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About this Training Course
Power systems are among the largest and most interconnected systems ever designed. As power generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption continue to expand, the consequences of electrical failures can become increasingly significant. Major failures and blackouts may disrupt critical operations, affect large numbers of users, and result in substantial safety, operational, financial, and reputational consequences.
A systematic failure investigation enables asset owners, engineers, and operators to understand what happened, identify the underlying causes, and apply lessons learned to improve safety, reliability, performance, and future decision-making. Failure investigations form an important part of the overall asset management process and provide valuable input for risk assessment and continuous improvement. Investigation findings may relate to design, engineering specifications, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, maintenance, operation, human factors, or equipment ageing and degradation.
This 5-day comprehensive training course provides participants with a systematic methodology for investigating electrical failures and incidents in industrial and power-system environments. Participants will learn how to respond to a failure, secure and preserve the incident scene, collect and analyse evidence, reconstruct the sequence of events, review electrical and protection-system data, and identify immediate, contributing, and root causes.
The course integrates practical investigation methodologies, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), electrical system analysis, protection records, event data, physical evidence, interviews, and relevant testing techniques. Participants will also learn how to develop technically justified corrective and preventive actions and prepare clear, evidence-based investigation reports. The programme focuses specifically on investigating electrical failures after an event has occurred. Diagnostic techniques such as insulation resistance testing, thermography, partial discharge (PD), Transformer Turns Ratio (TTR), and Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) are introduced where they provide relevant evidence to support the failure investigation.
1. What is Electrical Power Failure Analysis and Investigation?
Electrical Power Failure Analysis and Investigation is a structured process for examining electrical incidents. First, investigators collect physical and system evidence. Next, they identify immediate, contributing, and root causes. Therefore, the findings can help prevent similar failures.
2. What are common electrical power failures?
Common failures include short circuits, earth faults, insulation breakdown, overheating, arcing, and overvoltage. In addition, protection and control systems can malfunction. As a result, failures may cause outages, equipment damage, fires, or safety risks.
3. How is electrical failure investigation different from troubleshooting?
Troubleshooting mainly finds and fixes a fault. However, failure investigation examines why the incident happened. Therefore, it also identifies contributing factors and ways to prevent recurrence.
4. What evidence is used during an electrical failure investigation?
Investigators review relay records, SCADA logs, protection settings, drawings, and maintenance history. In addition, they inspect physical damage. For example, evidence may include burn marks, overheating, arc tracks, or damaged insulation.
5. How is Root Cause Analysis used in electrical failure investigations?
Root Cause Analysis helps identify the underlying cause of an incident. For example, engineers may use 5 Whys, Fishbone Analysis, FTA, or FMEA. However, investigators must verify each possible cause using evidence.
6. How does Electrical Power Failure Analysis and Investigation improve reliability?
Electrical Power Failure Analysis and Investigation helps organisations prevent repeat failures. For example, findings may lead to design changes, protection updates, or improved maintenance. As a result, organisations can improve safety, reliability, and system performance.