Substation commissioning and turnover planning

Planning for the commissioning of an industrial substation can be one of the most challenging jobs facing an electrical engineer today. The goal of any commissioning effort is to energize the equipment safely, in the time frame dictated by construction completion and process startup plans, while fulfilling all of the OSHA requirements. This must happen in a cost-effective manner. With the new equipment available and de-energised, and testing and manufacturer´s experts available, several additional opportunities present themselves. The commissioning window is an ideal time to train the site electricians and process technicians on the electrical system and establish baseline maintenance data for future trending of preventative and predictive maintenance. This article serves as a guide for the planning required to achieve the end goal of a safely commissioned substation, in the time required with the money budgeted. The different component parts that make up the commissioning plan can be simplified or expanded depending on the quality of the commissioning team, but the need for some level of documentation has clearly become essential with the involvement of OSHA in the commissioning steps