Explore our Electrical Power Engineering taught Master's degree.

P-H643

MSc

1 year full-time

2 October 2023

Engineering

University of Warwick

On our Electrical Power Engineering MSc you will gain the knowledge and skills for a career in electrical power engineering. At Warwick's Engineering Department you will be taught by a team of world-class research academics, with industrial experience.

This course is accredited by the IET and InstMC. More information is available on the School of Engineering website.

Qualified electrical engineers are desperately needed by the power industry. There is also a severe shortage of power engineering expertise in other sectors, such as government bodies and finance organizations, where a detailed knowledge of energy supply and demand is increasingly important as societies develop and adapt to pressing environmental and economic constraints, dwindling reserves of fossil fuels and the emergence of new energy technologies.

As the mitigation of global warming becomes ever more important, the electrification of transportation and heat as well as the accelerated penetration of renewable energy into the power grid have become main objectives in Electrical Power Engineering. The technologies studied in this MSc are the underpinning innovation forces in various industries including the electric transportation industry, aviation industry and power generation and transmission industries including renewable energy.

This course will give you the knowledge and skills required for a career in electrical power engineering and is an opportunity to update your knowledge with the latest developments in renewable energy and smart grids.

The degree comprises eight taught modules and a project. The research project entails an in-depth experimental, theoretical or computational investigation into a topic chosen by the student in conjunction with an academic supervisor.

Class sizes for lectures, practical laboratory sessions and seminars vary depending on the number of students taking the module.

The MSc degree (totalling 180 credits) comprises:

• Eight taught modules (15 credits each)
• A research project (60 credits)

The typical workload for a 15-credit module is as follows:

• 20-30 hours of lectures/seminars
• 5 hours of laboratory work
• 45 hours of private/directed study
• 70 hours of assessed work

The research project is valued at 60 credits and students should plan to execute around 600 hours of work towards the completion of the project dissertation.

A combination of coursework and written examinations.

Reading lists

Most departments have reading lists available through Warwick Library. If you would like to view reading lists for the current cohort of students you can visit our Warwick Library web page.

Your timetable

Your personalised timetable will be complete when you are registered for all modules, compulsory and optional, and you have been allocated to your lectures, seminars and other small group classes. Your compulsory modules will be registered for you and you will be able to choose your optional modules when you join us.

A minimum 2:i undergraduate UK honours degree or equivalent international qualification, in an engineering, physical sciences or mathematical subject.

You can see how your current degree score or GPA equates to the British system in our Study pages in the equivalent scores table.

We are willing to consider applications from students with lower qualifications on a case-by-case basis, particularly when the applicant can evidence relevant employment, practical experience or strong performance in undergraduate modules related to their proposed postgraduate course of study.

To ensure you have the essential foundations for the course, and depending on your overall academic profile, we may require you to take a mathematical skills test.

• Band A
• IELTS overall score of 6.5, minimum component scores not below 6.0.

There are no additional requirements for this course.

Control of Electrical Drives

Modern electrical drives are complex electromechanical systems combining electrical machines, power electronic converters, control and protection circuits.

The aim of the module is to develop an advanced understanding and systematic analysis and design skills on integration of electrical machines and power electronics into up-to-date electrical drives with predefined and required control quality. It will include development of conceptual functional block diagrams of the electrical drives, their mathematical modelling and simulation, systematic design of required controllers, advanced analysis of steady state and dynamic drives’ characteristics, electrical schematics and modern practical implementation.

Advanced Power Electronic Converters and Devices

Practically all electronic equipment, whether domestic or industrial, requires power conditioning to deliver the energy for it to operate correctly. This is using electronics for power processing, not information processing. The applications vary widely from power supplies for laptops and mobile phone chargers, through industrial motor drives, hybrid and electric vehicle drives, electric rail transport, to solar and wind energy systems and power transmission and distribution systems. This module will give you a wide range, in-depth and advanced knowledge of Power Electronics and Devices.

Operation and Control of Power Systems

This module aims to present the current (advanced) technologies and trends in development that will shape future electrical power systems. You will gain a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the construction, operation and control principles of power systems. You will learn advanced analytical skills for examining different modes of operation in complex systems. The content includes the following main elements:

• Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electrical Power
• Balanced and Unbalanced 3-Phase Systems
• Load Flow Analyses
• Fault and Stability Analyses of Power Systems
• Power System Protection Concepts and Techniques
• Operational Security Control
• Benefits and Limitations of Wide Area Measurement (WAM)
• Effects and Management of Distributed Generation
• Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) and High Voltage DC (HVDC) Transmission Technologies
• Power Quality Monitoring and Management
• Renewable Power Penetration and Grid Code Requirements
• The Role of Energy Storage and the Development of Relevant Technologies
• Smart Grids: Communications and standards, demand side response, wide area measurements, privacy and cyber security

Electrical Power Engineering Design Project

The Electrical Power Engineering design project is a group project aiming to give you experience of working within a team, and parallel the way engineers often work in industry. You will integrate your knowledge and understanding in order to specify and solve an Electrical Power Engineering problem (or user need), through the creation and development of a product, process or system.

The project also allows you to develop your understanding of project management, time management, ethics, sustainability, health and safety, risk management and intellectual property rights. You will develop effective communication and leadership skills, for both technical and non-technical audiences.

Research Methods and Professional Skills

The module aims to equip you with the research skills necessary to support masters’ level learning in engineering and facilitate engagement with the individual project through equipping you with a broad research skill set. In addition, this module will provide you with the professional and team skills to support the course and your career in engineering.

Individual Project

This module gives you the opportunity to demonstrate that you have independently contributed primary data and/or a new analysis of secondary data, within your chosen advanced research topic.

Projects will be highly variable in nature to reflect the range of topics within the programmes of study but all will provide you with an opportunity to achieve the learning outcomes. Thus, projects may entail experimentation, modelling, analysis and literary survey skills to develop advanced skills in the discovery and occasionally creation of new knowledge. The module also offers the chance for you to pursue curiosity driven work guided by an academic supervisor.

If you do not have the required previous learning, you are also required to take the following modules:

Power Electronic Converters and Devices

This module is a pre-requisite to the module Advanced Power Electronic Converters and Devices. The module introduces the concept of power electronics as power processing and control, and presents a range of applications of power electronics in today’s society. It introduces power semiconductor devices as basic switching elements used in power electronic converters, and describes the theory of their operation. It also introduces power electronic converters, explains their operation principles and gives examples of applications. It develops an understanding of the issues present in converter and device design, including the impact of physical layout and heat dissipation. MSc students should take this module if they do not have a suitable corresponding background in the area.

Power Systems and Electrical Machines

The aim of this module is to consider, in depth, the design and operation of synchronous, induction and DC machines. In addition, the module aims to provide an in depth knowledge of the modern power system as an interconnection of rotating electrical machines, transformers, transmission lines, switch gear, loads etc.

• Systems Modelling and Control
• Heat Transfer Theory and Design
• Mathematical and Computer Modelling
• Advanced Robotics
• Batteries and Fuel Cells
• Optical Communication Systems
• Renewable Energy
• Signal Processing

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