Principal I&C Engineer, Hydroelectric Pumped Storage

Airswift; Reading (Berks County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Airswift is seeking a Principal Instrumentation & Controls Engineer (Hydroelectric Pumped Storage) for a 6-8 month ad-hoc assignment with a client on a Hydroelectric Pumped Storage project.

We need an SME who can advise on operation, maintenance, modernization, and reliability improvements of hydroelectric pumped storage facilities, with extensive knowledge of hydropower plant operations, turbine-generator controls, governor and excitation systems, DCS, and IEEE standards.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in power generation, hydroelectric facilities, and industrial control systems.
• Direct experience modernizing hydroelectric pumped storage from relay-based controls to DCS (Emerson Ovation).
• Knowledge of turbine-generator sequencing and interaction between control, protection, and monitoring.
• BS in Electrical/Controls/Mechanical Eng or related discipline; Hydroelectric plant experience.

Responsibilities

• Analyze plant operating issues and develop corrective actions.
• Support unit start-up, shutdown, synchronization, and operating sequence improvements.
• Review procedures and recommend enhancements for safety and reliability.
• Lead modernization projects replacing legacy relays with DCS.
• Translate relay logic and sequencing to modern software-based control logic.
• Develop control narratives, FDS, and sequences of operation for digital control.
• Validate conversion of startup/shutdown/synchronization/load control/protection interfaces.
• Support FAT/SAT, commissioning, and readiness reviews.
• Coordinate with Operations to ensure DCS supports plant practices.
• Ensure compliance with IEEE Std 1010 and related control system interfaces.

Skills

Pumped storage

DCS/SCADA

Control systems

Commissioning

Reliability engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related

Tools

Emerson Ovation DCS

IEEE Std 1010

Job description

Airswift is seeking a Principal Instrumentation & Controls Engineer (Hydroelectric Pumped Storage) for a 6-8 month ad-hoc assignment with a client on a Hydroelectric Pumped Storage project.

We need an SME who can advise on operation, maintenance, modernization, and reliability improvements of hydroelectric pumped storage facilities, with extensive knowledge of hydropower plant operations, turbine-generator controls, governor and excitation systems, DCS, and IEEE standards.