Dr Peyman Afzali Gorouh
Salford Business School
Current positions
Research Fellow
Biography
Dr. Peyman Afzali Gorouh is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Machine Learning for Local Energy Communities at the Ƭ. His research focuses on data-driven optimisation and machine learning applications in smart grids, local energy communities, and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) flexibility. He contributes to the Horizon Europe DriVe2X project, which aims to accelerate vehicle electrification through predictive modeling and bi-directional smart charging technologies to enhance grid flexibility and user engagement. Before joining the Ƭ, Dr. Afzali was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Aalborg University (Denmark), where he developed decentralized energy system models and deep learning frameworks for renewable energy forecasting and energy trading. He also served as a Visiting Researcher at Aalto University (Finland), where he designed optimization models that improved the energy self-sufficiency of local energy communities.
Dr. Afzali earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran. His research excellence has been recognized through several national and international awards, including:
- Outstanding Researcher Award (2021) as the top researcher in the Faculty of Engineering at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman.
- National Elites Foundation Award (2017, 2023) for outstanding contributions to energy systems and smart grid innovation.
- INSF Sustainability Grant (2022) as Principal Investigator for the “Smart Buildings in Energy Communities” project.
- Sabbatical Research Fellowship Awards (2021–2022) from the National Elites Foundation and the Iranian Ministry of Science for advanced research abroad.
In addition to more than 19 peer-reviewed journal papers and 10 international conference papers.
Areas of Research
Local Energy Communities
Machine Learning
Renewable Energy Integration
Power System Flexibility and Resiliency
Smart Grids and Energy Management Systems
Electric Vehicles and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G)
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
Sustainable and Decentralized Energy Systems