Power Systems Research Engineer – Energy Infrastructure Modeling

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory•UNAVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget. Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus. The Energy and Environment Directorate (EED) delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management. The Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division (EI&BD), part of EED, is accelerating the transition to an efficient, resilient, and secure energy system through basic and applied research. We leverage a strong technical foundation in power and energy systems and advanced data analytics to drive innovation, transform markets, and shape energy policy. Within this division, the Power System Modeling Group (PSMG) develops advanced simulation, analysis, and optimization tools to understand and enhance grid performance across all levels, from the bulk energy system to the distribution grid.

Requirements

BS/BA and 5+ years of relevant production cost and expansion planning model work experience -OR- MS/MA and 3+ years of relevant production cost and expansion planning model work experience -OR- PhD with 1+ year of relevant production cost and expansion planning model experience
U.S. Citizenship
Ability to obtain and maintain a federal security clearance.
Ability to pass a background investigation.
Ability to pass pre-employment and random drug testing for illegal drugs, including marijuana.

Nice To Haves

Experience in using and/or contributing to the development of large-scale power system optimization models, using either commercial or open-source tools.
Understanding of power grid operations, transmission and resource planning, and long-term investment.
Knowledge of utility industry economics and business processes.
Broadly apply principles, standards work, theories and concepts of systems engineering to the development and implementation of new tools including applications, algorithms, models, and visualization techniques.
Experience in grid applications, software development, or active participation in related national and international forums for power system modeling.
Experience in stochastic optimization and dynamic programming.
Fluency in one or more programming or scripting languages (e.g., GAMS, Julia, perl, Python, etc.).
Experience working in an inter-disciplinary team.
Demonstrated success of articulating research through publications, particularly in top-tier journals.

Responsibilities

Develop model enhancements for conventional power system models (primarily production cost models and expansion planning models) to represent changing system constraints and dependencies imposed by the rapid growth of our Nation’s energy system.
Participate in science-based, mission-focused research to develop complex solutions integrating a wide range of power system tools to enhance the security of our nation’s energy system.
Use integrated, multi-scale models spanning capacity expansion, production cost modeling, and powerflow to explore and quantify the impacts of real-world events on energy system performance.
Develop and investigate mitigating techniques to affordably improve the reliability and resilience of critical energy infrastructure.
Provide subject matter expertise within multi-disciplinary teams with a focus on power system optimization, resource adequacy, reliable capacity expansion, and the related policies that must be enacted.
Provide electric system simulations with a good working knowledge of grid topology and transmission planning, operational costs and optimization, system constraints, and financial analysis.
Lead model enhancements activities and participate in the design of simulation experiments, evaluation of technology performance, or development of scientific and engineered solutions to assess or solve a variety of technical problems.
Broadly apply theory to the development and implementation of new tools including applications, algorithms, models, and visualization.
Publish research results, targeting peer reviewed journals and other written reports.
Build strong teams for project execution that transfer knowledge through the organization.
Mentor junior staff and other engineers and collaborate with senior level staff from within PNNL.
Travel to execute projects, build relationships, and grow leadership in the field.
Manage individual tasks or projects; including directing other staff, ensuring milestones are met, and communicating with senior management.
Ensure safe operating practices are followed.
Effectively communicate engineering challenges and solutions to a wide range of audiences.
Effectively communicate with senior engineers to ensure high-quality delivery of research projects on budget and on time.
Deal with ambiguity.