All charged up for a career in engineering

When Executive Engineer Lim Kai Herng took up SP’s Mid-Term scholarship 5 years ago, he was motivated by a huge sense of pride, knowing that his work will help ensure reliable power supply to all residents and businesses in Singapore.

The 27-year-old now leads a team of technical officers and technicians to maintain and renew high-voltage equipment and power cables.

We caught up with Kai Herng to learn about his role, responsibilities, and motivations at SP.

Tell us more about your current role.

As a Distribution Network engineer, my work entails equipment maintenance and renewal. We are also the first responders on the ground when there is a power disruption.

What is your most memorable achievement to date?

When I first started as an engineer, my team and I were tasked to upgrade the existing 6.6kV network equipment at the western part of Singapore. Some of them are at least 20 to 30 years old and did not have in-built remote control and monitoring functions. With advancements in technology, we are now able to retrofit existing equipment to “send” information to our control centre. With the upgrade, power supply can be restored more quickly in the event of disruption. The team successfully completed this project in early 2020 – it is a milestone that I am very proud of!

What are some of your biggest challenges at SP and how did you overcome them?

As electricity and gas networks are critical infrastructure, close customer engagement for timely equipment and network maintenance becomes even more important. One of the key challenges is the rounds of discussions and negotiations with customers to schedule electricity supply shutdowns, for maintenance works to take place. In order to minimise disruption and inconvenience to customers we need to offer flexible solutions such as staggering shutdown times or providing alternate electricity supply during maintenance work.

 Kai Herng cited the importance of strong camaraderie and teamwork. “It is no doubt a  heavy responsibility, but our unwavering focus on keeping Singapore lit keeps us going!”
 

This article was first published in BrightSparks Magazine February 2021. Adapted with permission from CareerBuilder Singapore.