POSITION OVERVIEW:
The System Planning Operations Engineer acts as a contour to serve strategic operational decisions with proper reference guidelines. The duty requires creativity for performing unique steady-state and dynamic analysis utilizing modernized power flow models to support identification of system breaches and system strengthening initiatives.
POSITION SCOPE:
The System Planning Operations Engineer provides electrical engineering analysis and technical support for planning and operation of the grid. The role is responsible for implementing defined system modeling, developing reference tools and issuance of instruction guidelines to monitor, control and dispatch, perform system studies, conduct simulations, short and long term planning analysis and provide recommendation for identified and predicted system issues.
Maintain health, safety and environmental standards by:
Ensuring compliance with all safety policies and procedures.
Ensuring compliance with all environmental and health standards, and
Completing all required HSE training.
Contribute to GBPC’s strategy and goals by:
Collaborating with other leaders to issue a clear strategy to issue innovation and actively seek new methods to improve operational efficiency for all Business units.
Contribute to long-term strategic planning for System Planning Operation with clearly identified proximate objectives and regularly monitoring progress toward those objectives, identifying challenges and recommending solutions.
Provide sustainable solutions to embark on given commitments to operate with cleaner energy solutions.
Operational Schedule and Forecasting:
Provide feedback details on power switching operations to confirm grid compliance is adhered to.
Provide an outlook for planned and forced outages to retrieve reserve margin, system constraints, dispatch orders and economic impact. Assist with providing load forecasting, capacity expansion, and resource adequacy assessment
Collaborate on developing and maintain long-term generation, distribution and transmission planning studies.
Provide input on the production of load forecast assignments.
Provide Energy Management and Dispatch:
Manage connection applications for standard demand and renewable customers.
Define EMS performance and issue performance tuning, load validation assignments and capacity planning feature of the EMS.
Develop and maintain interface to dispatch, ADMS, AGC and DERMS.
Oversee Operator simulation scenarios, blackout/blackstart drills, designed system response readiness exercises.
Build and validate simulation models for billings adjustments, cost recovery and peak creation avoidance.
Provide impact assessments for TOU usage on generation dispatch, system congestion and resource adequacy.
Design demand-response and load management programs for TOU inputs.
Conduct energy audits and assessments to retrieve behavioural adjustment recommendations and energy-savings solutions.
Oversee unit commitment, start/stop sequence, ramping exercises and generational source’s plant controllers setpoints.
Create dispatch plans referencing dispatch model feedback, economic signals and contingency plans.
System Studies and Analysis:
Perform power flow, transient stability, short-circuit, harmonics and electromagnetic transient studies, and support economics analysis for renewables, transmission, distribution, and thermal generation.
Prepare detailed reports illustrating analysis performed, conclusions and recommendations.
Troubleshoot system disturbances, analyze root of all outages, and issue mitigation guidelines to avoid future unwanted behaviour.
Analyze future demand and system limitations to constantly develop expansion plans or facilitate network improvements.
Provide technical feedback for new development site selection, infrastructure design and cost estimates.
Conduct interconnection studies and manage impact studies, and technical requirements for generators, storage and DERs.
Lead probabilistic reliability and risk assessments contingency scenario planning and blackstart/restoration studies.
System Stability and Reliability Management:
Monitor compliance with grid code and stability standards and identify violations.
Develop and maintain grid code compliance devices, platforms and algorithms.
Prepare technical reports for regulated audits of interconnections points.
Validate power system models for distribution, transmission and generation.
Assist with all grid on-site testing and commissioning activities to maintain operational compliance.
Retrieve constant system congestion, thermal limits, voltage parameters, and reactive power requirements.
Analyze generation sources performance, fuel consumption, system response ramp rate capability and constraint impact for operational/dispatching means.
Maintain planning standards, templates and repeatable analyses using scripting practices.
Evaluate integration impacts of inverter-based resources (inertia, fault current contribution, system response, grid-forming behaviour) and issue protection/control narratives.
Issue system changes periodically for UFLS, volt/var, system response and protection schemes.
Integrate and validate telemetry points, scan data quality, synchronization and time stamping assignments.
The successful candidate will hold a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (Power Systems) and have 2–3 years of experience in engineering operations, planning, system studies, and fault analysis. They will demonstrate proficiency in power system simulation tools (e.g., DigSILENT, PSS/E, ETAP, CYME) and relevant scripting languages. The candidate will possess a strong understanding of grid codes, interconnection requirements, and power system studies, along with excellent technical report writing and analytical skills. Experience with data analysis and visualization tools such as advanced Excel, Power BI, Minitab, and Tableau is essential. Familiarity with telemetry systems, performance monitoring, automation, and machine learning applications in power systems will be considered an asset.
