HV/MV Substations: Operation and Maintenance

Overview

High and medium voltage substations feed every motor, heater and control system in an oil, gas or petrochemical plant, and a single substation fault can shut down the whole site. They also carry some of the highest electrical risks to people, from arc flash to step and touch voltages. This course covers the operation and maintenance of HV and MV substations in industrial facilities. Participants learn substation layouts and busbar arrangements, the function and maintenance of power transformers, switchgear, circuit breakers, instrument transformers, protection panels, batteries and earthing systems. The course explains switching operations and safety rules, condition monitoring methods such as dissolved gas analysis, partial discharge and thermography, and the routine and predictive maintenance that keeps equipment reliable. Common failure modes are examined through real incidents, and participants learn how to plan maintenance outages with minimum impact on production.

Objectives

• Describe substation layouts, busbar schemes and main equipment
• Operate switchgear safely following switching procedures
• Maintain power transformers, circuit breakers and switchgear
• Apply condition monitoring: DGA, partial discharge and thermography
• Maintain batteries, DC systems and earthing systems
• Plan maintenance outages to minimise production impact
• Recognise common failure modes and their warning signs

Who should attend

Training methodology

Single-line diagrams of real industrial substations are used throughout. Participants plan switching sequences, review maintenance test results such as insulation resistance, contact resistance and DGA reports, and decide on actions. Thermographic images and partial discharge records are interpreted in groups. Videos of breaker maintenance and failure investigations illustrate good and poor practice. A final exercise asks teams to prepare an outage plan for a substation maintenance campaign. Participants are encouraged to bring examples from their own sites for discussion.

Programme outline

Dates and fees

Certificate

Frequently asked questions