Current situation in UK power plants [generator protection]

Before privatisation of the UK electricity supply industry, most protection design and application work on generating assets was carried out in-house. The protection schemes were specified in detail and the settings were calculated and applied by electric utility staff. Under the impetus of privatisation and the move to turnkey construction of new generating plant, the responsibility for some of this work has shifted to the contractor and the consultant. Relay manufacturers have brought several multi-function generator protection relays to the market, some of which suggest that a complete generator protection package is available in one box. This has prompted protection engineers to re-evaluate their requirements and re-assess their functional requirements. This paper does not purport to offer the answers; merely to examine some of the issues.