Description
Participate in design and optimization of utility-scale renewable plants, including wind, solar, and battery storage facilities. Perform comprehensive electrical system studies, ensure compliance with interconnection requirements and seamless integration of renewable assets into the power grid, and mentor and guide junior studies engineers. Work with lead design engineers and clients to develop electrical models and studies to support the project design process. Develop detailed system models that accurately represent the plant in design and perform a variety of studies, including short circuit and effective grounding, load flow and reactive power, harmonics, insulation coordination, power and energy loss, concentric neutral induced voltage, arc flash, grounding, lightning risk assessments, and transient studies for switching and overvoltage. Produce written reports conveying study results within the project schedule. Coordinate with internal project leads and project managers, as well as external clients, owners, and related engineers (such as independent and owner’s engineers).
Requirements
1. Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with coursework in power systems or electric power engineering earned from an ABET-accredited institution.
2. Must have a Professional Engineer (PE) or equivalent license.
3. Seven (7) years of professional engineering experience in electrical plant design and operation and electrical power systems modeling and studies.
4. Five (5) years of experience in utility-scale renewable power plant electrical design, modeling, and analysis, which may have been gained as a part of or in addition to the professional engineering experience.
5. Additional experience must include:
- Protection and control in utility and renewable systems.
- Providing independent review and feedback on electrical power systems studies for renewable power plant designs.
- Solar photovoltaic, wind, and battery storage project design, including the electrical aspects of these designs.
- Power systems analysis and electrical systems studies and related concepts including for load flow and reactive power, short circuit and effective grounding, insulation coordination, power and energy loss, harmonic, voltage flicker, transient overvoltage (TOV), transient recovery voltage (TRV), capacitor switching, transformer inrush, protection coordination, and transient stability studies.
- DIgSILENT PowerFactory as a primary modeling tool – specifically for performance of detailed system modeling, load flow and reactive power analysis, short circuit and effective grounding analysis, harmonic and voltage flicker analysis, and protective device coordination.
- Modeling and analysis with ETAP, PSCAD, ASPEN, CAPE, and CYMCAP.
- Dynamic plant and control-system modeling in PSSE and PSLF.
- Applicable standards in IEEE, ICEA, NFPA, OSHA, NEC, and IEC.
- Grid interconnection requirements and performance of reactive power studies to demonstrate facility compliance with local and federal requirements.
- relay protection setting and setting software (SEL-AcSelerator, GE-Enervesta)
- NERC standard, PRC-001, PRC-019, PRC-024, PRC-025?,PRC-029
- Programming language using C/C++/Python scripts for automation.
- Model Quality Test by following regional utility standards such as ERCOT, MISO.
6. Must have current authorization to be employed in the U.S. without employer sponsorship.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with coursework in power systems or electric power engineering from an ABET-accredited institution
- Professional Engineer (PE) or equivalent license
- Seven years of professional engineering experience in electrical plant design and operation and electrical power systems modeling and studies
- Five years of experience in utility-scale renewable power plant electrical design, modeling, and analysis
- Experience with protection and control in utility and renewable systems
- Experience independently reviewing electrical power systems studies for renewable power plant designs
- Experience with solar photovoltaic, wind, and battery storage project electrical design
- Experience with power systems analysis and electrical studies, including load flow, reactive power, short circuit, grounding, insulation coordination, losses, harmonics, voltage flicker, transient overvoltage, transient recovery voltage, capacitor switching, transformer inrush, protection coordination, and transient stability
- Experience using DIgSILENT PowerFactory for detailed system modeling and electrical studies
- Experience with ETAP, PSCAD, ASPEN, CAPE, and CYMCAP
- Experience with dynamic plant and control-system modeling in PSSE and PSLF
- Knowledge of IEEE, ICEA, NFPA, OSHA, NEC, and IEC standards
- Experience with grid interconnection requirements and reactive power studies demonstrating compliance with local and federal requirements
- Experience with relay protection settings and setting software, including SEL AcSELerator and GE ENERVISTA
- Knowledge of NERC standards PRC-001, PRC-019, PRC-024, PRC-025, and PRC-029
- Programming experience using C, C++, or Python scripts for automation
- Experience performing model quality tests according to regional utility standards such as ERCOT and MISO
- Current authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship
Westwood Professional Services Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Westwood Professional Services and has not been reviewed or approved by Westwood Professional Services.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match plus profit sharing is emphasized, with contributions into the plan noted when performance is strong. This structure is consistently highlighted as a meaningful part of total rewards.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage with HSA/FSA options and an EAP form the core of a comprehensive package. The breadth of health offerings is presented as competitive for the industry.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellness programs, tuition reimbursement, certification support, identity protection, pet insurance, and referral bonuses indicate breadth beyond core benefits. Additional perks like holiday cash and student-loan services reinforce lifestyle support.
Westwood Professional Services Insights
What We Do
Westwood is a leading multi-disciplined AEC industry professional services provider for national wind energy, solar energy, electric transmission, private development, and public infrastructure projects. Westwood was established in 1972 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Through a focus on its people, culture, and clients, Westwood has quickly expanded to serve clients across the nation from multiple U.S. offices. Awards In 2021, Westwood placed #4 and #21 respectively on Zweig Group’s national Hot Firms’ and Best Firms to Work for Lists, and received two 2nd place awards for Zweig’s Marketing Excellence. Westwood also ranked consistently higher four years in a row on the Engineering News Record (ENR) list as a leading design firm in the country. The firm consistently ranks on industry top 25 lists and receives recognition for its involvement on award-winning projects nationwide. Multi-Disciplined Surveying & Engineering Services Westwood’s core services, surveying and engineering, are greatly enhanced by the in-house expertise of our planners, landscape architects, GIS experts, and environmental scientists. As a full-service firm, our clients are able to easily tap into the extra knowledge it sometimes takes to keep projects moving forward. Westwood’s multi-disciplinary services frequently provide all that is needed in one consultant. We offer several services including surveying, aerial mapping and LiDAR, civil engineering, PV engineering, water resources management, transportation engineering, construction management, land planning & design, landscape architecture, environmental permitting, GIS, cultural resource services, NPDES and SWPPP compliance. - See more at: https://westwoodps.com/about-us/our-company
