Professor Xin Zhang

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Professor in Control and Power Systems

Electrical Machines and Drives Research Group

UKRI Future Leaders Fellow

Associate Editor - IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (TSG)

Xin Zhang
Profile picture of Xin Zhang
xin.zhang1@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 25619
Amy Johnson Building

Full contact details

Professor Xin Zhang
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Amy Johnson Building
Portobello Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

I am the Professor and Chair in Control and Power Systems at University of Sheffield. Currently, I hold the prestigious  'Digitalisation of Electrical Power and Energy Systems Operation, MR/W011360/2, 瞿1.5m', and the  'Grid flexibility through multiscale modelling and integration of power systems with electrified air transport, EP/W028905/1, 瞿400k'.

My research experience covers power system operation and control, cyber-physical power systems, cybersecurity and resilience of power systems, real-time digital simulation, and grid integration with land-air transport electrification. 

I lead the  (CAPS Lab) of University of Sheffield. At CAPS, we investigate digitalisation technologies that could potentially improve the monitoring and control of power grids in both cyber and physical aspects. We explore the advanced grid monitoring platform, state estimation techniques, cybersecurity strategy, contingency analysis, vulnerability assessment, and robust network control. At CAPS, we develop co-simulation platform for digital power grids, that enables the fundamental integration of cyber and physical simulators for the accurate, efficient and large-scale grid simulation. Our work involves the interfacing design for model-to-model integration of different complex networks, simulation synchronisation at various time steps,  and advanced computing methods and algorithms to create a co-optimised analysis of cyber-physical power systems.

My industrial experience (2011-19) was gained from National Grid ESO as the GB Electricity System Operator, where I was professionally trained as a power system engineer in the real-time power system operation, mainly in the GB Electricity National Control Centre. My specific industrial expertise includes power system modelling and operational tools development for energy balancing and network control, to improve the security, resilience and economic operation of the GB power transmission systems.

Qualifications
  • PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (2010), The University of Manchester
  • MSc (distinction) in Electrical Power Engineering (2007), The University of Manchester
  • B.Eng in Automation, Control Science and Engineering (2006), Shandong University
Research interests

My research is interdisciplinary across power, energy, and digital aspects of system engineering. My primary research interest is in power systems, with wider research interests of cyber-security, machine learning, digital twins and their applications in power & energy industry.

Broadly, I investigate net-zero energy networks as critical infrastructure, integrating transport, information and communications, renewable, storage and hydrogen. I address energy security and resilience challenges across Energy Theme.

  • Power system planning, operation and control (transmission, distribution, microgrid, renewables)
  • Cyber-physical system modelling and co-simulation (networked system control, power, energy, communications, transport)
  • Laboratory research platforms, hardware and facilities for simulation and control of power grid (real-time digital simulators, power electronics, intelligent computing)
  • Transport electrification (electric vehicle / aircraft charging, transport-energy nexus)
Publications

Journal articles

  • Xiao Y, Zhang J, Ruiz HS, Roumeliotis I & Zhang X (2025) . Energy, 338, 138782-138782.
  • Du M, Zhang X, Zhang J & Zhang R (2025) . IEEE Internet of Things Journal.
  • Du M, Zhang X, Taylor G & Terzija V (2025) . Cyber-Physical Energy Systems.
  • Li B, Zhang J & Zhang X (2025) . eTransportation, 100485-100485.
  • Zhang S, Zhang X, Zhang R, Gu W & Cao G (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 1-1.
  • Qiu D, Liu M, Zhang R, Luo T, Griffo A & Zhang X (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems, 3, 429-441.
  • Du M, Zhang X & Zhao J (2025) . IEEE Internet of Things Journal.
  • Wang B, Zhang Z, Wang M, Liu M, Ye R, Deng R & Zhang X (2025) . IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 12(11), 17413-17429.
  • Wang S, Zhang X, Du M & Pei W (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 1-13.
  • Liu M, Zhang X, Zhao C & Deng R (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 40(4), 3144-3159.
  • Zhou J, Xiang Y, Zhang X, Sun Z, Liu X & Liu J (2025) . Renewable Energy, 238.
  • Liu M, Zhang X, Zhang R, Zhou Z, Zhang Z & Deng R (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 16(2), 1744-1761.
  • Chen Q, Bu S, Zhang X, Yi S & Wei Y (2025) . IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 40(2), 1636-1648.
  • Liu M, Zhang X, Zhu H, Zhang Z & Deng R (2024) . IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, 19, 7824-7840.
  • Du M, Zhang J, Gu C & Zhang X (2024) . IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 15(4), 2625-2637.
  • Zhou Z, Zhang X, Zhang J & Taylor G (2024) . IET Smart Grid, 7(4), 370-385.
  • Xiang Y, Li L, Li R, Zhang X, Gu C, Zeng P, Pu T & Liu J (2024) . The Innovation Energy, 1(3).
  • Qiu D, Zhang R, Zhou Z, Zhang J & Zhang X (2024) . IET Smart Grid, 7(1), 13-27.
  • Qu B, Wang Z, Shen B, Dong H & Zhang X (2024) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 15(1), 863-873.
  • Guo Z, Lai CS, Luk P & Zhang X (2023) . Journal of Energy Storage, 64, 107123-107123.
  • Guo Z, Li B, Taylor G & Zhang X (2023) . eTransportation, 17.
  • Liu S, Cao Y, Ni Q, Xu L, Zhu Y & Zhang X (2023) . Energy, 268, 126737-126737.
  • Zhang J, Roumeliotis I, Zhang X & Zolotas A (2023) . Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 175, 113168-113168.
  • Wei X, Xiang Y, Li J & Zhang X (2022) . IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 13(3), 1861-1864.
  • Hu Y, Bu S, Zhang X, Yung Chung C & Cai H (2022) . Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, 10(1), 19-28.
  • Guo Z, Zhang J, Zhang R & Zhang X (2022) . IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 18(11), 8149-8159.
  • Zhang G, Zhang F, Wang X & Zhang X (2022) . IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 37(2), 1088-1099.
  • Xiang Y, Zhou L, Huang Y, Zhang X, Liu Y & Liu J (2021) . Energy, 218, 119417-119417.
  • Xiang Y, Cai H, Liu J & Zhang X (2021) . Applied Energy, 283, 116374-116374.
  • Zhao P, Gu C, Cao Z, Hu Z, Zhang X, Chen X, Hernando-Gil I & Ding Y (2021) . IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 36(3), 2503-2515.
  • Zhao P, Gu C, Xiang Y, Zhang X, Shen Y & Li S (2021) . IEEE Systems Journal, 15(2), 2744-2754.
  • Zhang G, Zhang F, Zhang X, Wu Q & Meng K (2020) . International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 122, 106161-106161.
  • Cui Y, Zhu J, Zoras S, Qiao Y & Zhang X (2020) . Energy, 206, 118108-118108.
  • Zhang G, Zhang F, Zhang X, Wang Z, Meng K & Dong ZY (2020) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 11(6), 4847-4859.
  • Zhang G, Zhang F, Zhang X, Meng K & Dong ZY (2020) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 11(6), 4700-4713.
  • Zhang G, Zhang F, Meng K, Zhang X & Dong ZY (2020) . IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, 11(4), 2567-2580.
  • Xiang Y, Hong J, Yang Z, Wang Y, Huang Y, Zhang X, Chai Y & Yao H (2020) . IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 11(2), 1809-1811.
  • Xiang Y, Su Y, Wang Y, Liu J & Zhang X (2020) . IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 35(4), 2109-2112.
  • Yan X, Gu C, Zhang X & Li F (2020) . IEEE Systems Journal, 14(2), 2694-2702.
  • Wang H, Gu C, Zhang X & Li F (2020) . IEEE Systems Journal, 14(2), 2684-2693.
  • Hu S, Xiang Y, Liu J, Gu C, Zhang X, Tian Y, Liu Z & Xiong J (2019) . IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 55(4), 3310-3320.
  • Xiang Y, Hu S, Liu Y, Zhang X & Liu J (2019) . IET Smart Grid, 2(1), 25-33.
  • Cai D, Ding L, Zhang X & Terzija V (2019) . The Journal of Engineering, 2019(16), 3294-3300.
  • HU S, XIANG Y, ZHANG X, LIU J, WANG R & HONG B (2019) . Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, 7(4), 851-861.
  • Wang H, Gu C, Zhang X, Li F & Gu L (2018) . CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 4(4), 479-486.
  • Zhang X, Bruce A, Rowland S, Terzija V & Bu S (2018) . IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, 25(6), 2049-2057.
  • Yan X, Zhang X, Gu C & Li F (2018) . Frontiers in Energy, 12(4), 560-568.
  • Liu J, Chai Y, Xiang Y, Zhang X, Gou S & Liu Y (2018) . CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems, 4(3), 273-282.
  • Xia SW, Bu SQ, Zhang X, Xu Y, Zhou B & Zhu JB (2018) . Applied Energy, 222, 608-620.
  • Gu C, Zhang X, Ma K, Yan J & Song Y (2018) . Renewable Energy, 122, 108-117.
  • Zhang X, Zhu J, Bu S, Li Q, Terzija VJ & Rowland SM (2018) . IEEE Access, 6, 15835-15843.
  • Bu SQ, Zhang X, Zhu JB & Liu X (2018) . International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 97, 250-261.
  • Zhu J, Hu J, Hung W, Wang C, Zhang X, Bu S, Li Q, Urdal H & Booth CD (2018) . IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, 33(2), 773-783.
  • Bu SQ, Zhang X, Xia SW, Xu Y, Zhou B & Lu X (2017) . Energy Procedia, 142, 971-976.
  • Zhang X & Rowland SM (2012) . IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, 19(6), 2055-2062.
  • Zhang X, Rowland SM & Terzija V (2010) . IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, 17(2), 473-480.
  • Rowland S, Kopsidas K & Zhang X (2010) . IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, 25(2), 947-952.
  • Wang C, Li J, Hu Y, Zhang X & Varga L () . DEStech Transactions on Environment, Energy and Earth Sciences(iceee).
  • () . CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems.
  • Liu J, Li J, Xiang Y, Zhang X & Jiang W () . Energies, 12(5), 952-952.
  • () . CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems.

Book chapters

  • Tan S, Xie P, Guan Y, Vasquez JC, Guerrero JM & Zhang X (2024) In N繪rregaard J繪rgensen B, Ma ZG, Wijaya FD, Irnawan R & Sarjiya S (Ed.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science (pp. 372-378). Springer Nature Switzerland

Conference proceedings

  • Qiu D, Liu M & Zhang X (2025) . 2025 IEEE Kiel PowerTech (pp 1-6), 29 June 2025 - 3 July 2025.
  • Qiu D, Liu M & Zhang X (2024) . 2024 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence of Things and Systems (AIoTSys) (pp 1-6), 17 October 2024 - 19 October 2024.
  • Zhou Z, Zhang J & Zhang X (2023) . 2023 IEEE 6th International Electrical and Energy Conference (CIEEC) (pp 4539-4545), 12 May 2023 - 14 May 2023.
  • Qiu D, Zhang R, Dabashi AH, Zhou Z & Zhang X (2023) . IET Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2022(27) (pp 194-199)
  • Li B, Guo Z, Yuan Y & Zhang X (2022) . 2022 57th International Universities Power Engineering Conference (UPEC) (pp 1-6), 30 August 2022 - 2 September 2022.
  • Dabashi AH, Qiu D, Taylor G & Zhang X (2022) . 2022 57th International Universities Power Engineering Conference (UPEC) (pp 1-6), 30 August 2022 - 2 September 2022.
  • Duan L, Zhang X, Balta-Ozkan N & Etminan S (2021) . IET Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2021(6) (pp 2705-2709)
  • Guo Z, Zhang X & Zhang R (2021) . IET Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2021(5) (pp 318-324)
  • Xiang Y, Liu J, Hu S, Gu C, Zhang X, Tian Y, Xiong J & Liu Z (2018) . 2018 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting (IAS) (pp 1-9), 23 September 2018 - 27 September 2018.
  • Zhang X & Rowland SM (2011) . 2011 Electrical Insulation Conference (EIC). (pp 299-303), 5 June 2011 - 8 June 2011.
  • Zhang X & Rowland SM (2010) . 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation (pp 1-5), 6 June 2010 - 9 June 2010.
  • Zhang X & Rowland SM (2009) . 2009 IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (pp 437-440), 18 October 2009 - 21 October 2009.
  • Rowland SM, Zhang X & Kopsidas K (2008) . 2008 Annual Report Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (pp 192-195), 26 October 2008 - 29 October 2008.
  • Rowland SM, Zhang X & Kopsidas K (2008) . Conference Record of the 2008 IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation (pp 641-644), 9 June 2008 - 12 June 2008.
Grants
Royal Society International Exchanges Grant, Multi-Agent Interactive Game and Network Co-Evolution for Shared Energy Storage Communities 瞿12,000, 2025-2027, IEC\NSFC\242449, as PI
 

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, 瞿1,490,121, 2022-2026, MR/W011360/1, as PI

EPSRC New Investigator Award, 瞿402,860, 2022-2025, EP/W028905/1, as PI

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), Human Resilience in Cybersecurity of Future Energy Systems 瞿100,000, 2023-2027, RQ0000024688, as PI

UK Department for Transport, Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants, 瞿30,000, 2020-2021, T-TRIG 2020, as PI

EPSRC, Supergen Energy Networks Hub Flexible Fund, 瞿50,000, 2019-2021, EP/S00078X/2, as PI

UK Department for Transport, Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants, 瞿30,000, 2019-2020, T-TRIG 2019, as PI

Professional activities and memberships
  • Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (TSG)
  • Associate Editor, IEEE Power Engineering Letters (PELS)
  • Associate Editor, Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (CPES)
  • Associate Editor, Protection and Control of Modern Power Systems (PCMP)
  • Associate Editor, Energy Conversion and Economics (ECE)
  • Senior Member, IEEE
  • Chartered Engineer, IET

Links

  Electrical Machines and Power group