Joachim Seel
Dr. Joachim (Jo) Seel is a Policy Researcher at the Energy Markets and Planning Department at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is an energy economist specializing in the valuation and integration of generator and storage assets in wholesale power markets. His work focuses on the economics of utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage, transmission interconnection costs, and the evolution of electricity markets under high shares of variable generation.
He has two decades of experience working across the U.S. and Europe and has advised governments, system operators, utilities, and private investors on variable generation integration strategies and market policy. He has delivered nearly 150 invited presentations to industry stakeholders, regulatory agencies, academic institutions, and international energy forums. He has published over 75 papers, ranging from high impact journals and national laboratory technical papers to applied policy briefs. His past work experience includes stations at the European Parliament in Belgium, the American Wind Energy Association in Washington, D.C., the Commission for Renewable Energy Development at the Chinese Energy Ministry in Beijing, and the German Federal Ministry for Energy and the Economy in Berlin.
Joachim Seel holds a PhD and MS of Energy and Resources and a Master in Public Policy from UC Berkeley. A native of Hamburg, Jo came to the Bay Area from the international Jacobs University in Germany, where he studied environmental policies and international relations.
Curriculum Vitae
seel_cv_3-page_2023.01.10.pdfAwards
Spot: Joachim Seel - December 12th 2025
Extraordinary persistence in nurturing relationships across external institutions, helping multiple legal teams find harmony, and gaining access to new data sources supporting high impact hybrid power plant research.
2023 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement: Societal Impact - November 13th 2023
The Interconnection Team’s work has served as a foundational resource for stakeholders engaged in reforming how generators connect to the power grid. It has facilitated a shared understanding of the nature of the challenge and is directly motivating institutional reform.
Spot: Joachim Seel - November 9th 2022
For exceptional performance and tireless effort to generate and release the MISO interconnection cost report prior to the FERC NOPR comment deadline.
Spot: Will Gorman, Joseph Rand, Joachim Seel - February 24th 2022
For successful leadership of interconnection queue and hybrid top-10 projects.
Spot: IEA Wind Expert Survey Team - November 30th 2020
For your leadership in the formulation, design, execution and analysis of the IEA Wind expert survey on future wind energy costs.
Spot: Joachim Seel - June 7th 2018
For demonstrating leadership in analyzing, communicating and disseminating research on the impacts of variable renewable resources on electricity prices.
WindEurope Summit 2016 Poster Award: Ryan Wiser, Jo Seel - October 4th 2016
Ryan Wiser and Joachim Seel were co-authors on a winning poster at the WindEurope Summit 2016. Along with Volker Berkhout (Fraunhofer IWES), Roberto Lacal-Arantegui (EC Joint Research Centre), Maureen Hand (NREL), Karen Jenni (Insight Decisions, LLC), Eric Lantz(NREL), Aaron Smith(NREL) Erin Baker(University of Massachusetts—Amherst) they won the Best Poster Award in the finance track. Their poster, titled “The World’s Leading Experts Opine on Future Wind Energy Costs and Cost Drivers,” is based on the report Forecasting Wind Energy Costs and Cost Drivers: The Views of the World’s Leading Experts.
Spot: Joachim Seel - April 13th 2016
For your leadership in executing the IEA wind expert elicitation survey: truly a herculean effort.