Research for an Electric Britain: Statistical Insights from EDF R&D

Join us for a seminar with EDF UK R&D, showcasing their research across household energy flexibility, energy fairness metrics, power-system modelling and AI for nuclear infrastructure. The session will highlight the statistical, machine-learning and engineering challenges shaping EDF’s future energy systems, with opportunities for discussion and collaboration.

As Britain’s largest generator of zero-carbon electricity, EDF is driving the transition to An Electric Britain — a secure, affordable and low-carbon future for everyone. EDF invests over £100 million each week into the UK’s electricity infrastructure, supplying millions of customers and supporting the shift to electric heating, transport and industrial processes.

Since 2009, EDF has invested nearly £8 billion in the UK’s nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The company is leading the UK’s nuclear renaissance through Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C, which together will power around 12 million homes. Alongside this, EDF is a major renewables developer, with 2 GW in operation and more than 10 GW in planning across wind, solar and battery storage.

At the centre of this transformation is the EDF UK R&D Centre, driving innovation across five domains: nuclear, renewables, digital, innovation and future energy systems. This seminar will also touch on various-career opportunities and highlight recent research projects, including:

Project FLASH

A major programme of randomised controlled trials assessing residential flexibility solutions to support future electricity market reforms. Supported by £1.3 million from DESNZ, FLASH explored what drives household engagement with flexibility propositions through causal policy evaluation, power-system simulations and qualitative surveys. The research directly informed new commercial flexibility offers, including Sunday Saver and Freephase.

Project AVIATOR

An ongoing computer-vision initiative aimed at improving the identification of defects in concrete structures at nuclear power stations. Engineers currently manually inspect drone imagery frame by frame; AVIATOR is developing a state-of-the-art machine-learning pipeline to automate defect detection and support safer, more efficient operation and maintenance of EDF’s nuclear assets.

Date: Tuesday 16 December 2025

Time: 3pm - 4pm, followed by informal networking

Location: MAR 1.10, Marshall Building

Sign-up here

Short bios of the speakers

Sanaa Zannane is a lead researcher at EDF UK R&D, specialising in advanced statistical modelling on energy systems and consumers. She has led projects on consumer-led flexibility, including the statistical evaluation of randomised controlled trials, and natural hazards studies on seismic risk and wind power uncertainty. Her recent work also addresses fairness in energy systems. With dual degrees in engineering (CentraleSupélec) and statistics (Paris-Dauphine), Sanaa has over 10 years of experience bridging quantitative methods and business needs. She has collaborated with leading institutions such as LSE (through projects Capstone), the University of Bristol (through an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account) and CNRS to integrate rigorous modelling into decision-making for the energy transition.

Dr Gustavo Medina Vazquez is a lead data scientist at EDF UK R&D with extensive expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence. His experience spans a diverse range of applications, including computer vision for remote asset monitoring, time series forecasting and anomaly detection, and the implementation of explainable AI techniques. Gustavo leads a team of machine learning scientists specialising in early exploration of AI solutions for EDF. Main topics of interest include computer vision, multi-agentic generative AI, explainable AI, and time series modelling. Recent work includes investigating foundation models for the energy sector, synthetic load curve generation, and AI metocean and climate.

*Project FLASH was part of the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero's Alternative Energy Markets Innovation Programme and backed by £1.3m of funding from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). NZIP was a £1 billion fund for low-carbon technologies and systems and aimed to decrease the costs of decarbonisation helping enable the UK to end its contribution to climate change. The project was delivered by a consortium: EDF, Loughborough University, the University of Sheffield, Brighton and Hove City Council and Indra.