Course Details

This course is appropriate for a wide range of professionals but not limited to:

• Electrical Design and Project Engineers
• Substation and Utilities Engineers
• Maintenance and Safety Supervisors
• Consultants and Field Technicians
• Power System Protection Engineers

• Expert-led sessions with dynamic visual aids
• Comprehensive course manual to support practical application and reinforcement
• Interactive discussions addressing participants’ real-world projects and challenges
• Insightful case studies and proven best practices to enhance learning

By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• Explain the fundamental principles and necessity of effective power system grounding.
• Differentiate between equipment grounding and system grounding applications accurately.
• Calculate critical parameters such as earth resistivity and ground resistance effectively.
• Design safe grounding grids for substations using industry standards and software.
• Specify and install suitable grounding electrodes and bonding conductors reliably.
• Test and evaluate the performance of existing grounding systems safely and correctly.

DAY 1

Fundamentals and System Grounding

• Welcome and Introduction
• Pre-test
• The importance and objectives of power system grounding
• Differences between system grounding and equipment grounding
• Methods of neutral grounding: ungrounded, resistance, and reactor
• Grounding practices for low voltage (LV) and medium voltage (MV) systems
• Grounding requirements based on NEC and IEEE standards

DAY 2

Soil Resistivity and Ground Resistance

• Principles of earth potential and electrical shock hazards
• Theory and measurement of soil resistivity using the Wenner method
• Factors influencing soil resistivity and seasonal variations
• Calculating the resistance of various grounding electrodes (rods, plates)
• Using multiple and interconnected grounding electrodes
• Maintenance and techniques for reducing ground resistance

DAY 3

Substation Grounding Grid Design

• Introduction to substation safety and IEEE Std 80 guidelines
• Step voltage, touch voltage, and transferred potential calculations
• Design procedure for simple and complex grounding grids
• Selection of conductor size and material for grounding grids
• Application of surface layers (gravel or asphalt) for safety
• Using specialized software tools for grounding grid analysis

DAY 4

Bonding, Lightning, and Specialized Grounding

• Principles of equipotential bonding and bonding conductors
• Grounding for high-frequency noise and electromagnetic interference (EMI)
• Lightning protection fundamentals and strike termination devices
• Grounding for lightning protection and surge arresters
• Grounding practices for electronic equipment and control panels
• Special grounding needs for generators and sensitive loads

DAY 5

Testing, Compliance, and Review

• Testing methods for ground resistance: Fall-of-Potential method
• Measuring continuity and earth electrode resistance effectively
• Field testing procedures for step and touch voltages
• Compliance review and documentation requirements for grounding systems
• Case studies of grounding system failures and lessons learned
• Post-test
• Certificate ceremony