VHB course "Modeling sustainable energy systems with PyPSA"

The vhb project Modeling Sustainable Energy Systems (September 2025 – February 2026) aims to provide students with methodological skills and practical knowledge required to analyze, model, and optimize renewable-based energy systems. At its core, the course leverages PyPSA (Python for Power System Analysis), a widely used open-source framework for energy system modeling. Through interactive exercises, Jupyter Notebooks, and coding assignments, students learn to configure, simulate, and evaluate energy transition pathways. The course builds a bridge between theoretical knowledge and applied practice by integrating elements of engineering, coding, and scientific research.

The curriculum is structured around three main pillars: (1) energy technology and fundamentals of system modeling, (2) practical application of PyPSA for scenario analysis and system optimization, and (3) scientific working methods, including formulating research questions, academic writing, and conducting literature reviews. A central element of the course is the final assignment, where participants prepare a scientific paper analyzing a country’s potential energy transition using their own PyPSA-based modeling results. This allows them to apply both technical and academic competencies in a project-oriented format.

By combining didactic diversity (videos, screencasts, quizzes, coding exercises, forums) with research-oriented learning, the course fosters both technical expertise and critical reflection skills. Through its dual-language implementation (German and English) and reliance on open-source tools, the project aims to lower entry barriers to advanced modeling methods, support internationalization, and contribute to the education of a new generation of system modelers who can actively shape the energy transition. The first course run is scheduled for the summer semester 2026.