The crisis of the system of professional development and personnel training in the energy sector exists not only in Ukraine but also all over the world. The article describes the concept of development and functioning of the industry system of personnel training in the energy sector of Ukraine. The importance of using modern web-oriented technologies to improve the skills of operational and dispatching personnel in the energy sector of Ukraine is substantiated. The methods of distributed power system operating modes modelling are presented. Development and software tools for the construction of distributed simulating systems and particular features of cloud technologies application for the creation of a virtual training centers network in the energy sector, as well as the ways to automate the process of simulating scenarios development are described. The experience of introducing remote training courses for energy specialists and remote web-based training simulators based on a comprehensive model of the energy system of Ukraine is presented. An important practical aspect of the research is the application of software and data support for the development of personnel key competencies in the energy sector for rapid recognition of accidents and, if necessary, accident management. This will allow them to acquire knowledge and practical skills to solve the problems of analysis, modelling, forecasting, and monitoring data visualization of large power systems operating modes.
In the developed Energy Strategy of Ukraine till 2035, one of the most important goals
is integration into the EU energy space and strengthening of global ties [
It shall be noted that a considerable number of problems have accumulated in the Ukrainian energy sector now, and the main one is the lack of a single policy in the field of personnel education and training. The structure of the energy management system of Ukraine does not imply an organization, which could be responsible for the development of standard curricula and academic programmes for professional training of personnel, scientific and methodological and information support of the personnel training system, introduction of new technologies and best practices, achievements in science and technology. None of the organizations basically solves the tasks of providing the necessary level of qualification of the energy sector personnel, improving its efficiency and quality, quality control of general and special training of the personnel or testing personnel knowledge. At the same time, personnel development is one of the key tasks of the power industry leaders. The proper solution to this problem will increase productivity and ensure reliable, safe and accident-free equipment operation.
At present, the training and development of energy professionals are aimed at:
1. professional development for the formation of key competences in order to recognize
the conditions of cyber threats, emergencies, and methods of their rapid elimination,
which involves the application of theoretical and practical methods related to the
processes of generation and distribution of energy, characterized by
interdisciplinarity [
The training and professional development system for energy industry personnel
should be automated and remote to the extent possible, involving the use of training
systems, cloud technologies and augmented reality [
Various causes of emergencies at energy objects are discussed scientists V. Artemchuk
[
The purpose is to analyze and to summarize the experience of using simulating systems to improve the qualification and professional training of energy specialists, describe further directions of improving the system of professional development of personnel in the energy sector of Ukraine.
Tasks of the research: 1. To generalize the experience of applying simulating systems and substantiate the conceptual foundations of training and professional development system for specialists in the field of energy of Ukraine. 2. To identify the features of simulating systems development for energy. 3. To consider the principles of the development of objects and scenarios of simulating systems and identify the main directions of modernization of the system of training and professional development of specialists in the energy sector.
In the strategy of reforming the State Enterprise National Energy Company “Ukrenergo” (SE NEC “Ukrenergo”) [29], professional staff development is one of the important elements of the strategy. It is planned to develop a corporate automated 4 4.1
knowledge and test database within the framework of the long-term personnel professional development system implementation. Its main reason is to develop training programs within the context of training centres, to implement game training and assessment methods during 2019-2020, and to refocus training on competency development and innovations, as well as practical improvement of technical skills by 2026.
It is important to plan state policy in the field of personnel training and professional development for a long period, to identify the sources of funding people responsible for providing all preparatory work, including the implementation coordination and monitoring.
The scientists of G.E. Pukhov Institute for Modelling in Energy Engineering of NAS
of Ukraine, which have significant achievements in the energy sector, propose to
develop a system of personnel professional development in the energy sector by
integrating all educational institutions of the country carrying out energy research and
providing energy-related education services into a new scientific and educational cluster in
collaboration with other higher educational establishments and institutions [
The purpose of the proposed concept of the energy professionals training system is
to organize a blended classroom and remote form of training and simulation applying
information and communication technologies for the mandatory sustainable formation,
verification, and control of key competences of the operational and dispatching staff of
the energy sector of Ukraine. The competences to be mastered or developed by the
personnel of the energy industry ensure the continuous reliable operation of the
equipment and modes of operation of the UES and electric energy associations (EEA). They
relate to the processes of dispatching control, organization of safe conditions of
electrical equipment operation, recognition of accident causal factors and scenario analysis,
formation and development of skills of quick emergencies elimination, techniques
(rules) of regular and emergency switches at substations, in electric networks, etc. [
An analysis of the international experience of personnel training in the energy industry confirmed that the outlined competencies of staff can be formed solely with the help of full-featured simulators.
Currently, in Ukraine and in the EU, there are a large number of unresolved issues related to continuous education and professional development of UES and EEA personnel. Therefore, this problem requires further research and involvement of the world's best educational standards and learning technology.
In Ukraine, the issues of professional training of employees are regulated by the
Laws and other guiding documents [
To date, the cost of business trips (travel, food and lodging) far exceeds the cost of training itself. These conditions of professional development make it difficult to form full-fledged homogeneous groups, adequate content of the educational and methodological base, and the use of effective methods of training and simulating system. There are also problems with the recruitment and training of instructional staff involved in professional development.
At present, an important trend for the social development of the world countries is the use of various information and communication technologies, in particular, virtual simulators in all fields of production activity, especially in the energy industry. In the energy sector of different countries European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity has created and successfully used a large number of electronic training systems and simulators. However, the major drawbacks of these systems are their narrow scope. Therefore, it is important to design and upgrade existing simulating systems, in particular, to develop their browser-based and mobile versions to use within the context of distance learning.
The implementation of the proposed Concept will be effective if we summarize the accumulated experience with the energy experience of the European Union countries and determine the membership of the main implementing organizations. The next step is to propose and agree with the SE NEC “Ukrenergo” a pilot project of an electronic simulating system by 2022, as well as to envisage the possibility of involving the European experts to the proposed concept of implementation. 4.2
We agree with [25], that simulating systems for energy specialists training should be aimed at developing competencies and should be based on modern training technologies, including distance learning. An important component of the quality of staff training is the content of training programs, methodological support and a system of assessment of the quality of employee training.
The system of quality assessment of personnel training in the energy sector must necessarily include tools for measuring the level of knowledge, the ability to solve real, non-standard tasks, complicated by conflicting requirements, often in the context of incomplete or insufficient information, the ability of workers to synthesize and analyze situations arising in their professional activity.
In order to support high-level thinking and create the conditions for independent
learning, simulating systems should provide staff with the ability to control employees'
intrinsic motivation to learn, as well as the potential to create complex tasks that allow
new information to be linked to the old one, find a place to personalize the experience,
get acquainted with the experience of fellow professionals. Thus, these principles of
organization of simulating systems training base guarantee personnel individual
professional development, contribute to the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, affect
the social improvement of staff, including the professional level and confidence in their
knowledge [
Nowadays, blended and distance learning, which is a modern trend and has a significant impact on cost savings, should be used to enhance the skills of energy professionals. Blended learning combines classroom and e-learning technologies and is based on the application of information and communication technologies. The advantage of blended learning is that specialists can combine professional activities and learn at their own pace without wasting time.
An important element of distance learning is a distance-learning course. A
distancelearning course should be designed to motivate students to work independently and
actively interact with the system, to monitor the process and progress of learning.
Therefore, the development of distance training courses for simulating systems applied
by energy specialists requires high-quality teamwork of specialists - methodologists
and experts in the energy sector - as well as the comprehensive application of didactic,
technical and electronic training and control tools [
The authors of this article and specialists from Scientific Production Enterprise LLC
Infotech [
We believe that it is advisable to conduct a staff professional development process using blended and distance learning technologies in approved virtual research and training centers. Virtual training centers will upgrade the existing personnel training system in the energy sector, taking into account the new electricity market model [32], maximum possible staff qualification quality, and save human and financial resources. 4.3
When developing a network of virtual research and training centers for training
personnel in the energy sector, it is necessary to fully employ all elements of the existing
infrastructure of the personnel training system: material, technical, educational and
methodological bases and teaching staff integrating it into a single information
environment. Creating a comprehensive environment will allow using all the experience
gained from the existing vocational simulating system in the energy sector and adapt
the training programs to the needs of energy companies, the state and other stakeholders
[
It is advisable to develop a network of virtual training centers in analogy with enterprise cloud computing. Virtualization is the main cloud computing technology and allows the creation of a single infrastructure of centers for personnel training, assessment and simulation system. Software tools developed to design, construct, and maintain a training facility of energy personnel simulating systems should support cloud architecture, virtualization, and blended and distance learning.
Nowadays, e-learning is widely used, therefore the software is being updated. There are several types of software products:
1. Copyright software. These are electronic textbooks, didactic materials, application software training packages and other elements of distance learning courses.
2. Content Management Systems. These include software products that support multiple users in a shared environment and are designed to create and modify digital content, such as text data, audio and video, program code, and more. The most well-known education-targeted content management systems with Ukrainian localization are Drupal and Joomla!
3. Learning Management Systems (LMS). LMS software is focused on learning
activities management. The administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting
functions are aimed at creating learning and development materials, and tasks such as
providing training content to specific users at the right time, controlling the use of
training resources, organizing interaction with the teacher, individual users and groups are
automated. LMSs have the robust protection mechanisms required to deploy a
distributed network of virtual training centers, can be synchronized with enterprise resource
planning and personnel management systems. According to the research [
4. Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) are widely used in corporate
computer networks. Unlike LMS, such systems focus on content management tasks,
not the learning process, and are focused not on managers and students, but on content
developers, methodological layout specialists, and project management executives.
LCMS is based on the concept of presenting learning content as a collection of reusable
learning objects with their target audience and specific context of use. Learning content
management systems have only been actively implemented over the last few years, so
the LSMS market is not mature enough, but the companies such as SAP (SAP Learning
Solution), Oracle (iLearning and PeopleSoft Enterprise Learning Management)
consider this type of e-learning not only as an infrastructure but also as part of the corporate
IT infrastructure [
The LMS and LCMS systems discussed above have many things in common, as with the market expansion, LCMS developers are adding LMS-specific features and vice versa. LMS and LCMS have different goals: the main task of LMS is to automate the administrative aspects of learning, and LCMS is focused on managing the content of learning objects. The common features are the following: both systems manage the content of the courses and track the learning outcomes, the built-in tools can manage and track the content to the level of the learning objects. At the same time, LMS can manage and track blended learning outcomes that combine E-content, classroom activities, virtual classroom meetings, and other resources.
Based on the analysis of the existing open-source LMS/LCMS systems, according
to the software selection criteria, Moodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment) was chosen as the instrumental simulating environment of the virtual
training systems in energy sector [
A competency-based approach to training and professional development of
personnel, implemented on the basis of virtual technologies, will allow the staff of not only
the energy sector but also of other branches of the economy of the country to master
the most important competencies and independent assessment of the level of
professional training. Also, the problem of possible loss of experience, skills, and knowledge
of retired staff will be solved through the remote involvement of retired senior
specialists - to develop scenarios of emergency response drills and training exercises,
participation in distance courses, expert discussion of predicted emergencies triggering
events, their types, and elimination measures, etc. [
The development and implementation of distance learning courses are aimed not only at working energy professionals but also at undergraduate and graduate students, who will be provided with all facilities and opportunities of e-learning and training (based on common models of large UES and EEA and use of modern modeling tools). 4.4
A computer simulator for operational and dispatching personnel of the EEA and UES
of Ukraine is a training tool that provides staff with the opportunity to adequately
simulate the specified operating modes and operating conditions of equipment in the
training process. It is vitally important for the formatting key competencies, in particular,
recognition of conditions and causes of accidents, as well as the formation of stable
skills for the rapid elimination of accidents [
In the published work [
Currently, virtual technologies are not sufficiently involved in the development and
use of mathematical, topological, information and computer models of simulating
methods in distributed web-oriented environments [
Developing full-featured mode simulators for energy professionals (see Fig.1),
including management staff, is a complex scientific and technical task. The simulating
system includes certain subsystems: management of distributed databases; modeling of
operating modes of power systems; visualization of simulation results; human-machine
interface and automated system for creating scenarios of regular and emergency
simulation [
The published work [
The main issue related to the simulating scenario design technology is the degree of completeness of the operational situations set that forms the basis of any personneltraining program. The experience of staff operational activity implies the importance of the instructor and training staff’s personal experience when planning the training program. It is important to take an individual approach to staff training that allowing individually selecting content and planning a training program. The main difference between the proposed approach and the one described above is that the head of the simulation or training independently offers the conditions of the accident-triggering event. This allows focusing on the formation, control, and support of staff critical thinking skills and the ability to predict accident sequence. The generation of different possible or predicted options of situations greatly complements the algorithmic approach.
The publication [26] suggests a pedagogical scenario method of constructing simulation tasks based on the application of situational modeling methods. According to this method, the simulating complex and the object model - EEA and UES are used only at the development stage. The focus of the method is to create and use a model of personnel production activity according to job descriptions in the process of EEA and UES dispatch control. The scenario-simulating a pedagogical scenario method structure is formed as follows. After selecting the name, purpose, and task of the training task (TrT), a library of simulating procedures is created using the simulating complex (see Fig.2). The model of the operational and dispatching personnel activity is formed with the help of job descriptions, which regulate the required set of operations of dispatching control and are used as the object control model. It is advisable to use this method when designing the complex system and inter-system emergencies in terms of development and ways of elimination. Also when a possible alternative emergency development can lead to unexpected results in terms of the physical existence of the simulation modes.
The methods and algorithms of the formation of regression models of trunk electric
grid (TEG) modes are developed, the ways of their use for the management problems
solution within the process of carrying out the TrT of simulating systems (see Fig.3).
This allows obtaining the results of simulation of different EEA and UES operational
modes in the pace of time and with a comfortable reaction time required for the proper
training. Comparative assessment of the first- and second-order regression models use
for simulation of the modes allowed offering a convenient methodology for developing
and organizing training systems and TrT models. This facilitates the work with the
design and use features for the industry experts who have no programming skills.
Switching programs can be written in the form of formal logical system for switching such as
“run”, “disable”, “scan” and so on. This allows creating a task mini database to check
the conditions of the performed or proposed operations in the form of a simple rule “if
something happens or is completed, the result will be the following”, which is then used
to create emergency training scenarios and forms of routine switch cards [
The automation system of processes of design, editing, and creation of scenarios of regular and emergency training is developed for research and training virtual simulating centers. The proposed design system greatly speeds up the process of developing and creating (editing) emergency training scenarios. The distributed simulating environment provides ample opportunities for effective use of the new modern electronic system of work with personnel and allows to move to the development of uniform standards of personnel training and simulating system for the energy sector of Ukraine. The combination of modern e-learning methods and tools of distributed virtual simulating environment allows creating a new quality of the system of professional development and training of specialists in the field of energy, including operational personnel of substations and power systems.
The significant contribution to solving the described tasks by G.E. Pukhov Institute for Modeling in Energy Engineering of the NAS of Ukraine, the Institute of Electrodynamics of the NAS of Ukraine, the Data Processing Centre of the Main Technical Directorate, as well as the higher education institutions, such as the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” shall be noted. 4.5
We agree with the statement [
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