The Owner's Engineer supports the development, construction, and financing of large-scale renewable energy projects by representing AES Clean Energy with financing parties, investors, lenders and Independent Engineers.
The Owner's Engineer becomes a member of a cross-functional engineering team and ensures that projects in development meet standards agreed to with financing parties and updates those standards to meet industry best practices. Strong communication and project management skills are required to manage the internal and external engineering resources needed to collect documentation, provide answers to due diligence questions, and ensure that projects meet quality and reliability expectations.
The Owner's Engineer will be responsible for the technical documentation, required site visits, and Independent Engineering due diligence reports for photovoltaic, energy storage, wind, and hydroelectric generation facilities from 1 to 1000 MW in capacity.
The successful candidate will have a depth of experience in the design, engineering and analysis of photovoltaic and battery storage systems with transmission-level interconnections as well as an in-depth understanding of the architectures and components to build such systems. Experience in all phases of energy project development is expected, from development to operations.
The position may be based in San Francisco, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, or Louisville, CO, and may include up to 25% travel to project locations and partner offices.
Key Responsibilities
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Owner Representation - Represent as AES Clean Energy Owner's Engineer on wind, solar, energy storage and hydroelectric projects while supporting project finance efforts for multiple projects
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Promote Safety - Promote safety for all projects throughout the team
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Development Support - Provide support to Origination, Development and M&A teams for new and upcoming projects
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Production Estimation and Report Evaluation - Review production estimates from (EPC) partners and Independent Engineering firms for validity
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Project Engineering and Management Support - Work with AES CE project teams to ensure quality projects are installed and maintained throughout the portfolio.
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Plan Review - Review plans and related technical documentation for approval and comment.
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Construction QA/QC - Work with construction teams to ensure that all technical and bank/Independent Engineering requirements are met for project finance and projects meet AES CE standards
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Independent Engineer Review - Collect, organize, review, distribute Engineering and Construction related deliverables to Independent Engineering firms for their review, comment and approval
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Operating Facilities Support - Support AES CE's operating facilities for better efficiencies and operational performance
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RCA - Participate in Root-Cause-Analysis efforts for failed equipment encountered during construction and operation
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Structured Finance Support - Work integrally with AES CE Internal Structured Finance team and Independent Engineering firms on technical due diligence for project financing (Tax Equity, Construction Finance and Back-Leverage)
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IE Selection - Assist in selection of IE to confirm capabilities and best suited for project technology and project economics.
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Report Review - Review the closing IE report drafts, construction site visit reports, construction supplement reports in conjunction with structured finance to ensure there are no errors or misrepresentation of the facts.
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Coordinate Site Visits - Coordinate directly with the IE and onsite personnel to do construction site visits and Mechanical Completion visits.
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Attend Site Visits - Travel to sites throughout the project build-cycle to participate in meetings and inspections/field walks with EPC's, Independent Engineering representatives, and investors/financiers
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Manage timelines - AES CE would expect to have about [10] IE reports per year for utility scale projects and [35] for distributed scale projects. The engineering lead will maintain a schedule of issuances and make sure the IE is on track to deliver reports in a timely manner.
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Diligence - the engineer will work to provide responses for diligence questions of the IE for engineering related items (e.g. designs, commissioning tests, reports, module equipment inspections). Engineer will maintain database for engineering deliverables.
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Risk Statement resolution - Identify statements of risk in reports and work with Project Engineers/PF team to resolve or bound.
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Coordination with Project Engineers - Coordinate bring-downs of production estimates based on IE feedback. Identify differences between equity view and I.E. assumptions, if any. Maintain database of current estimates.
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Model Assumptions/Finance Initiatives - Lead engineering modeling initiatives that relate to the financial model (e.g. inverter reserve assumptions, degradation, tracker reserves, BESS post PPA operating expenses)
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Certificates - coordinate with legal and IE on form MC certificates, draw certificates, SC certificates, and reliance letters. Coordinate with the IE in getting the executed copies of such certificates.
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Diligence - Work to provide responses for diligence questions for all items not related to engineering (permitting, IC, equipment contracts, etc.).
Skills and Qualifications
Primary Qualifications
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Undergraduate degree in Engineering or equivalent technical field
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5+ years professional experience in solar PV system design, development, and construction
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Experience with construction site quality control activities and investor site visits
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Experience with debt or tax equity financing practices, terminology, and requirements
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Strong technical writing skills, with the ability to communicate complex technical topics to a non-engineering audience
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Project and case management skills including a strong aptitude for managing and prioritizing multiple projects and deadlines
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Comfort with NEC and NESC code, as well as related codes such as IBC, NFPA 855
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Strong proficiency with AutoCAD, PVsyst, and Microsoft Excel
"Plus" Qualifications
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Graduate degree in Engineering
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2+ years of experience in energy storage, wind or hydroelectric design and modeling
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Professional Engineer qualification
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Spanish language skills
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OSHA 10-hr or comparable job-site safety certification
AES Corporation
4300 Wilson Blvd
Arlington
Virginia United States
www.aes.com
