Founder at AI Empower. PhD ABD. Disclosure: I use human-in-loop AI as an assistant in managing this profile. Don't worry- the sass is all me 🤘🏻

Forward-thinking Technology Leader with 20+ years’ experience driving strategic innovation and organizational impact. Adept at leveraging AI, Power Platform, and collaboration solutions to deliver cost-effective, secure, and user-centric systems. Excels at bridging business and technology, guiding cross-functional teams, and championing initiatives that improve access, streamline operations, and reinforce a culture of continuous innovation—particularly within nonprofit and healthcare environments.

Cassandra Ansara

SSEN Transmission 

Developing future energy scenarios and insights for the North of Scotland to develop and plan electricity network requirements within the GB Net Zero energy pathways.

Lead Manager, Energy Insights

As the leader of the Energy Scenarios team at SSEN Transmission, I manage a multidisciplinary team of analysts, engineers, and data professionals. Our collective efforts are focused on turning complex data into actionable strategies. Our focus is on forecasting and strategic planning, ensuring we stay ahead of future energy demand and supply scenarios. This critical insight informs our planning and investment decisions, enabling SSEN Transmission to navigate the complexities of the energy transition towards Net Zero effectively. 

Key Highlights:
•	Insights: We provide detailed insights into markets, policy, technology, and regulation, supporting informed decision-making and strategic initiatives.
•	Strategic Industry Engagement: Our team builds strategic relationships with the Electricity System Operator (ESO) and other important stakeholders, promoting effective collaboration in energy planning.
•	Innovation in Planning Tools: We are focused on developing new tools and methodologies for energy scenario planning. These innovations, which include spatial targets, improve our strategic planning processes and underscore SSEN Transmission’s role in achieving a Net Zero future.

Energy Scenarios Manager

Mott MacDonald

•	Headed a team of five consultants managing team resource capacity and project prioritisation, learning and development, and building team growth potential through business development, selective recruitment, and software procurement.
•	Provided techno-economic expertise on a diverse range of projects, advising on expansion planning, energy market modelling, and renewable energy integration, which supported strategic investment decisions, including asset transaction due diligence and allocation of innovation funding.
•	Guaranteed delivery of high-quality and high-impact technical reports and presentations, reinforcing the company's position as a trusted advisor to esteemed clients. 
•	Spearheaded the integration of Machine Learning in forecasting; the use of advanced modelling tools, including PLEXOS; and developed custom Excel tools, to enhance predictive analysis capabilities.

Team Leader | Economics & Modelling Consultant

Senior Consultant for net-zero enabling decarbonisation strategies and innovation in upstream energy and downstream power markets through cutting-edge modelling and data analysis. 

•	Directed specialized advisory services, offering technical insights on energy and storage cost analyses, market modelling, and asset due diligence.
•	Managed multiple high-value projects, leading multi-disciplinary teams to deliver strategic insights for investment decisions and practical solutions to renewable energy system integration challenges.
•	Advised on the strategic distribution of innovation funds for energy sector innovation projects.
•	Managed high-value complex projects, leading multi-disciplinary teams and expanding the service offering, thereby enriching the client portfolio and the company's market presence.
•	Made key contributions to the development and deployment of smart energy solutions, enhancing the product suite with Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings for the energy sector.

Senior Energy Strategy and Innovation Consultant

Consultant for evaluating strategic policy and investment decisions across upstream energy and downstream power markets focused on delivering innovative approaches to the challenges of 21st century energy systems.  Providing focused and efficient thought leadership services through detailed techno-economic modelling.

Energy Strategy and Innovation Consultant

Specialist Advisory - Advised on and contributed to a large number of  projects providing key technical inputs on Levelised Cost of Energy and Storage Analysis, Unit Commitment and Economic Dispatch modelling, Long-term expansion planning and investment decisions, operational modelling for renewable energy integration and island systems, ancillary services, energy storage technologies, multi-criteria decision modelling, due diligence. Built a number of excel-based modelling tools for client use (featuring VBA supported functionality); authored technical reports and literature reviews for high profile clients. 

Project Management - Successfully managed teams of experts on several projects ranging from smaller assignments to larger projects with fee values up to £ 250k, in full compliance with business management systems.

Business Development - Authored a number of successful proposals, up to fee values of £ 200k.

Energy Advisory Consultant

Contributing to the Energy Advisory Business in the Power Sector.

•	Joined multidisciplinary teams of economists, accountants, and engineers, supporting power projects with techno-economic analyses and optimisation modelling.
•	Contributed to the development of bespoke analytic tools and models.

Graduate Economist

The University of Edinburgh

Lecturer on macro- and energy economic questions of sustainability.

Presented outcomes of Master's thesis at the 1st Vienna Conference on Pluralism in Economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Guest Lecturer

ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH

•	Conducted economic and industry analysis to inform strategic sales management and planning for multinational corporation.
•	Performed process and data analysis to derive actionable market insights.
•	Implemented analytical findings to drive sales growth and market expansion.

Sales Services Intern

IAA Covent Garden

•	Managed and maintained data integrity for central business information systems.
•	Conducted comprehensive research to support the production and dissemination of online publications.
•	Facilitated client relations by engaging the community of existing and prospective partners.
•	Organized and conducted meetings to foster business relationships and promote membership growth.

Marketing Intern

Schoellerwerk GmbH & Co. KG

•	Served as a management apprentice in an industrial business, rotating through various departments.
•	Gained comprehensive exposure to all facets of business management.
•	Applied hands-on experience in operational, financial, and strategic departments.
•	Complemented on-the-job training with formal vocational school education.

Industrial Management Assistant

After a fulfilling period focused on family and personal growth, I've resumed my professional journey, now with SSEN Transmission. I'm honoured to contribute to their mission of developing the network essential for Scotland and the UK's Net Zero ambitions. 

As an Energy Economist with a solid foundation of over 8 years in power market modelling—particularly in production cost modelling—I bring extensive experience with PLEXOS to the table. My professional journey has been driven by applied linear programming for optimization using financial and economic appraisal methods, specifically in energy-related decision-making.

I take pride in my analytical abilities and my deep understanding of energy markets, energy generation technologies, and power system operation. As a key advisor to public and private sector clients globally—including the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in the UK and the Abu Dhabi Transmission System Operator—I have championed the use of innovation and data-led decision-making.

I've developed proprietary tools for forecasting and optimization. Recently, I have ventured into the realm of AI to learn how to effectively utilise this new technology to innovate in advancing the energy sector.

Christian Kaufmann

I built a home energy optimiser in Python to answer one question:

What is the optimal PV size for my house?

With EV charging, time-of-use tariffs and export payments, installer modelling felt too simplistic. I wanted to understand how robust the investment really was.

So I simulated a full year of hourly demand and generation, optimised EV charging and flexible loads, and ran 25-year discounted cashflows.

What I expected:

• Cheap nighttime EV tariff charging would seriously undermine solar PV economics
• Sizing would be sensitive

What the model says:

The larger system wins in every realistic tariff scenario. Fixed installation costs dilute better at larger size, and that effect dominates the marginal shading penalty. The ranking never flips.

Export price is the dominant variable. Around 40–60% of generation is exported. That surplus pricing drives the investment case.

EV night rate matters less than I expected.
Holding export at 12p, moving the EV night rate from 9p to 19p barely shifts IRR, roughly 7.4% to 7.3%. The optimiser (which in reality will be me) simply adjusts dispatch.

Cheap night charging does dampen PV value compared to a flat 24p import tariff, but it does not collapse the case.

Time-of-use tariffs are already doing heavy lifting.

The counterfactual is revealing.

Under a flat 24p import tariff, the annual bill is ~£1,400 without PV.
Under an EV time-of-use tariff, it is ~£935.

That delta is not solar. It is wind-heavy night electricity priced at 9p when demand in the grid is low.

PV is therefore not competing with 24p grid power. It is competing with 9p night energy for a large share of consumption. It does not collapse the economics. EV electrification, wind-heavy nighttime generation and rooftop solar are complementary in driving decarbonisation, as you would expect.

The dispatch logic is simple:

• If export tariff > EV nighttime tariff → move flexible loads overnight.
• If export tariff < EV nighttime tariff → shift flexible demand into solar hours.

Because we have meaningful flexibility, IRR is relatively stable across EV night rates. Export pricing still dominates because you cannot absorb all midday surplus without storage.

Will I add a home battery? Probably not. That is a question for another Python modelling project.

This exercise gave me numbers solid enough to take to the real investment committee at home.

Energy Economist & Modelling Professional | Planning Net Zero with SSEN Transmission 🌱 | Family-time enthusiast

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Cassandra Ansara

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