Battery Storage Commissioning Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Company Description

FastGrid is a dynamic and rapidly growing renewables engineering company dedicated to providing design, analysis, detailed engineering, and development services for solar and energy storage projects throughout the United States. Our commitment to excellence and innovation has positioned us as a leader in the solar energy, battery storage, and renewable energy industry.

Job Summary

Commissioning is the intersection of design, construction, and manufacturing so an incredibly fun and challenging phase of the project. Utility scale battery projects require 4-8 months of testing before safe and reliable operation on the grid. As a Commissioning Engineer at FastGrid, you will be leading and ensuring project design and construction is meeting all contractual, code and local requirements. Completion of this review and sign off ensures clear mechanical completion and the project is ready for energization and testing. To define success for the project we must evaluate the metrics from the owner and performance required for market operation. Operating within our Owners Engineering team, you will be leading the project through the commissioning process. Stakeholders include utilities, contractors, engineers, manufacturers, owners, and a variety of other parties. You will coordinate and lead commissioning activities, so the project achieves sync with the grid and is participating in markets. To ensure commissioning success the candidate must develop comprehensive test plans, keep organized and detailed notes, and address any challenges head on.

Qualifications

Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.

1 year of commissioning experience with an engineering degree, or 3 years without.

Knowledge of relevant codes and standards for energy storage systems and inverters.

Strong understanding of plant controls and communication systems.

Experience in construction, commissioning, and analytical problem-solving.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Commitment to safety protocols and industry standards.

Ability to delegate and collaborate effectively within a team.

Bi-Lingual in Spanish is a plus (but not required)

Core Duties

Communicate clearly with our client who is the Owner and operator of these projects. The main duty is to serve the owner’s best interest. Ensure the equipment purchased meets specifications, the project is built to approved design, the project meets interconnection requirements to operate on the grid, and lastly the project meets or exceeds the quantities being sold from the project (energy, capacity and ancillary services).

Provide responses to close out the construction of the project by supporting the EPC and contractors to deem the project mechanically complete and substantial completion. This is completed through an onsite inspection and review and confirmation of all EPC testing.

Prioritize and lead the team in which testing comes first to ensure a safe and on time project.

Lead Reoccurring meetings with all stakeholders including the owner, EPC, vendors, engineers, utility and others. Bi-weekly meetings in the early phase of the project to daily POD meetings during the testing phase.

Complete key testing deliverables. Examples are project efficiency and capacity tests, Master test plan, and interconnection testing results including AVR, Reactive 4-Quad, PFR tests with appropriate plan, inputs, and results.

Provide detailed review of all projects Mechanical and substantial completion tests from the EPC or contractor. This will include reviewing Fall of potential grounding tests, VLF cable testing, Insulation resistive testing, Thermography, IV Curve test, Transformer FAT and onsite tests, and inspection of the construction milestones of Mechanical and Substantial completion. If results do not meet the owner’s technical spec or standards the OE team will recommend and observe remediation is complete.

Lead interconnection testing with the utility to witness, record and pass utility energization and sync testing. Examples are reactive four quad testing, automatic voltage regulation, power frequency regulation and not violating the interconnection limits on maximum capacity and ramp rate.

Each project goes through dozens of tests. It is the job of the owners’ engineer to witness and provide guidance and support for passing each test. Typically, projects require multiple re-tests and rarely pass on your first few tries. So, a big part of the job is prioritizing time and resources to get appropriate testing, tuning and re-testing until all requirements are met. Example test plan is on the table below.

Travel is required for this position, which must be ok with approximately 10 days out of every month during the commissioning period of the project. Example trips would be to visit the site to witness energization, a trip to troubleshoot reactive power testing, or travel to a vendor factory to observe acceptance testing.

Workflow consists of weekly internal team meetings to discuss project plans, professional development, training and industry issues related to safety, new technology, and standards. External team meetings are set up weekly to daily with the larger project team and are used to effectively manage the project to complete testing on schedule. Time spent in between internal and external meetings will be used to observe, witness and record the testing results and communicate that to the owner, EPC, utility and your internal team. Issues and RFI’s will come up and the owners engineer must respond immediately to items that can hold back testing to ensure the project stays on schedule.

Manage different login portals for the site. VPN access to the site substation and HMI. Use your remote access to the data historian, HMI and telemetry to troubleshoot issues around data quality and compliance. Candidate must learn and eventually be proficient with the use of SCADA systems provided by the battery vendor, inverter vendor, O&M, SCADA vendor, and others. This is key to project commissioning and achieving commercial operations.

Essential Skills and Competencies

It is expected of each member of the FastGrid OE team to learn or re-learn these key skills to be proficient at the OE job. This also will give you opportunities to gain experience and grow within FastGrid and the industry.

Proficient technical problem-solving and analytical skills.

Strong time management abilities with proactive problem anticipation.

Exceptional leadership and project management qualities.

Comprehensive understanding of the EPC process, from design through commissioning.

Ability to make informed decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Self-driven with strong initiative and excellent communication skills.

Detail-oriented nature with a proactive approach to tackling challenges.

Proficiency in interpreting electrical drawings, data sheets, and manuals.

Experience interfacing between project stakeholders and teams.

Ability to identify gaps, risks, and resolve design issues related to commissioning.

Familiarity with construction management processes and documentation.

Proven track record of contributing to major commissioning milestones.

Experience in performance testing and preparing commissioning reports.

Proficiency in utilizing private networks and VPN tools.

Familiarity with Lock-out-tag-out (LOTO) procedures for safety procedures for PCS and BESS.

Proficiency in SEL software Accelerator for data analysis and troubleshooting.

Experience in equipment inspection and assessment for commissioning.

Support for power conversion system (PCS) and control system commissioning.

Familiarity with EMS, HMI, and SCADA commissioning software and processes.

Knowledge of protection relays, metering, and calibration standards.

Experience with network architecture, HMI software, and SCADA platforms.

Proficiency in troubleshooting electrical systems and components.

NEC, NFPA, IEEE, and UL code compliance for inverters, solar and battery storage systems.

Market structure for power and energy. Energy, Capacity and Ancillary services in key markets like California / CAISO, Texas / ERCOT.