The Power Substation Fundamentals Course: Theory, Equipment, Earthing, and Design

Course Description

Welcome to our course “The Substation Fundamentals Course”. A power substation is an essential part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. The assembly of apparatus used to change some characteristics (e.g. voltage, frequency, p.f., A.C. to D.C., etc.) of an electrical supply is called a substation.

Power substations have switching, protection and control equipment, and transformers. In a large substation, circuit breakers are used to interrupt any short circuits or overload currents that may occur on the network. Smaller distribution stations may use recloser circuit breakers or fuses for the protection of distribution circuits.

Substations themselves do not usually have generators, although a power plant may have a substation nearby. Other devices such as capacitors and voltage regulators may also be located at a substation.

This 5-hour course will discuss the following topics related to electrical power substations:

• Function, classification and voltage of electrical substations.
• Main components like power transformers, conductors, insulators, switch gears, current transformer, capacitor voltage transformer and voltage transformer.
• Different types of circuit breakers, relays and their classification according to time, construction and function.
• Difference between circuit breaker and fuse, in addition to their applications.
• Definition of IP or ingress protection.
• Grounding system including the effect of current on human body and components of grounding system.
• Types of electric hazards and classification of earthing system.
• Measuring the earthing resistance by Megger and three point method.
• Design of an earthing system using ETAP program.
• Ring main unit and its importance in electrical power system.
• Types of switches used in electrical power system and substations.
• Overhead transmission lines, underground cables and difference between them.
• Busbars in power system, its importance, its different schemes and how to select them.
• Lightning arrester and wave trap which are used in substations.
• Air and gas insulated substations.
• Design of power substation and single line diagram of 66/11 kV substation.