Principal Substation Engineer - Power Plant

Requisition ID:  95199 

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Position Specific Description

The Principal Substation Engineer – Power Plant is responsible for the engineering, design, integration, and technical oversight of high  and medium voltage substations directly supporting natural gas fired power plants, including combined cycle (CC), simple cycle, and peaking facilities. This role requires hands on experience coordinating generator step up transformers (GSUs), plant auxiliaries, protection and control systems, and transmission interconnections to ensure safe, reliable, and code compliant operation of dispatchable generation assets.

Key Responsibilities

Substation & Electrical Design

• Engineer and review plant switchyards and substations (typically 13.8 kV, 18 kV, 22 kV, 34.5 kV, 115–500 kV) supporting natural gas generating units.
• Design and review GSU configurations, including bus arrangements, grounding, protection zones, and insulation coordination.
• Develop single line diagrams, three line diagrams, schematics, wiring diagrams, and equipment layouts specific to thermal power plants.
• Specify and apply: 
  
  • Power transformers (GSU, UAT, SAT)
  • Circuit breakers, disconnects, CTs, VTs, surge arresters
  • Station service and auxiliary power systems
• Write, conform and adapt Engineer of Record (EOR), Engineering Consultant, Early Stage Engineering, Construction, Engineer/Procure/Construct (EPC) and Owner furnished equipment specifications and other technical contract documents as needed for each project to put contracts in place (self-performed in areas of expertise, seeks appropriate in-house guidance in areas outside of immediate expertise, and where needed uses 3rd party engineering consultants).
• Review Engineer of Record (EOR), Engineering Consultant, Early-Stage Engineering, Contractor, Engineer/Procure/Construct (EPC) and Owner furnished equipment deliverables for contract compliance, adequacy, and completeness (self-performed in areas of expertise, seeks appropriate in-house guidance in areas outside of immediate expertise, and where needed uses third party engineering consultants when necessary)
• Work with company purchasing department to ensure that purchase orders adequately define the specified requirements and contracts are put in place.

Power Plant Integration

• Coordinate substation interfaces with: 
  
  • Gas turbine generators (CTG)
  • Steam turbine generators (STG)
  • HRSG auxiliaries and balance of plant (BOP) systems
• Support generator grounding, neutral grounding resistors/transformers, and plant grounding studies.
• Interface substation protection schemes with plant DCS, SCADA, and plant control systems.
• Support black start, fast start, and grid support operating modes where applicable.
• Coordinate/support islanded/behind the meter power supply to data centers in combination with BESS

Protection, Control & Studies

• Review or develop protection and control philosophies applicable to plant substations: 
  
  • Generator, GSU, and bus protection
  • Breaker failure and transfer trip schemes  
• Review or support electrical studies including:
  • Short circuit, load flow, arc flash
  • Insulation coordination and surge arrester selection
  • Grounding and step and touch analysis

Interconnection & Compliance

• Support ISO/RTO and utility interconnection requirements (e.g., NERC, regional transmission owner standards).
• Coordinate with transmission owners, EPCs, OEMs, and commissioning teams.
• Ensure compliance with:
  • EEE, NESC, NEC, NFPA 850, NERC PRC standards
  • Owner and transmission owner design criteria

Construction & Commissioning Support

• Provide engineering support during construction, testing, and commissioning.
• Review submittals, RFIs, design changes, and as built documentation.
• Support energization, synchronization, and outage planning activities.

Preferred Qualifications

• 10+ years of substation engineering experience, with direct experience on natural gas power plants.
• Demonstrated experience with GSU based substations for thermal generation.
• Strong familiarity with plant electrical systems and operating constraints.
• Working knowledge of applicable electrical codes and standards.
• Ability to interface with EPCs, OEMs, utilities, and internal plant stakeholders.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• Experience with combined cycle plants (1×0, 2×0, 2×1, 3×1, etc.).
• Experience supporting existing operating plants (brownfield modifications, uprates, retrofits).
• Familiarity with NERC compliance as it relates to generation and substations.
• Experience with outage work, reliability improvement projects, or fleet standardization.

Key Differentiators for This Role

• Power plant centric substation experience (not utility only or renewable only).
• Direct exposure to dispatchable generation, GSUs, and plant auxiliaries.
• Comfort operating in environments where availability, start time, and grid support are critical.

NextEra Energy offers a wide range of benefits to support our employees and their eligible family members. Click here to learn more.

Employee Group:  Exempt
Employee Type:  Full Time
Job Category:  Engineering
Organization:  NextEra Energy Project Management, LLC 
Relocation Provided:  Yes, if applicable

NextEra Energy is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, age, national origin, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetics, disability, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by law. 

NextEra Energy provides reasonable accommodation in its application and selection process for qualified individuals, including accommodations related to compliance with conditional job offer requirements, consistent with federal, state, and local laws. Supporting medical or religious documentation will be required where applicable and permitted by applicable law. To request a reasonable accommodation, please send an e-mail to recruiting-coordinator.sharedmailbox@nexteraenergy.com, providing your name, telephone number and the best time for us to reach you. 

NextEra Energy will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

NextEra Energy does not accept any unsolicited resumes or referrals from any third-party recruiting firms or agencies. Please see our policy for more information.

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