Practical Electrical Power Substation Design by Example

A Step-by-Step Training Manual Using One Complete 115/13.8 kV Ring Bus Substation (From One-Line to SCADA)

By: Practicing Engineers Network

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Designing a power substation is not just selecting equipment or drawing a one-line diagram. A complete substation design requires the engineer to coordinate electrical ratings, protection zones, grounding, physical layout, control wiring, communications, SCADA, and documentation into one buildable system.

Practical Electrical Power Substation Design by Example is a step-by-step training manual built around one complete worked project:

A full 115/13.8 kV ring bus distribution substation (2 × 50 MVA transformers)
developed from concept through one-line, protection, grounding, GA layout, cable routing, DC systems, and SCADA.

Unlike many books that present theory without deliverables, this manual follows the real design workflow used in industry and shows how each design decision becomes a drawing, schedule, calculation, or specification.

Inside This Book You Will Learn

• How to develop a complete 115/13.8 kV ring bus one-line diagram

• How to select and rate substation equipment (breakers, disconnects, CTs, VTs, arresters, transformers, MV switchgear)

• How fault duty impacts equipment ratings and protection decisions

• How to design a practical grounding grid and bonding layout

• How to plan cable trenches, conduit routes, and separation of power vs control vs communications

• How station service AC systems and 125 VDC battery systems are structured

• How protection zones are defined and mapped to relay functions

• How typical DC trip circuits and control schematics are organized

• How SCADA architecture is built (RTU, IEDs, fiber/LAN, protocols)

• How to create real engineering schedules including:

  • panel schedules

  • DC feeder schedules

  • cable schedules

  • SCADA point lists

  • bills of materials (BOMs)

What Makes This Manual Different

• One complete worked example — not disconnected mini-examples

• Step-by-step workflow aligned with real deliverables

• Clear figures and tracing callouts

• Uniform-format calculations that can be copied into engineering reports

• Expanded appendices with full schedules, point lists, and BOMs

Who This Book Is For

This manual is ideal for:

• electrical engineers entering substation design

• designers and CAD drafters supporting substation projects

• protection and SCADA engineers who want the full system context

• students studying power system engineering and real-world deliverables

If you want a practical, example-driven guide that shows how a substation design is actually developed and documented, this book provides a complete model you can reuse on real projects.