Senior Protection Engineer job at Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL)

Background

Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) is a Private Limited Liability Company incorporated in March 2001 under the Companies Act (Cap 106) of the Laws of Uganda and in conformity with the Electricity Act (Cap 157). The Company started operations on 1st April 2001 and is wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of Uganda, with its Head Office located in Kampala. The mandate of the Company is to establish, acquire, maintain and operate electricity generation facilities as well as promote research and development in the electricity generation sector while running the Company on sound business principles.

The Company seeks a competent, professional, experienced and dynamic individual to fill the following vacant position:

Job Purpose

The Senior Protection Engineer shall be responsible for providing company-wide technical leadership, specialist support and engineering assurance in electrical protection systems across all UEGCL power generation plants, including generator protection, excitation/protection coordination, plant grid interface protection and associated protection control systems.

Qualifications

• An upper Second Bachelor's Degree in Electrical/Power Engineering or related field.
• A Master's in Electrical Power Systems Engineering or a related field is an added advantage.
• Registered Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) is a must.
• Membership of UIPE or equivalent professional body.

Experience

• Minimum six (6) years' relevant experience in power-system protection engineering within power utility, OEM or engineering consultancy environments.
• Demonstrable experience in protection scheme calculations, relay settings and configuration, protection coordination, testing and commissioning in a Generating Power Plant.
• Demonstrated experience in testing: protection relays, current transformers, voltage instrument transformers, switchgear, surge arrestors, earthing systems and energy meters.
• Conversant with protection test tools/equipment e.g. Omicron protection test set.

Desirable Competences

• Power system protection and relay coordination.
• Numerical protection relays /IEDs, relay configuration software and protection testing equipment.
• Fault analysis and troubleshooting.
• Electrical safety and risk management.
• Technical report writing and problem solving.
• Leadership, mentoring and stakeholder management.
• Ability to specify replacement/spare parts.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• A sound knowledge regarding safety measures.
• Ability to work under pressure and be on call at any time.
• Good leadership, communication and motivation skills.
• Ability to work in and/or lead a team.
• Must be highly organized, systematic and precise in work.

• Develop, review and/or maintain UEGCL's protection philosophy, standards, procedures and technical requirements, benchmarked against applicable Grid Code requirements, OEM recommendations and relevant IEC, IEEE and CIGRE standards and industry best practice.
• Calculate, review and submit to the Manager Asset Management, for approval, all protection schemes across all UEGCL Power Plants. Ensure that protection settings remain current, correct, version controlled and properly implemented across all UEGCL power plants.
• Review and provide technical assurance of the coordination between generator protection systems, excitation/AVR control functions, under- and over-excitation limiters, generator capability curves and applicable operating limits to ensure generating units remain adequately protected under normal and abnormal grid conditions.
• Coordinate and/or oversee protection coordination, discrimination and relevant power-system studies for UEGCL's plants and grid connections to ensure proper protection coordination, discrimination and selectivity of primary and backup protection systems.
• Develop and provide guidance on protection testing and maintenance requirements, including periodic testing intervals and test methodologies.
• Lead protection testing, commissioning, troubleshooting and periodic assessment of protection systems, including numerical protection relays/ IEDs, associated trip logic, communication interfaces and protection-related control functions.
• Review protection performance, test results, relay records, fault reports, disturbance/oscillography data, Sequence of Events (SOE), SCADA alarms and protection-related SCADA operator/network disturbance data, and recommend corrective actions.
• Coordinate with C&I/SCADA teams to ensure correct integration of protection IEDs with plant control and monitoring systems, including alarms, trips, event records, time synchronisation, communication links and disturbance-data retrieval.
• Provide specialist protection engineering input and technical oversight for protection systems during the design, procurement, installation, commissioning, modification, rehabilitation and maintenance of UEGCL power plants.
• Establish and maintain a controlled protection-settings and configuration-management system/database covering approved setting files, calculations, relay configuration drawings, change justifications, version control, approvals, test and commissioning records, rollback arrangements and associated protection records.
• Provide technical guidance on the assessment of the condition, reliability and performance of protection equipment, including numerical relays, CTs, VTs, trip circuits, DC systems and associated protection interface and recommend appropriate interventions.
• Coordinate with UETCL/System Operator and other stakeholders on protection-related matters, including protection coordination, operating limits and changes in grid configuration or fault levels that may affect UEGCL generating assets.
• Investigate protection trips, maloperations, abnormal events and failures; lead or provide specialist input to root-cause analyses; and define, track and verify corrective and preventive actions.
• Review protection aspects of technical specifications, technical evaluation of tender documents, contractor submissions, design drawings, acceptance testing and commissioning procedures for protection equipment and services.
• Develop and maintain lifecycle plans for critical protection systems, taking into consideration asset condition, technology obsolescence, spares availability, cybersecurity, OEM support and operational risk, including digital protection-system obsolescence, communication architecture, cybersecurity, OEM support and operational risk.
• Prepare periodic company wide protection-system health and risk reports highlighting protection-setting deficiencies, equipment condition, outstanding corrective actions, compliance gaps and emerging risks for management attention.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to engineers and technicians undertaking protection activities across UEGCL plants.
• Ensure compliance with UEGCL procedures, applicable Grid Code requirements, electrical safety requirements, OEM recommendations and relevant IEC, IEEE and CIGRE standards and guidelines.

• Power system protection and relay coordination.
• Numerical protection relays /IEDs, relay configuration software and protection testing equipment.
• Fault analysis and troubleshooting.
• Electrical safety and risk management.
• Technical report writing and problem solving.
• Leadership, mentoring and stakeholder management.
• Ability to specify replacement/spare parts.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• A sound knowledge regarding safety measures.
• Ability to work under pressure and be on call at any time.
• Good leadership, communication and motivation skills.
• Ability to work in and/or lead a team.
• Must be highly organized, systematic and precise in work.

• An upper Second Bachelor's Degree in Electrical/Power Engineering or related field.
• A Master's in Electrical Power Systems Engineering or a related field is an added advantage.
• Registered Engineer with the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) is a must.
• Membership of UIPE or equivalent professional body.