Regulator to publish power outage assessment report
MUSCAT: Following a large number of power system related incidents that resulted in interruptions in supplies to customer, the Authority for Electricity Regulation has decided to audit the power system protection capabilities of the companies in this sector.
The authority commissioned Vector Power Solutions Ltd. (VPS) to conduct the assessment. This audit was undertaken against the appropriate person criteria, i.e., to determine whether the companies had the technical resources available to undertake the power system protection duties required under their licences. The initial audit in 2013 had found that none of the companies met the requirements of an appropriate person for power system protection.
As a result, specific and targeted recommendations were made to enhance the capability Al Harthi of the companies and their contractors. This process has been successful for companies which engaged fully with the exercise. The authority carried out followup audits in 2015 and 2016 to monitor the progress made. It published a summary report for the 2016 follow-up audit in an anonymised form which showed that significant progress and improvements have been delivered by the sector, with targeted pro- grammes for staff competency development and the adoption of best practices. However, the report also showed that in some cases, there remains room for further improvement and three companies have not yet reached the required technical standards.
Eng. Ibrahim Al Harthi, director of the technical directorate, said, “The release of the assessment report ensures the continued transparency of the electricity sector and showcases the level of progress achieved in power system protection in Oman to prevent supply interruptions that are not necessary. It intends to provide electricity customers and sector company employees with a comprehensive overview of the work that is being done to improve power system protection capability. Competency programmes established by this work have significantly led to an increase in the number of professionally accredited Omanis in power system protection.”