Posting Title

Postdoctoral Researcher: Modeling and Stability Analysis for Modern Power Systems

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Location

CO - Golden

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Position Type

Postdoc (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development.

Join the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NREL stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NREL, you’ll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

Job Description

Grid Automation and Control (GAC) Group of the Power Systems and Engineering Center (PSEC) at NREL is looking for an exceptional Ph.D. graduate to support research in the modeling and simulation of the modern power grids, while the power grid  is transitioning to a grid with increasing growth of load and inverter-based resources(IBRs). The successful candidate will be working on cutting-edge projects in power system modeling, simulation, and stability analysis. The successful candidate is expected to bring in solid large-scale bulk power system modeling and simulation expertise to address the stability, reliability challenges of the future grid.

PSEC supports the science and technology goals of the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL, and industry partners toward a sustainable energy future. We work with the electricity industry and broader research community to conduct high-impact research and development that provides practical solutions to grid design and integration challenges that enable sustainable energy systems. PSEC uniquely combines the most advanced research techniques with real-world experience for achieving sustainable electricity grids.

The successful candidate will join the GAC group in the Power System Engineering Center (PSEC) at NREL, a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative team of engineers, analysts, and software developers. GAC works to develop and apply state-of-the-art energy system modeling techniques, software, and simulations for breakthrough engineering and techno-economic analysis of the emerging future electric grid and broader interconnected energy system: transportation, buildings, gas, communication/controls, and beyond.

Job duties and responsibilities include:

• Conduct transient analysis (small-signal, transient, and voltage stability) for high IBR-dominated systems.

• Support large-scale system studies (e.g., national-scale scenarios) using commercial tools (e.g., PSSE, DIgSILENT PowerFactory, PSCAD) or open-source tools (e.g., ParaEMT, ANDES and others).

• Develop new type of electrical components (such as advanced pumped storage hydro, data center, etc.) for large-scale power grids study.

• Support interconnection studies, grid impact assessments, and compliance studies.

• Prepare the results in form of reports and presentations.

• Write and publish results of analyses in peer-reviewed journals, transactions, conference proceedings, and/or technical reports.

This will be a hybrid position (mix of in-person work at South Table Mountain Campus in Golden, CO and work-from-home days, in any given work week), unless otherwise agreed upon by the Hiring Manager.

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Basic Qualifications

Must be a recent PhD graduate within the last three years.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Relevant Ph.D. in Electrical