Posting Title

Graduate (Year-Round) Intern - Wind Energy Cost, Market, and Supply Chain

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Location

CO - Boulder

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Position Type

Intern (Fixed Term)

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL

NREL’s 305-acre Flatirons Campus is the nation’s premier wind energy, water power, and grid integration research facility. Nestled south of Boulder, Colorado, and north of NREL’s main South Table Mountain campus, Flatirons sits adjacent to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and countless acres of open space and parks with stunning views of the Flatirons rock formations.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our ten employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

We invite all interested candidates to apply for this opportunity. While we recognize that job seekers may hesitate if they don’t meet every requirement, we encourage dedicated individuals who meet all the basic and additional required qualifications of the role to submit an application. We value the opportunity to consider those who believe they have the necessary skills and ambition to succeed at NREL.

Job Description

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado, is the nation’s primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) and our Flatirons Campus has pioneered wind turbine components, systems, and modeling methods that have driven the industry's acceleration over the past 40 years.

NREL conducts a suite of technology, cost, supply chain, and market tracking activities that inform a wide range of industry, governmental, and regulatory decision-making activities. An internship is available to support the NWTC team that collects, synthesizes, analyzes, and reports on these types of data related to land-based, offshore, and distributed wind energy. The activities in this role will include:

• Tracking relevant industry trends such as the evolution of next generation turbines and components, the location and design of new wind projects, or the status of offshore wind electricity offtake contracts
• Understanding broader economic conditions that impact wind projects, such as inflation or interest rate trends, financing parameters, or commodity price indices
• Characterizing and analyzing representative land-based, offshore, and distributed wind projects that capture the spectrum of real-world project designs
• Modeling the range of costs associated with these projects
• Engaging with industry and government reviewers.

The intern will be expected to use NREL’s suite of Python-based techno-economic models (such as LandBOSSE, ORBIT, WOMBAT) to reflect market conditions, assess cost outputs, conduct sensitivity studies, and present results. Previous familiarity with these models is preferred but not required. The intern will be expected to analyze the cost results from the models to assess key cost trends through the industry while also being able to troubleshoot code and model outputs for errors or limitations. The intern will contribute to high