Our Specialist System Operations employees in the two grid control rooms in Aarau and Prilly are on duty for Switzerland 24/7. They ensure that the grid remains stable and that its pulse always beats at 50 hertz. This can be particularly challenging in extreme weather conditions like those seen last year.
Everything – including all the lines – comes together in the grid control rooms. The employees in the grid control rooms, also known as Specialist System Operations, monitor the Swiss transmission grid around the clock. Their key responsibility: transporting electricity safely across all parts of the country.
Every specialist in the grid control room works 378 hours a year at night.
Strong nerves required
The specialists in the grid control rooms work in shifts over shift cycles lasting eight weeks. Each employee works seven early, midday and night shifts per cycle, as well as seven on-call shifts. The rest of the time, they work in the office. They are on site around the clock, every day, to guarantee the safe transport of electricity in Switzerland. Every specialist in the grid control room works 378 hours a year at night.
Working together to ensure secure grid operation
Each shift has a shift supervisor as well as a «helmsman» or «helmswoman» who is in charge of the grid. The «helmsman» or «helmswoman» switches the lines and coupling transformers as required and provides standby personnel ready to respond to line or switchgear disturbances. The last member of the night team is the specialist in grid control and intraday schedule management. They are responsible for managing the load frequency controllers, monitoring the frequency and voltage, and checking that energy exchange takes place correctly.
To take a closer look at the SGC, we watched three employees working at the grid control room in Aarau and asked them a few questions
Author
