The topic of my thesis was Applying Multivariate Statistical Methods for Forecasting Electricity Price Contributors. I wrote it at Vattenfall Energy Trading GmbH (VET) in Hamburg and my Supervisors were Mr. Erik Svensson from VET and Univ. Prof. Dr. Barbara Rüdiger-Mastandrea of the University of Wuppertal.

The objective of the thesis was to develop flexible models for forecasting short and long term electricity price “contributors”, and comparing these models and the present models used at Vattenfall Energy Trading. The case studies of the electricity price “contributors” were Cross-border flows of Electricity and Margins.

Cross-border flows is the transportation of electricity between two market areas (e.g. Germany is a market area) through transmission lines linking the two different market areas. A market area is a geographical region where electricity can be transported freely, that is, without network congestion.

Coming from a mathematical background, the M.Sc. in Computer Simulation in Science with specialization in Financial Mathematics was the right programme to attend for me. It not only allowed me to make use of the Mathematical knowledge I possessed, but also allowed me to learn a lot about numerical computing and (financial) mathematical modeling concepts.

Also, I did get the tools and level of understanding required to be able to go through interviews and be selected for challenging roles. Having been working as a Forecast Analyst since graduating, I keep confirming how solid the foundations I got from the M.Sc. programme are, as well as realizing the advantage I have on the job in the combination of theory and practice I obtained from the programme.