Yes, I’ve been involved with installation and testing of new substation equipment, and even completely new substations. They look simple from a distance, of course, but there is a lot of control equipment involved for operating the circuit breakers, transformer protection, tap changers to adjust voltage, other automatic and manual equipment.
In the relay and test department, we would test all the new relay circuits including the input signals from current and voltage transformers in the station as well as any direct transfer tripping from remote stations, and other communications systems that would coordinate operations. We would also dynamically test the tripping of breakers and all operations really through their DC control circuits. Essentially, before high voltage came to the station, everything was tested.
The final test, of course, was putting the ink to it - energizing the station, making phasing checks, then putting actual power flow through the station to test that everything was in sync.
All the time, the entire process, we’d be following the prints and making (hopefully) minor corrections as needed. Usually, there were but a couple of little “as built” tweaks made, and those were recorded with red and green pencils and sent back to engineering so that revisions could be made and the final prints put in circulation.
It’s all coming back to me now. I do miss the “hands-on” work and one-on-one interface with the engineers that designed the stations and their intricate schemes.
Fast forward to today - there are many of us known as system operators - NERC certified system operators to be exact. When I started in the operations gig, you didn’t have anybody but your own employer “certifying” you. The system, the power grid if you will, is such an interesting and dynamic beast that it often presents even us seasoned guys with something new and exciting.
Oh, and as of next week Sunday, I’m retired. :)
Congrats. Don't stop, just slow down and on your own terms.