Project Engineer: Solar PV

Mulilo; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading renewable energy company in Cape Town is seeking a Project Engineer: Solar PV. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in renewable energy plants and project implementation, driving technical development and ensuring project delivery on time and within budget. Strong engineering skills, particularly in solar PV design and project management, are essential for success in this role, which offers competitive remuneration and growth opportunities.

Benefits

Competitive total remuneration package

Career progression opportunities

Dynamic working environment

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience within utility solar power systems.
• Familiarity with applicable codes, standards, and regulations in South Africa.
• Strong engineering and technical skills in solar PV projects.

Responsibilities

• Support engineering for utility-scale solar PV projects.
• Manage external engineering firms and subcontractors.
• Conduct long-term energy yield forecasts.

Skills

Project Management

Problem Solving

Technical Support

Stakeholder Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical / Mechanical / Mechatronics Engineering

Tools

AutoCAD

PVSyst

MS Office Suite

Job description

About the Company

Since its establishment in 2008, Mulilo has grown into one of the leading Independent Power Producers (IPP) in Southern Africa. Mulilo is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the world’s leading private equity investor in renewable energy assets, through its New Markets Fund I. Mulilo has concluded numerous PPA's in both the Department of Mineral Energy's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) and with several large corporate energy users. Mulilo currently operates 450MW of wind and solar PV projects and has a further 500MW of projects under financial close and close to 1GWh of energy storage projects awarded with its partners. Having adopted a strategy that aligns with the company's long-term vision, Mulilo has accumulated a pipeline of projects exceeding 25GW, and is now positioned as a key player in the renewable energy sector.

Mulilo places strong emphasis on its human capital and prides itself in providing a world class working environment for all its employees, thereby placing huge value on career progression and personal growth.

Mulilo is guided by strong ethical principles and adheres to its environmental, social and governance responsibilities.

About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)

Founded in 2012, CIP is the world’s largest dedicated renewable energy fund manager and a global leader in offshore wind. CIP currently manages over 20 billion Euro’s, with a target of having 100 billion Euros under management by 2030. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X.

About this role

To strengthen our Engineering team, we are looking for a Project Engineer: Solar PV who has already gained experience in the field of renewable energy plants, including with project implementation.

You will drive the technical development, engineering design, construction technical support, commissioning, and closing of all activities on specific solar PV projects within Mulilo’s larger portfolio. Additionally, providing technical support for Mulilo’s operational solar PV portfolio is a key responsibility. This hands-on role will involve site-based activities from time to time, requiring the ideal candidate to have experience in the full lifecycle of solar PV projects, along with strong project management and engineering skills. The successful candidate will play a critical role in ensuring projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to high-quality and safety standards, contributing significantly to the success of Mulilo’s renewable energy initiatives.

While housed within the EPC department, Mulilo’s professional Engineering team is tasked with providing engineering support to all facets of Mulilo’s business divisions and collaboration between multidisciplinary teams is a cornerstone of Mulilo’s culture.

Duties and responsibilities

Project Engineering & Lifecycle Management

• Support all engineering aspects of specific utility-scale solar PV projects from early-stage development through bidding, financial close, construction, commissioning, and into operation.

• Work together with the Construction team by ensuring that construction activities match designs and technical specifications, responding to site technical queries, and regularly engaging with project stakeholders to strengthen the collaborative relationship between site and office based team members.
• Solve complex problems, conduct root cause analysis, and support troubleshooting, fault analysis, and technical investigations.
• Provide technical input to the development of project budgets.

Technical Design & Analysis

• Use computer design software to develop designs for solar PV systems and analyse project sites for utility-scale solar PV projects.
• Conduct long-term energy yield forecasts based on accurate PVSyst models.

• Support the development of technical due diligence, fatal flaw analysis, and risk assessments frameworks and application of these to feasibility stage solar PV projects.

• Recommend engineering or manufacturing changes based on project objectives and issues.

Stakeholder & Commercial Management

• Manage external engineering firms, subcontractors, and internal members to meet company objectives on time, on budget, and at a high quality standard.

• Support technical negotiations with stakeholders in new solar PV projects including, equipment suppliers, EPC contractors, Balance of Plant contractors, consultants, and permitting and regulatory officials.

• Support the Procurement team in developing RFPs, and performing technical reviews of proposals received from equipment suppliers and/or subcontractors.
• Contribute to the drafting, review, and markup of project technical documents, including EPC contracts and the related performance and liquidated damages provisions, operating and maintenance plans, procedures manuals, blueprints, and schematics.

Process Improvement & Strategic Development

• Contribute to and develop the solar PV Engineering team’s capacity to support Mulilo’s overall business objectives.
• Standardise and strengthen technical documentation, in-house tools, and engineering policies and procedures to facilitate continuous improvement.
• Support the development of internal tools, methodologies, and specifications to ensure optimal project designs considering Levelised Cost of Energy (LCoE), constructability, efficiency, and overall system performance.
• Drive a culture of value engineering and encourage innovation for best-in-class system design.

Quality, Compliance & Reporting

• Participate in internal and external design review meetings, verifying compliance with internal and external design and quality requirements, and contractual obligations.
• Ensure all project aspects are documented and completed to high standards of quality.
• Ensure that projects and processes comply with statutory obligations, company policies, and required codes, standards, regulations, and laws.
• Write reports, record key correspondence, and document meeting minutes with suppliers and other key stakeholders.

Required skills and education background.

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical / Mechanical / Mechatronics Engineering required.
• 3+ years professional work experience within the utility solar power systems space working on engineering and technical aspects of the projects.
• Experienced, professionally registered, candidates with 5+ years experience would be preferred.
• Experience in wind, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and high voltage electrical infrastructure beneficial.
• Proficiency in computer design software, AutoCAD, and specialised solar software of importance, i.e. PVSyst.
• Working proficiency in MS Office suite, notably Excel, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint and Word.
• Familiarity with applicable codes, standards and regulations used in South Africa.
• Ability to manage project deliverables on several projects running concurrently with time and budgetary sensitivities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work with contractors, advisors, consultants, and staff in a team environment.
• Meticulous and methodical when solving complex problems in various situations.
• Eager to be part of a fast-growing, dynamic department in a rapidly developing part of the power sector.
• Driven to be a part of the solutions to address the challenges faced by current society

Desirable attributes

The ideal candidate would have a passion for the Renewable Energy sector and personality traits would include a high level of diligence, determination, resilience, and agility.

Mulilo is an employer of choice and is offering an extremely competitive total remuneration package for this position.

Additional Information

Able to work overtime according to operational needs.

The position is based at the offices of the company, but travel may be required occasionally.