All about the profession of an engineer of relay protection and automation

Relay protection and automation (RPA) engineer is one of the most demanded modern professions and is in high demand in the labor market. Despite the rather difficult training, more and more applicants of technical universities choose this particular specialty.

Due to the rapid transition of electrical systems to automatic control, the profession of a relay protection and automation engineer is becoming more and more relevant. A specialist in this profile is responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of relay protection and automation, without which the functioning of modern electrical installations is quite difficult to imagine.

Applicant for this position must be well versed in organizational and administrative, normative acts and methodological documents affecting the selection, installation, configuration and testing of relay protection and automation equipment, as well as know the intricacies of the rules for the technical operation of power plants and power grids. Despite the technical orientation of the specialty, the relay protection engineer must be able to get along well with people and have organizational skills.

According to the job description, the RPA engineer is assigned a number of functional duties, the performance of which depends on the performance of electrical systems and the safety of personnel.

• Calculation of values ​​of currents and voltages of short circuit (SC) and determination, based on the results obtained, of the type, algorithm for the operation and placement of relay protection and automation systems, followed by testing for operation.
• Accounting and analysis of relay protection and automation, checking their work for compliance with the requirements of regulatory documents with regular fixation of results.
• Participation in the preparation of technical conditions and initial data in the design construction of power facilities, as well as in the case of their expansion and reconstruction.
• Participation in the work of the commission to investigate the causes of accidents and other technological violations the functioning of electrical installations, as well as checking the equipment of objects, taking into account the seasonality.
• Preparation of annual reports on the work of relay protection and logging.
• Regular check of the level of qualification of service personnel (electricians, technicians, fitters and adjusters) and taking measures to improve it.
• Drawing up applications for the purchase of spare parts and consumables, control over the timely replacement of parts with expiring service life.
• Conducting scheduled tests of relay protection and automation with the subsequent analysis of the results.
• Tracking new products in the field of relay protection and automated dispatch control systems, their implementation at the power facility.
• In addition, the relay protection engineer must have clear understanding of the basics of economics and organization of production, management and labor in the energy sector, know the articles of labor legislation and strictly observe the rules on labor protection.

In the event of emergencies that entail harm to the health of employees or damage to the material property of the power facility, the relay protection engineer can be brought to administrative, disciplinary, material, and in more serious cases, to criminal liability.

You can get the profession of a relay protection engineer in many technical universities or colleges, but in the latter case, you can only count on the position of a technician. Upon completion of their studies at the university, graduates can be hired for the position of an engineer without requiring any length of service.

Relay protection and automation engineers are required to be part of the staff of power plants, substations and other energy facilities, as well as maintain the distances of power transmission lines, underground cable communications and dispatch centers of energy supply and distribution organizations.