Power Systems

From power station to plug — generating, moving and protecting electricity. How the grid works end to end: generation mix and dispatch, high-voltage transmission, distribution networks, substations, load-flow studies, short-circuit fault analysis, protection systems and power quality.

• Generation — Where electricity comes from and how it's scheduled. Learn thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable plants, efficiency and heat rate, load curves, capacity factor, merit order and economic dispatch.
• Transmission — Moving bulk power over hundreds of kilometres at high voltage. Learn line parameters, short/medium/long line models, losses, voltage regulation, the power-transfer equation, surge impedance loading and HVDC.
• Distribution — The last mile to customers. Learn radial, ring and meshed networks, feeders and distributors, LV earthing systems, voltage-drop calculations, diversity and demand factors, and how distribution transformers are sized.
• Substations — The nodes of the grid where voltage is transformed and circuits are switched and protected. Learn substation types, equipment, bus configurations, earthing grids, interlocking and digital substations (IEC 61850).
• Load Flow — Power-flow analysis finds every bus voltage and every line flow for a given generation and load. Learn bus types, the Y-bus, the power-flow equations, Gauss–Seidel and Newton–Raphson methods, and the DC approximation.
• Fault Analysis — Short circuits drive currents many times normal load. Learn the per-unit system, symmetrical three-phase faults, fault MVA, DC offset, and unsymmetrical faults with symmetrical components — the basis for rating breakers and setting protection.
• Protection — Protection systems detect faults and disconnect only the faulted part within milliseconds. Learn fuses and MCB curves, IDMT overcurrent relays, grading and discrimination, differential and distance protection, and RCDs.
• Power Quality — Real supply voltage isn't a perfect sine. Learn harmonics and THD, sags, swells, flicker, unbalance and transients, power-factor correction, harmonic resonance and filters, and the standards that limit them.