Omar José Guerra Fernández is a research engineer in the Distribution Edge Group within the Grid Planning and Analysis Center. Omar is conducting research to develop a better understanding of the economics of renewable energy technologies, including energy storage, hydrogen, wind power, solar photovoltaic power, and CO₂ electrolysis technologies.

Research Interests

Economics of long-duration and seasonal energy storage technologies

Economics of grid-integrated hydrogen production systems

Integration of wind and solar photovoltaic power sources into energy systems

Techno-economic assessment of CO₂ electrolysis

Large-scale optimization and decision-making under uncertainty

Modeling, simulation, and optimization of integrated energy systems

Coordination of electricity and natural gas grids

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of São Paulo (USP)

B.S., Chemical Engineering, Industrial University of Santander (UIS)

Professional Experience

Research Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (2020–Present)

Postdoctoral Researcher, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (2017–2020)

Junior Researcher, Colombian Petroleum Research Institute (ICP)-ECOPETROL (2010–2013)

Associations and Memberships

Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)

Featured Work

Optimal Energy Storage Portfolio for High and Ultra-High Carbon-Free and Renewable Power Systems, Energy & Environmental Science (2021)

Beyond Short-Duration Energy Storage, Nature Energy (2021)

Coordinated Operation of Electricity and Natural Gas Systems from Day-ahead to Real-time Markets, Journal of Cleaner Production (2021)

The Value of Seasonal Energy Storage Technologies for the Integration of Wind and Solar Power, Energy & Environmental Science (2020)

Cost Competitiveness of Electrolytic Hydrogen, Joule (2019)

Integrated Shale Gas Supply Chain Design and Water Management under Uncertainty, AIChE Journal (2019)

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for a Hydro-Dominated Power System via Stochastic Optimization, Applied Energy (2019)

Advances and Challenges in Water Management within Energy Systems, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2018)

An Optimization Framework for the Integration of Water Management and Shale Gas Supply Chain Design, Computers & Chemical Engineering (2016)

An Optimization Framework for the Integrated Planning of Generation and Transmission Expansion in Interconnected Power Systems, Applied Energy (2016)

Awards and Honors

NREL President’s Award (2021)

College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award, Purdue University (2017)

Top 10 in the Superior Education State Exams (ECAES) (2004)