Performance Engineer

RNWBL® is seeking a Performance Engineer in Phoenix, AZ, to enhance O&M service offerings for solar and wind fleets. Responsibilities include developing analysis tools, coordinating with technical resources, and driving performance engineering initiatives. The role involves reporting, identifying anomalies, and collaborating with teams to optimize plant performance. Travel to plants and customer locations is required. A degree in Engineering or Business and experience in renewable energy are preferred.
Job Description

Lead the ongoing development and support of RNWBL’s O&M service offerings through building a suite of analysis tools that can be uniformly deployed to RNWBL’s solar & wind fleet. Coordinate with technical support resources to deliver leading edge solutions to support the Maintenance and Operational reporting and monitoring needs. Provide leadership and direction on overall plant performance engineering activities and initiatives to support the corporate and department mission objectives, in line with Customer contractual obligations.

In support of the O&M services, the Performance Engineer will drive the vision of performance engineering products, included but not limited to customer portals, data deliverables, reporting, fact finding & issue resolution to promote improvement to plant performance. Any anomalies need to be identified & engage the technical team to identify the root cause & remedy the issue as quickly as possible. The candidate should be able to demonstrate a proven track record of collaborating with others to meet mission critical objectives.

Travel will be required, as needed, to the Plant, RNWBL offices and Owner/Customer locations to provide or receive training, meet with peers and support departments, vendors, etc.

Responsibilities
• Develop tools to frequently perform analysis of plant DC data for Performance Optimization and sensor data to identify failed or out of calibration instrumentation.
• Facilitate daily, weekly, monthly, and annual reporting in accordance with contractual, operational and regulatory requirements.
• Calculation and Review of standard metrics
• Effective Availability in accordance with contract guarantees
• Technical Availability
• Performance Ratio
• Actual vs expected energy using Owner’s energy model
• Ensure engineering processes, procedures and tools are established and standardized.
• Maintain responsibility for annotating all forced system outages resulting in production loss with the calculated energy loss associated.
• Take lead in identifying potential issues that may impact plant performance.
• Work with ROC team to set up alarms and/or reporting tags in plant monitoring system for common failure or underperformance modes.
• Review contractual requirements and translate them into technical requirements
• Assist with establishing and accessing remote data connections, including SCADA systems and 3rd party APIs.
• Responsible for developing programs and analytical techniques to tackle questions and problems related to the plant performance.
• Ensure data reliability to the extent possible including data extraction, filtering, and clean-up of noise or gaps in large data sets.
• Ensure proper documentation is established for engineering records.
• Guide and support the creation of in-house best practices. Actively participates in the development and continuous improvement of operating procedures.
• Assist with coordinating a calibration and software update program for all on-site instrumentation (i.e. met stations, soiling sensors, etc.)

Education

Engineering, Business or equivalent four (4) year degree, Graduate level degree preferred

Prior Experience/Required Skills
• Previous experience in the solar and wind power generation industry through power systems analysis and troubleshooting.
• Understanding of power plant modeling and production forecasting.
• Broad knowledge of industry standards, engineering processes and procedures.
• Proficiency with Excel required.
• Proficiency with Python or similar programming language required.
• Proficiency with solar modeling software (PVsyst, SAM, PlantPredict, etc.) is a plus.
• Outstanding communication skills both verbal and written.
• Ability to demonstrate a high level of commitment to the team’s success.
• Ability to effectively share technical expertise with team members and customers.
• Ability to prioritize and execute multiple projects and tasks.
• Demonstrated independent thinking, initiative and creativity.