Principal Instrumentation & Controls 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 Engineer) to work on a 6-8 months ad-hoc assignment with one of our clients on a Hydroelectric Pumped Storage project. We are looking for an SME who is able to provide engineering expertise for the operation, maintenance, modernization, and reliability improvement of hydroelectric pumped storage generating facilities. The position requires extensive knowledge of hydropower plant operations, turbine-generator controls, governor systems, excitation systems, Distributed Control Systems (DCS) and industry standards including IEEE Std 1010, Guide for Control of Hydroelectric Power Plants.

Responsibilities

• Analyze plant operating issues and develop corrective actions.
• Support unit start-up, shutdown, synchronization, and operating sequence improvements.
• Review operating procedures and recommend enhancements for safety and reliability.
• Lead modernization projects involving replacement of legacy relay-based control systems with distributed control systems (DCS).
• Evaluate existing relay logic, hardwired control schemes, and electromechanical sequencing circuits and translate them into modern software-based control logic.
• Develop control narratives, functional design specifications, and sequence-of-operation documentation for digital control implementations.
• Review and validate conversion of unit startup, shutdown, synchronization, load control, and protection interface functions from relay-based systems to modern DCS architectures.
• Support Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, and operational readiness reviews.
• Coordinate with Operations and Maintenance personnel to ensure digital control systems support established plant operating practices and reliability objectives.
• Verify compliance with hydroelectric control system industry practices as defined in IEEE Std 1010, including unit control, monitoring, local/remote operation, centralized control, and control system interfaces.
• Develop and review control logic narratives and sequence of operation documents.
• Implement control system upgrades and modernization projects.

Requirements

• Direct experience modernizing hydroelectric pumped storage generating units from relay-based controls to: Emerson Ovation.
• Experience replacing: Generator start/stop relay logic.
• Auxiliary system relay controls.
• Governor control systems.
• Excitation control systems.
• Synchronizing systems.
• Knowledge of turbine-generator operational sequencing and the interaction between control, protection, and monitoring systems.
• Experience developing and reviewing: Control logic diagrams.
• I/O databases.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in power generation, hydroelectric facilities, and industrial control systems.
• Working knowledge of: Hydroelectric pumped storage turbine-generator systems.
• Governor systems.
• Excitation systems.
• SCADA and DCS platforms.
• Protection and control systems.
• Experience with plant operations and troubleshooting.
• Experience with hydroelectric modernization projects.
• Familiarity with IEEE Std 1010 and IEEE Std 1249.
• Experience with Emerson Ovation DCS.
• Knowledge of NERC, FERC, utility operating requirements, and cyber security practices.
• Requirement Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline.
• Previous experience in Hydroelectric Power Plants.