarded by Electricity North West, a distribution network operator, (2011-2014).

Projects funded by Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), Palo Alto, USA:

 

Ministry of Education and Science (MES), Russian Federation: “Distribution grid dynamics, stability and control”, 2014-2017.

 

Publications
  • Bialek J. What does the GB power outage on 9 August 2019 tell us about the current state of decarbonised power systems?. Energy Policy 2020, 146, 111821.
  • Vorobev P, Greenwood DM, Bell JH, Bialek JW, Taylor PC, Turitsyn K. Deadbands, Droop and Inertia Impact on Power System Frequency Distribution. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2019, 34(4), 3098-3108.
  • Frolov V, Thakurta PG, Backhaus S, Bialek J, Chertkov M. Operations- and Uncertainty-Aware Installation of FACTS Devices in a Large Transmission System. IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems 2019, 6(3), 961-970.
  • Vaskovskaya T, Thakurta PG, Bialek J. Contribution of transmission and voltage constraints to the formation of locational marginal prices. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems 2018, 101, 491-499.
  • Zhao E, Mallada S, Low J, Bialek J. Distributed plug-and-play optimal generator and load control for power system frequency regulation. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems 2018, 101, 1-12.
  • Sayfutdinov T, Patsios C, Bialek JW, Greenwood DM, Taylor PC. Incorporating variable lifetime and self-discharge into optimal sizing and technology selection of energy storage systems. IET Smart Grid 2018, 1(1), 11-18.
  • Wang X, Bialek J, Turitsyn K. PMU-Based Estimation of Dynamic State Jacobian Matrix and Dynamic System State Matrix in Ambient Conditions. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2018, 33(1), 681-690.
  • Letova K, Yao R, Davidson M, Bialek JW. The Electricity Market in Russia. Oxford Energy Forum 2018, 114, 32-35.
  • Bialek J, Ciapessoni E, Cirio D, Cotilla-Sanchez E, Dent C, Dobson I, Henneaux P, Hines P, Jardim J, Miller S, Panteli M, Papic M, Pitto A, Quiros-Tortos J, Wu D. Benchmarking and Validation of Cascading Failure Analysis Tools. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2016, 31(6), 4887-4900.
  • Loukarakis E, Dent C, Bialek JW. Decentralized Multi-Period Economic Dispatch for Real-Time Flexible Demand Management. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2016, 31(1), 672-684.
  • Quirós-Tortós J, Sánchez-García R, Brodzki J, Bialek JW, Terzija V. Constrained spectral clustering-based methodology for intentional controlled islanding of large-scale power systems. IET Generation, Transmission and Distribution 2015, 9(1), 31-42.
  • Loukarakis E, Bialek JW, Dent CJ. Investigation of Maximum Possible OPF Problem Decomposition Degree for Decentralized Energy Markets. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2015, 30(5), 2566-2578.
  • Guo S, Norris S, Bialek JW. Adaptive Parameter Estimation of Power System Dynamic Model Using Modal Information. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2014, 29(6), 2854-2861.
  • Sanchez-Garcia R, Fennelly M, Norris S, Wright N, Niblo G, Brodzki J, Bialek J. Hierarchical Spectral Clustering of Power Grids. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2014, 29(5), 2229-2237.
  • McNabb P, Wilson D, Bialek JW. Classification of Mode Damping and Amplitude in Power Systems using Synchrophasor Measurements and Classification Trees. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2013, 28(2), 1988-1996.
  • Orths J, Bialek JW, Callavik M, De Decker J, Grøtterud G, Hiorns A, van Hulle F, Klinge S, Musial W, Rudion K. Connecting the dots. IEEE Power and Energy Magazin 2013.
  • Neuhoff K, Barquin J, Bialek JW, Boyd R, Debt CJ, Echavarren TG, von Hirschhausen C, Hobbs BF, Kunz F, Nabe C, Papaefthymiou G, Weber C, Weigt H. Renewable electric energy integration: Quantifying the value of design of markets for international transmission capacity. Energy Economics 2013, 40, 760-772.
  • Eager D, Hobbs BF, Bialek JW. Dynamic Modeling of Thermal Generation Capacity Investment: Application to Markets With High Wind Penetration. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2012, 27(4), 2127-2137.
  • Dent C, Bialek JW. Non-iterative Method for Modelling Systematic Data Errors in Power System Risk Assessment. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2011, 26(1), 120-127.
  • Dent C, Hobbs B, Bialek JW. Opportunity Cost Bidding by Wind Generators in Forward Markets: Analytical Results. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2011, 26(3), 1600-1608.
  • Varaiya PP, Wu FF, Bialek JW. Smart Operation of Smart Grid: Risk-Limiting Dispatch. Proceedings of the IEE 2011, 99(1), 40-57.
  • Dent CJ, Ochoa LF, Harrison GP, Bialek JW. Efficient Secure AC OPF for Network Generation Capacity Assessment. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2010, 25(1), 575-583.
  • Achayuthakan C, Dent CJ, Bialek JW, Ongsakul W. Electricity Tracing in Systems with and without Circulating Flows: Physical Insights and Mathematical Proofs. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2010, 25(2), 1078-1087.
  • Lubosny Z, Bialek JW. Analytical derivation of PSS parameters for generator with static excitation system. Acta Energetica 2009, 1(1).
  • Keane A, Zhou Q, Bialek JW, OMalley M. Planning and Operating Non-Firm Distributed Generation. IET Renewable Power Generation 2009, 3(4), 455-464.
  • Machowski J, Bialek JW. Energy-function based damping of power swings by shunt FACTS devices using phasor measurements. Electrical Power Systems Research 2008, 79, 39-48.
  • Vovos P, Bialek JW. A combinational mechanism for generation capacity and network reinforcement planning. IET Generation, Transmission and Distribution 2007, 100(2), 303-311.
  • Lubosny Z, Bialek JW. Energy Storage Control To Reduce Power Fluctuations. Archives of Energetics 2007, 37.
  • Zhou Q, Bialek JW. Generation curtailment to manage voltage constraints in distribution networks. IET Generation, Transmission and Distribution 2007, 17(3), 492-498.
  • Lubosny Z, Bialek JW. Supervisory Control of a Wind Farm. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2007, 22(3), 985-994.
  • Wilson D, Bialek JW, Lubosny Z. Banishing blackouts. Power Engineer 2006, 20(2), 38-41.
  • Vovos P, Bialek JW. Impact of Fault Level Constraints on the Economic Operation of Power Systems. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2006, 21(4), 1600-1607.
  • Zhou Q, Bialek JW. Approximate Model of European Interconnected System as a Benchmark System to Study Effects of Cross-Border Trades. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2005, 20(2), 782-788.
  • Parkpoom S, Harrison GP, Bialek JW. Climate and weather uncertainty in the electricity industry. International Energy Journal 2005, 6(1).
  • Vovos PN, Bialek JW. Direct incorporation of fault level constraints in optimal power flow as a tool for network capacity analysis. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2005, 20(4), 2125-2134.
  • Bialek JW. Lights out?. IEE Power Engineering 2005.
  • Vovos P, Bialek JW. Optimal Placement of Reactive Power Compensation Banks for the Maximization of New Generation Capacity. International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems 2005, 4.
  • Vovos P, Harrison GP, Wallace AR, Bialek JW. Optimal Power Flow as a tool for fault level constrained network capacity analysis. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2005, 20(2), 734-741.
  • Paszek S, Bobon A, Kudla J, Bialek JW. Parameter estimation of the mathematical model of a generator, excitation system and turbine. Przeglad Elektrotechniczny 2005, 81(11), 7-12.
  • Bialek JW, Ziemianek S, Wallace AR. A Methodology for Allocating Transmission Losses Due to Cross-Border Trades. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2004, 19(3), 1255-1262.
  • Limpasuwan T, Bialek JW, Ongsakul W, Limmeechokchai B. A proposal for transmission pricing methodology in Thailand based on electricity tracing and long-run average incremental cost. Energy Policy 2004, 32(3), 301-308.
  • Kattuman P, Bialek JW, Green R. Allocating electricity transmission costs through tracing: a game-theoretic rationale. Operations Research Letters 2004, 32(2), 114-120.
  • Januszewski M, Machowski J, Bialek JW. Application of direct Lyapunov method to improve damping of power swings by control of UPFC. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 2004, 151(2).
  • Bialek JW. Are blackouts contagious?. The Utilities Journal 2004.
  • Bialek JW, Kattuman P. Proportional sharing assumption in tracing methodology. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 2004, 151(4), 526-532.
  • Limpasuwan T, Bialek JW, Ongsakul W, Limmeechokchai B. A proposal for annual power fee in Thailand based on electricity tracing methodology. Electrical Power Systems Research 2003, 64(3), 219-226.
  • Bialek JW, Hartley M, Topping S. Average Zonal Transmission Losses. IEEE Power Engineer 2003.
  • Bialek JW. Gaming the uniform price spot market – quantitative analysis. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2002, 17(3), 768-773.
  • Machowski J, Smolarczyk A, Bialek JW. Damping of power swings by control of braking resistors. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 2001, 23(7), 539-548.
  • Machowski J, Robak S, Bialek JW, Bumby JR, Abi-Samra N. Decentralized stabilizing control of synchronous generators. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 2000, 15(4), 1336-1344.
  • Bialek JW. Allocation of transmission supplementary charge to real and reactive loads. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 1998, 13(3), 749-754.
  • Machowski J, Robak S, Bialek JW, Bumby JR. Excitation control system for synchronous generator. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 1998, 145(5), 537-546.
  • Bialek JW. Elimination of merchandise surplus due to spot pricing of electricity. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 1997, 144(5), 399-405.
  • Bialek JW. Topological generation and load distribution factors for supplement cost allocation in transmission open access. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems 1997, 12(3), 1185-1193.
  • Bialek JW. Tracing the flow of electricity. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 1997, 143(4), 313-320.
  • Bialek JW, Grey DJ. Application of clustering and factorisation tree techniques for the parallel solution of sparse network equations. IEE Proceedings on Generation, Transmission and Distribution 1994, 141(6), 609-616.
  • Bialek JW. Modified algorithm of the revised simplex method applied to power system state estimation. International Journal of Electrical Power and Energy Systems 1986, 89(4), 236-240.