This 3-month programme is non-credit-bearing and non-accredited, delivered by ECT’s affiliated institute, EIT, and therefore your certificate of completion will be awarded by EIT. This professional certificate is distinct from ECT’s undergraduate and postgraduate degree programme offerings.
This professional development course is targeted at engineers and technicians who need practical skills and knowledge in the design of the equipment required for substations.
Depending on the functions performed by a substation, the configuration and complexity can vary significantly. The designer’s skill lies in anticipating the present and future needs that the substation will address, selecting the appropriate design configuration, and calculating the ratings of main equipment such as busbars, transformers, and switchgear to ensure trouble-free service over several decades.
Sufficient consideration should be given to the maintenance of critical substation equipment, and appropriate redundancies must be planned as well. This is essential; otherwise, consumers served by the substation may experience frequent supply outages, which is undesirable from both a service and financial perspective.
It is also necessary to ensure that the substation will operate satisfactorily under both normal and fault conditions without any failures. This is achieved through various calculations performed for postulated conditions. These calculations are collectively referred to as system studies. The type of studies will depend on the complexity and criticality of the substation and the loads connected to it.
During the design phase, studies need to be conducted for current conditions as well as future anticipated conditions. Such studies, known as system studies, can range from simple fault-level calculations to complex network simulations. The conditions and requirements will dictate the necessary system studies to be performed.
Modern industries generate significant harmonics on the power grid, which can lead to premature equipment failures due to heating or harmonic resonance. In such cases, harmonic filters and other measures to inhibit resonance will need to be planned.
This course covers all the main equipment for substations, such as circuit breakers, isolators, transformers, current transformers, and busbars, as well as the design and selection of this equipment. Included case studies and examples complement the coursework.
The course consists of 12 modules, covering topics such as calculating equipment capacity, selecting suitable configurations, VAR compensation, and harmonic control.
The course is composed of 12 modules, covering topics such as, calculating substation capacity, selecting a suitable configuration, planning for system studies, laying out an outdoor high voltage switchyard showing main and auxiliary equipment, planning an indoor substation with medium voltage switchgear, and choosing equipment for fault limiting, VAR compensation and harmonic control and adjusting the switchyard layout to include these systems.
To obtain a certificate of completion for EIT’s Professional Certificate of Competency course, students must achieve a 65% attendance rate at the live, online fortnightly webinars. Detailed summaries or notes can be submitted in lieu of attendance. In addition, students must obtain a mark of 60% in the set assignments which could take the form of written assignments and practical assignments. Students must also obtain a mark of 100% in quizzes. If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be given an opportunity to resubmit the assignment to obtain the required score.
Please note: This 3-month programme is non-credit-bearing and non-accredited, delivered by ECT’s affiliated institute, EIT, and therefore your certificate of completion will be awarded by EIT.
You will be required to pay your tuition fee upfront before the programme start date.
For a limited time, a promotional fee of £599 applies to new applications submitted between 1 July 2026 and 30 November 2026. The standard tuition fee is £933.
Payment can be made by credit card (Visa and Mastercard only). Upfront payments must be received prior to the programme’s start date.
Please note that if the course does not proceed, you will be issued with a full refund.
The promotional fee cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer unless otherwise stated. We reserve the right to amend, extend or withdraw this promotion after the advertised closing date.
Hashemi Ford has over 20 years international experience in electrical power industry with a focus on modelling, analysis, planning and operation of power systems including distribution, sub-transmission and transmission networks. He has been involved in modelling and analysis of major projects including HVDC interconnectors and wind farms.
Our courses are delivered by experienced engineers and technical experts from around the world. Many have tackled real-world engineering challenges and bring practical, applied knowledge directly into the classroom.
We draw from a global pool of instructors and lecturers across our organisation. Explore our full team of expert educators on the Instructors & Lecturers page here.
Please note: Not all lecturers and instructors listed on this page will teach every course. The team teaching your course will be confirmed as part of your course enrolment.
This course may use the following software:
Due to ongoing unit and course reviews, software may change from the list provided.
You are expected to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week learning the course content. This includes attending fortnightly webinars that run for about 90 minutes to facilitate class discussion and allow you to ask questions. This program has a 65% attendance requirement in the live webinars in order to graduate from the program. If you are unable to attend the live webinars, you have the option of watching the recording of completed webinars and sending a summary of what you have learnt from the webinar to the Learning Support officer. The summaries go towards your attendance requirement for the program.
This program is run online on an intensive part-time basis and has been designed to fit around full-time work. It will take three months to complete.
We understand that sometimes work commitments and personal circumstances can get in the way of your studies, so if at any point you feel that you are struggling with the pace of the course or finding a particular module challenging, you are encouraged to contact your designated Learning Support Officer for assistance.
Registrations are open for our upcoming intakes. Please ensure you book your place at least one week before the start date of the program.
If the course is not currently scheduled, please contact us.
