Energy Operations Planner

R10087433 Energy Operations Planner (Open)

Location

Houston, TX (HO) - NAM Corporate

Air Liquide Large Industries provides our customers with industrial gas and energy solutions that are vital to their own industrial production. We own and operate over 2,000 miles of industrial gas pipelines in the U.S. supplying mainly oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and syngas in large quantities from multiple production sources to major customers in the chemicals, petrochemicals, refining and steel industries. Our pipeline operations and industrial gas production facilities are closely monitored 24/7 within our leading-edge operations control center located in Houston, Texas. Our operations control group monitors over 89,000 data points and assists with product supply and coordination. We are constantly optimizing our supply network to provide high reliability and energy efficiencies allowing Air Liquide to adjust supply needs more quickly and effectively enabling growth to our customers.

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

At Air Liquide, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the unique perspectives of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders, and cultures across the world. We believe that a variety of backgrounds makes our team stronger and more innovative.

The role of the E2E Planning team is to operationally optimize the product supply and energy portfolios in real-time, while mitigating risk. The team drives daily and short term operational decisions and transactions. Pipeline operations, industrial gas product supply, and cogeneration are closely monitored 24/7 within a leading-edge real-time operations control center (ROCC) located in Houston, Texas. The supply network is constantly optimized to provide high reliability and energy efficiencies allowing ALLIUS to meet all customers’ supply needs in real-time and to maximize economic performance.

The Energy Operations Planner is a member of ALLIUS E2E Planning team and reports to the Product Supply Operations Manager. The position is located in Houston, TX.

Product supply planning, Load and cogeneration optimization

• Manages network customer supply, production asset configuration, and power market participation (energy balance, ancillary services, and demand response) for Steam/Water/Power networks
• Develops the product supply Steam/Water dispatch plans, the cogeneration dispatch plans and the load schedules, for day ahead and month ahead, and for implementation in real-time by the OCC controllers.
• Develops and publishes the mid-term operational strategy including turnaround and outage schedules, by collaborating with customers, production facilities, maintenance, and Energy Management
• Responsible for energy invoice validation on a monthly basis. Confirming power usage, tariffs on the invoice match monthly actuals.  Flagging any discrepancies and assisting to resolve the invoice.
• Collaborates with customers, utility suppliers, commercial,  and operational stakeholders to minimize impacts on customers during abnormal and emergency situations. Communicates effectively with customers’ operation personnel and with suppliers during such events.
• Develops understanding of all utilities provided to ALLIUS facilities from third parties, including customers, and the impact of third party outages on ALLIUS operations. Seeks to understand the root cause of the outages (sequence of events) and drives resolution and recovery activities at all levels. Reports on recovery plans and status, including timeline for restored operations.
• Responsible for Control Room Management Program regulatory compliance by managing sections of the program as the section lead.
• Plans, documents and monitors plant power curtailments and interruptions and ensures procedures reflect current strategy.
• Establishes and improves, for execution by the OCC controllers, the protocols and offers/bids for any real-time energy and ancillary services (generation and load) and for steam optimization, in compliance with Energy Flex strategy.
• Monitors the load on the power grid, weather data, and market prices, to identify curtailment dispatch risk to minimize transmission capacity costs of ALLIUS and risk to other products.
• Interfaces with relevant ISO market QSE/REP and energy suppliers to understand current grid topology and real-time supply/demand balance, and to capture short term bilateral opportunities.
• Goal of zero impacts to customers due to operational execution.
• Executes month-ahead and day-ahead congestion management transactions, in compliance with Energy Flex strategy.
• Is the OCC champion of Hurricane Planning communication to customers, including representing nitrogen supply and operations.
• Requires 24/7 on-call during operations and may be part of emergency ride-out crew during extreme events. Can be consulted outside of normal working hours by OCC operations, plant operations, and management. Coordinates coverage with fellow Pipeline Product Managers and receives support in turn.

Interfaces and Tools

• Accountable for meeting Energy Flex targets and maximizing the operational margins. Provides comments and variance analysis to upper management as part of close the loop.
• Ensures all power transactions are recorded and monitored. Provides daily/monthly reports on results/trends, performs monthly accruals, and reconciles supplier invoices for validation.
• Coordinates closely with the Real-Time team to manage network changes as they impact operations and energy position; sustains midterm operational plan to support Real-Time shift change, particularly through flagging asset capacity issues and SCADA power irregularities for resolution.
• Drives pipeline controllers’ network strategy for implementation in real-time as a network subject matter expert:
• Technical trainer for their network including understanding of major trips, optimization potentials, and generation constraints
• Assesses changes to Energy participation or Steam/Water networks before they occur for training and understanding by the Controller team.
• Provides feedback and lessons learned to controllers as a group or individually based on Real Time performance.
• Coordinates with other Pipeline Managers where overlapping network risks or opportunities exist.
• Support Pipeline Project Team:
• Facilitates implementation of 1-2 projects annually that improve the team’s ability to perform job scopes, communicate more effectively or create processes that drive standardization.
• Collaborates with optimization experts to improve optimization of network with the goal of understanding and learning from operational decisions for long term business performance improvement.
• Assists in Extreme Weather (tropical or freezing) Planning and Recovery as needed to support impacted networks.
• Participates in customer meetings to discuss pipeline product availability, restrictions, supply incidents.
• Participates in root cause analysis involving pipeline customer impact as required.   Participates in vulnerability studies to ensure network impact is appropriately represented.
• Cross-train with peers where network attributes or CRM duties overlap with goal of vacation coverage and team redundancy particularly during extreme weather events.

Analysis and Strategy

• Provides incremental energy cost forecast for systems to ensure optimization of plant operating scenarios.
• Works with Operations and Energy Managers and recommends improvements to current operational strategies and procedures. Ensures implications and requirements are translated between long-term strategy and short-term execution.
• Develops all energy optimization and curtailment execution procedures, in compliance with Energy Flex strategy, and ensures they reflect current market and operating conditions.
• Participates in planning in the long term by collaborating with all stakeholder teams to provide an operational perspective and input into new customer agreements, energy contracts, Energy Flex strategy, and other long-term decisions related to network operations; utilizes hydraulic modeling when appropriate to steam, water, and energy utility risk to other products.
• Coordinates the long term outage plan for each major pipeline asset, with goal of understanding and mitigating major outage risks with a plan a year in advance of maintenance.
• Supports implementation of operational tool projects; share in collaboration among cross-functional teams in the E2E Center.
• Performs analysis and implements new processes and tools as necessary to support the operations team; identifies and understands operational constraints or inefficiencies.

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Are you a MATCH?

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Business required.
• Minimum of 4 years experience in and working knowledge of the power markets or equivalent experience in Industrial Gas Industry with a focus on Energy.
• Strong accuracy in data management and analytical skills. Proven ability to acquire and interpret external and internal data making links to operational processes, and to accurately analyze and organize voluminous data to measure results and performance.
• Ability to work autonomously and with limited oversight.
• Good problem solving skills. Comfortable under pressure. 
• Strong computing skills, including adept use of spreadsheets. Proficiency in Google Docs and Sheets. Familiar with business reporting systems a plus: PowerBI, Tableau, Oracle, etc.
• Ability to manage initiatives and projects from idea generation through to execution and delivery. Strong interpersonal, networking, negotiation and facilitation skills. 
• Proven and strong written and verbal communication skills; including the ability to produce high quality documents and presentations to management. 
• Ability to work within both the formal and informal organization to communicate needs, obtain assistance and resolve issues.
• Available 24/7 as needed by OCC with ability to be on call and can be consulted outside of normal working hours by OCC operations, plant operations, and management.
• Ability to travel up to 6 weeks a year.

Our Differences make our Performance

At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.