Electrical engineers tipped on fault identification, distribution skills

Power outages coupled with poor fault identification is one of the challenges faced by power distributors in the East African Community. Yet unplanned outages are the biggest hindrance to industrial growth. This is according to Joseph Mark Wasswa, the maintenance Supervisor from UMEME Uganda.

He made the observation at the end of a five-day training for electricity engineers, and technicians from the major power companies in East Africa.

The training that was organized by Amotech Africa, a leading test and measurement solutions provider in the region, was aimed at equipping stakeholders with the latest skills in electricity distribution and maintenance.

The training was also to expose the team to the latest and efficient technologies needed in the course of their work.

“Because most of the methods used are non-conventional, this wastes a lot of time, but the new solutions provided by Megger in this training will be a game changer. We have been exposed to several electrical equipment testing solutions for all clients including the smallest power consumers in homes and I believe once all these are embraced in Uganda, our clients will trust us more,” Waswa added.

The training attracted participants from Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO), Kenya Power & amp; Lightning Company, KenGen, UMEME, Rwanda Energy Group, Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (UETCL), and Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd (UEGCL) among others.

According to Machacha Muchiri, the Managing Director of Amotech Africa, through the training, there will be improved quality of power maintenance and distribution, which will bring down the final cost to the consumer.

At the same event, Eng David Mutitu, the General Manager of System Operations and Power Management at KETRACO, added that one of the challenges facing the transmission and distribution sector is the need to deliver electricity that is reliable and cost-effective.

“Regular testing of assets can guarantee the quality of components installed in the network and contributes to power system reliability, representing a fundamental step in reducing the probability of disturbances and outages,” he said.