Refurbishment of power station auxiliary switchgear

The role of power station auxiliary switchgear has tended to be looked upon as subsidiary to the item of plant to which it is related. As the satisfactory performance of the switchgear is of critical importance to the overall system performance the author argues that the role of the switchgear is an important consideration in power station refurbishment in its own right. Using the example of magnetic air break type switchgear the author discusses the developments, design changes, and the service life in the refurbishment process