What's your job about?
Western Power is the utility responsible for the distribution and transmission of electricity and maintaining the assets in Western Australia’s Southwest Interconnected Network (SWIN). As a Graduate Electrical Engineer, I will develop and gather experience in six different roles over three exciting years in the graduate program.
Stand-alone Power Systems (SPS) design is where I have been lucky enough to be working for my first rotation. The SPS program is relatively new to Western Power and provides an innovative off-grid solution that uses renewable energy to address reliability challenges experienced by our regional and remote customers. For SPS, energy is primarily sourced from solar panels, stored by a battery energy storage system and backed up by a diesel generator. By replacing long powerlines with self-sufficient SPS units, this means more reliable electricity for users on the outer fringes of our network, while also working towards a more renewables-focused energy future.
Working in SPS design provides exposure to a wide range of design standards, design drawings, electrical regulatory requirements, renewable equipment (e.g., inverters, batteries, solar panels), customer load studies, factory testing, and site visits of course.
What's your background?
Perth has been the city I have called home since being born, so playing a small part in powering the lives of those in this state provides me with some good motivation at work each day. After high school, I went right into studying Electrical & Electronic Engineering at UWA, and quickly into my degree, I developed an interest in power engineering. Luckily enough, Australia (and the world) is currently going through a once-in-a-century energy transition. Power engineering and renewables are at the forefront of this transition and will continue to be for many decades to come. As with any new technology, there will be (and currently are) many obstacles to overcome, but solving these problems is the core of what makes being an engineer exciting. Doing some vacation work in the power engineering sector while studying confirmed my passion – and so I felt what better place to pursue these interests of mine than at Western Power!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Engineering certainly requires at least some level of interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). The fundamentals you gain with an engineering degree will be helpful for sure, especially when starting out in the early stages of your career at a place like Western Power. In no way is this a must, however, as many working here in engineering-focused teams are not necessarily from an engineering background. Western Power is a utility company at the end of the day, and there are many opportunities to make a career here working in non-engineering disciplines as well. Experience and passion count for a lot.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
Any opportunity for exposure to the practical, real-life aspects of my work. In SPS design, this could mean anything from visiting the factory to witness testing of a new SPS unit design to going on mini road trips and visiting the commissioning of a system on a farm in remote Western Australia. And while it may not traditionally seem that “cool”, the incredibly high bar Western Power puts on safety means things like site visits and the designs of equipment on our network always prioritise getting everyone home safe each day.
What are the limitations of your job?
As with any large organisation, it can take a fair bit of effort to get up to speed with all the different departments and roles within the business – trust me. I am still getting my head around it. This is likely to get easier with time, with each graduate rotation exposing you to new roles, teams, and people.
Of course, the nature of a rotating graduate program is that you must eventually… rotate. This can be disappointing, especially once you start getting into a rhythm with your work and develop good relationships with your teammates.
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