Dr Phil Coker

Biography

Dr Phil Coker is a chartered Mechanical Engineer, with a career split between academia and the energy industry. He gained experience as an engineer and manager with British Gas and ultimately National Grid before transitioning to consultancy. A shift to academia came with the completion of his PhD, ‘Assessing the variability of UK renewables’, at the University of Reading, in 2011. There he progressed to Associate Professor, developing teaching and research which prioritised close working with industry partners.

Phil’s career has been underpinned by expertise in energy systems, a passion for sustainability and an affinity for system level questions. Research into the challenges of energy system decarbonisation involved close collaboration with meteorologists, leading to exploration of solutions including energy storage and grid integration of electric vehicles. His most recent academic focus considers the value of natural systems for solving societal challenges, which he now balances with hands on conservation work.

Qualifications and memberships

Teaching

Research interests

Industry

Qualifications and memberships

Qualifications

BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath
PhD, University of Reading
Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice, 2013

Memberships

Member (CEng), Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Fellow, Higher Education Academy

Teaching

Phil’s teaching has concentrated on systems level aspects of renewable energy supply, alongside wider techno-economic matters including carbon management and energy policy. This has also extended to wider aspects of sustainability including fundamental concepts and the values of systems thinking, with efforts to make a qualitative understanding of systems behaviours available to those without highly numerate backgrounds. He has led modules including Urban Energy Systems, Carbon Management, and Sustainability; most recently extending to Sustainable Infrastructure and Sustainable Buildings and Cities.

Research interests

Much of Phil’s research has explored the challenges of variability as we integrate ever higher levels of renewable energy in our energy systems. Close collaboration with meteorologists helped characterise wind and solar behaviour, especially extreme, coincident and unforeseen events. This led to work exploring solutions including storage, demand side flexibility and electrification of transport. Projects have been supported by funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK, DfT and from industry partners.

His research interests have recently evolved to consider the value of nature based solutions for our infrastructural challenges, informed by learning from hands on, grass roots nature conservation work.

Industry

Phil worked for the UK gas industry post privatisation, seeing rapid changes with British Gas, Transco and National Grid. Technical responsibilities ranged from planning to operations, before management roles across quality and competence assurance. Experience included leading site operations for the gas supply to Didcot Power Station during the 1990s “Dash for Gas”.

Industry partnerships have played a fundamental role in much of Phil’s research, working with companies including National Grid, SSE, Marks and Spencer, Reading Borough Council and Costain. His most recent focus is informed by a shift towards the voluntary conservation sector, alongside his ongoing academic role.

Publications

Book Chapters

Coker, P. (2020) The future of energy in Reading. In: Dixon, T. and Farrelly, L., eds. (2020) Reading 2050: A Smart and Sustainable City. School of the Built Environment University of Reading, Reading, UK.
Coker, P. and Torriti, J. (2018) Energy interactions: the growing interplay between buildings and energy networks. In: Dixon, T., Connaughton, J. and Green, S. (eds.) Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment to 2050: A Foresight Approach to Construction and Development. Wiley, Hoboken, USA, pp. 287-309, Chapter 14 (within Part 4: Transformative Technologies and Innovation). ISBN 9781119063810

Journal Papers

Daneshzand, Farzaneh, Coker, Phil J., Potter, Ben and Smith, Stefan T. (2023) EV smart charging: how tariff selection influences grid stress and carbon reduction. Applied Energy, 348. 121482. ISSN 0306-2619 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121482
Coker, P. J., Bloomfield, H. C., Drew, D. R. and Brayshaw, D. J. (2020) Interannual weather variability and the challenges for Great Britain’s electricity market design. Renewable Energy, 150. pp. 509-522. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.12.082
Drew, D. R., Coker, P. J., Bloomfield, H. C., Brayshaw, D. J., Barlow, J. F. and Richards, A. (2019) Sunny windy Sundays. Renewable Energy, 138. pp. 870-875. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.02.029
Drew, D. R., Barlow, J. F. and Coker, P. J. (2018) Identifying and characterising large ramps in power output of offshore wind farms. Renewable Energy, 127. pp. 195-203. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.04.064
Bloomfield, H., Brayshaw, D. J., Shaffrey, L., Coker, P. J. and Thornton, H. E. (2018) The changing sensitivity of power systems to meteorological drivers: a case study of Great Britain. Environmental Research Letters, 13 (5). 054028. ISSN 1748-9326 doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabff9
Drew, D. R., Cannon, D. J., Barlow, J. F., Coker, P. J. and Frame, T. (2017) The importance of forecasting regional wind power ramping: a case study for the UK. Renewable Energy. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.07.069
Bloomfield, H. C., Brayshaw, D. J., Shaffrey, L. C., Coker, P. J. and Thornton, H.E. (2016) Quantifying the increasing sensitivity of power systems to climate variability. Environmental Research Letters, 11 (12). 124025. ISSN 1748-9326 doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124025
Daniels, L., Coker, P. and Potter, B. (2016) Embodied carbon dioxide of network assets in a decarbonised electricity grid. Applied Energy, 180. 142 – 154. ISSN 0306-2619 doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.044
Daniels, L., Coker, P., Gunn, A. and Potter, B. (2016) Using proxies to calculate the carbon impact of investment into electricity network assets. Applied Energy, 162. pp. 551-560. ISSN 0306-2619 doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.10.111
Kubik, M. L., Coker, P. J. and Barlow, J. F. (2015) Increasing thermal plant flexibility in a high renewables power system. Applied Energy, 154. pp. 102-111. ISSN 0306-2619 doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.04.063
Saker, D., Vahdati, M., Coker, P. and Millward, S. (2015) Assessing the benefits of domestic hot fill washing appliances. Energy and Buildings, 93. pp. 282-294. ISSN 0378-7788 doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.02.027
Cannon, D.J., Brayshaw, D.J., Methven, J., Coker, P.J. and Lenaghan, D. (2015) Using reanalysis data to quantify extreme wind power generation statistics : a 33 year case study in Great Britain. Renewable Energy, 75. pp. 767-778. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.10.024
Drew, D., Cannon, D., Brayshaw, D., Barlow, J. and Coker, P. (2015) The impact of future offshore wind farms on wind power generation in Great Britain. Resources Policy, 4 (1). pp. 155-171. ISSN 0301-4207 doi: 10.3390/resources4010155
Rawlings, J., Coker, P., Doak, J. and Burfoot, B. (2014) Do smart grids offer a new incentive for SME carbon reduction? Sustainable Cities and Society, 10. pp. 245-250. ISSN 2210-6707 doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2013.04.003
Lee, T., Yao, R. and Coker, P. (2014) An analysis of UK policies for domestic energy reduction using an agent based tool. Energy Policy, 66. pp. 267-279. ISSN 0301-4215 doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.11.004
Kubik, M. L., Brayshaw, D. J., Coker, P. J. and Barlow, J. F. (2013) Exploring the role of reanalysis data in simulating regional wind generation variability over Northern Ireland. Renewable Energy, 57. pp. 558-561. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2013.02.012
Coker, P., Barlow, J., Cockerill, T. and Shipworth, D. (2013) Measuring significant variability characteristics: An assessment of three UK renewables. Renewable Energy, 53. pp. 111-120. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.11.013
Kubik, M. L., Coker, P. J., Barlow, J. F. and Hunt, C. (2013) A study into the accuracy of using meteorological wind data to estimate turbine generation output. Renewable Energy, 51. pp. 153-158. ISSN 0960-1481 doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2012.08.084
Kubik, M.L., Coker, P.J. and Hunt, C. (2012) The role of conventional generation in managing variability. Energy Policy, 50. pp. 253-261. ISSN 0301-4215 doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.07.010 (Special section: Past and prospective energy transitions – insights from history)