1190 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 56, NO.

2, MARCH/APRIL 2020

Substation Grounding Grid Diagnosis Applying

Optimization Techniques Based on
Measurements and Field Tests
Marcos Telló, Daniel S. Gazzana , Victor B. Telló, Lucas T. C. Pulz, Roberto Chouhy Leborgne,
and Arturo S. Bretas

Abstract—Considering urban substations ground grid diagnosis,
some real-physical constraints result in measurement process chal-
lenges: 1) limited length between electrodes used to measure the
equivalent impedance of the grounding system; 2) to determine the
current that flows from ground grid conductors to the earth; and
3) to determine the grid resistance. In this scenario, an adequate
diagnosis of the safety offered by the ground grid under test when
a ground fault occurs is not a trivial task. This article describes a
methodology that allows a reliable diagnosis regarding the safety
provided by a substation ground grid. The methodology is applied
to the parameters obtained in performed field tests. The method has
two steps. First, the fall-of-potential method with reduced distances
between electrodes is used to determine the equivalent impedance of
the grounding system. Then, the ground current is obtained. In both
stages, optimization techniques are applied to the specific equations
that govern the phenomenon under investigation. Comparative
case studies considering real-life data illustrate the effectiveness
of the method.
Index Terms—Optimization method, reduced distance between
electrodes, substation ground grid measurements.
I. INTRODUCTION
N THE electrical power system, short-circuit levels increase
I continuously. This fact makes necessary periodic evaluation
of the safety offered by the substation ground grids [1]–[5]. This
evaluation is carried out through tests where the objective is to
Manuscript received October 20, 2019; accepted December 15, 2019. Date of
publication January 12, 2020; date of current version March 17, 2020. Paper
2019-PSEC-0218.R1, presented at the 2019 IEEE International Conference
on Environment and Electrical Engineering and 2019 IEEE Industrial and
Commercial Power Systems Europe, Genova, Italy, Jun. 10–14, and approved
for publication in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by
the Power Systems Engineering Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society. (Corresponding author: Daniel S. Gazzana.)
M. Telló is with CEEE-D, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto
Alegre 90035-190, Brazil (e-mail: marcost@ceee.com.br).
D. S. Gazzana and L. T. C. Pulz are with the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil (e-mail: daniel.gazzana@ufrgs.br;
lucastupicp@gmail.com).
V. B. Telló is with SIEMENS Ltd., Jundiaí 13213-080, Brazil (e-mail: vic-
tor.tello@siemens.com).
R. C. Leborgne is with the Department of Electrical Systems of Automation
and Energy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90035-190,
Brazil (e-mail: roberto.leborgne@ufrgs.br).
A. S. Bretas is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA (e-mail: arturo@ece.ufl.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this article are available online
at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2020.2966187
verify if the touch and step voltages are below the tolerable
limits [5].
In a short-circuit to earth, the total ground fault current is
distributed by the following:
1) by the substation ground grid (Im );
2) through the overhead ground wires of transmission lines
(Iext );
3) the current via the neutral of power transformers.
Regarding touch and step potentials, such voltages depend
on ground current (Im ). If the portion of the fault current that
is drained by the substation ground grid is neglected, it may
result in an inaccurate analysis of the safety provided by this
grid under test. Additionally, in the situation that the overhead
ground wires are connected to the substation ground grid, it is
difficult, or even impossible, to measure the portion of the test
current that circulates through the substation ground grid. It is
important to highlight that it is very difficult to disconnect the
overhead ground wires of transmission lines from the grid during
the experiments.
The fall-of-potential method (FoPM) is commonly used to
measure the equivalent impedance of the grounding system
and consists of circulating a current between the ground grid
under test and an auxiliary current electrode (CE). Ground
resistance/impedance is obtained by measuring the potential,
at the soil surface, on several points between the ground grid
and the CE. Such potentials are measured using an auxiliary
potential electrode (PE). In FoPM, the proper distance between
the ground grid under test and the CE is at least five times the
largest diagonal of the ground grid [5].
The application of FoPM presents limitations when the sub-
station is in urban regions or in the presence of surroundings
obstacles (due to the impossibility of extending the CE at a
great distance), or when the ground grid is large. Several studies
considering grounding resistance measurements using short dis-
tances between electrodes have been developed in recent years
[6]–[10].
Measurements with reduced distances between electrodes
generally use the method called “compensation location” or
“compensation point position,” which aims to determine where
the PE should be positioned in order to obtain the value of the
ground resistance of the substation under test. This method is
characterized by determining the point where the PE must be

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 TELLÓ et al.: SUBSTATION GROUNDING GRID DIAGNOSIS APPLYING OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES 1191

Fig. 1. Steps of the methodology for the diagnosis of a ground grid.

Fig. 2. FoPM measurement scheme.

positioned to obtain the same ground potential rise (GPR) value

A. First Step: Methodology to Determine Req or Zeq Applying
that would be measured if the distance between the substation
the FoPM With Short Distances Between Electrodes
ground grid and the CE was infinite. The location determination
of the compensation point is one of the imprecision factors of this Fig. 2 illustrates the measurement scheme using FoPM.
method, since the calculation of the compensation point affects The substation ground grid is represented by a hemispherical
the accuracy [6]. electrode with radius a, immersed in a homogeneous soil with
In this context, this article presents a methodology that allows resistivity ρ. D is the distance between the center of the ground
estimating the safety provided to human beings by a ground grid, grid and CE, which has a radius r, and x is the distance between
in the case where the substation under test has the following char- the center of the ground grid under test and a point on the
acteristics: 1) low accessibility in its environment (no free di- ground surface. In Fig. 2, I and V are the current injected into
rection to perform measurements) and 2) overhead ground wires the ground grid and the potential measured at a point P on
connected to the conductors of the grid. Fig. 1 presents a data the ground surface, respectively.
flowchart of the presented methodology used for the diagnosis of Placing the auxiliary current electrode at short distance from
substation ground grid. Consider Fig. 1, the parameters Req (or the center of substation ground grid under test (distance D), the
Zeq ), Rm , Zext , Iext , and (Im ) are: the equivalent resistance (or GPR is equal to
impedance) of grounding system, the ground resistance, the ex-  
 ρI a
ternal equivalent impedance seen by the ground grid under test, VGPR = V (a) = 1− . (1)
2πa D−a
the current through Zext , and the ground current, respectively. In
the field measurements considering the angular difference be- The potential at a generic point x on the soil surface is as
tween the current and the voltage, we obtain Zeq . Otherwise, we follows:
have Req .  
 ρI a a
It is important to highlight that the presented methodol- VX = V (x) = − . (2)
2πa x D − x
ogy does not need to calculate and locate the “compensation
point.” From (1) and (2), it is possible to show that the resistance at
a generic point xi , R(xi ), can be given by
 
II. METHODOLOGY, RESULTS, AND VALIDATION ρ a ρ
R (xi,calc ) = 1− −  −1
The methodology presented in Fig. 1 is composed of two 2πa (D − a)
2π x1i − (D−x1
i)
steps. The first step is characterized by determining Req or Zeq
 
using the values measured from FoPM, with short distances 1 1
between electrodes. In the second step, Rm and Zext are de- = β−ϕ − . (3)
xi (D − xi )
termined and so the currents Im and Iext are calculated applying
the Kirchhoff current law. It is possible to determine, at specific Using the FoPM, a set of k measured resistance values is
points inside and around the substation region, the touch and obtained, that is, R(xi ,measured ) [i = 1, 2, …, k].
step voltages when a ground fault occur, from the value of Im . In The parameters β and ϕ, in (3), are determined apply-
both steps, the Hooke–Jeeves optimization method, with suitable ing the Hooke–Jeeves optimization method. This method is
constraints, is applied. This optimization method is part of the used to minimize the objective function (0F1) characterized
MATLAB software library. by the criterion of least squares error, which is given by the
In the next sections, the results obtained applying the opti- following:
mization technique will be compared with data measured on an  k  2
R (xi,measured ) − R (xi,calc )
experimental ground grid and with the data obtained from the min OF1 = min . (4)
literature. i=1
R (xi,measured )

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 1192
Fig. 3. Resistance measured curves for various distances D and for various
positions of PE.
Equation (4) is subject to the following constrains:
0 < β ≤ R (xk )
0.5 ≤ ϕ ≤ 500
ϕ
R (x1 ) ≤ β+ ≤ R (xk ) .
(D − a)
After obtaining the parameters β and ϕ, the equivalent
impedance of the grounding system is determined using (6).
That is
ϕ
Req = β + . (6)
(D − a)
The results concerning step 1 were compared with measure-
ments data made on an experimental ground grid [10] and with
measurements performed in a 500 kV substation [11]. These
results will be presented in the following sections.
1) Comparison With an Experimental Ground Grid: The
characteristics of the experimental ground grid are as follows:
1) dimensions: 10 m × 10 m;
2) conductors buried at 0.5 m deep;
3) mesh spacing: 2.5 m × 2.5 m;
4) soil structure: ρ1 = 845 Ωm, h1 = 3.1 m; ρ2 = 144 Ωm
and h2 = infinity;
5) radius of the largest diagonal of the ground grid: 7.07 m;
6) measured resistance Rm1 = 16.5 Ω (benchmark).
The value of Rm1 = 16.5 Ω was measured adopting D =
77.7 m, which corresponds to D = 11a (or 5.5 times the largest
diagonal of the ground grid under test). Fig. 3 shows the profile
of the measured resistances for different distances between the
center of the ground grid and the CE. The PE was placed at
several positions along (D–a), which represents the distance
between the periphery of the ground grid under test and the
CE. Specifically, for resistance measurements, PE was placed at
positions ranging from 10% to 90% of the distance (D–a).
Table I shows the comparison of results between the mea-
sured value adopted as benchmark (Rm1 = 16.5 Ω) and the
values of ground resistance (Rmp ) determined applying (6). The
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 56, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2020
TABLE I
EXPERIMENTAL GROUND GRID (COMPARISON OF RESULTS)
(5a)
(5b)
(5c)
Fig. 4. Experimental ground grid: Calculated values of Rmp considering
different distances D/a.
Diff column shows the difference between the measured value
(benchmark value) and the calculated values (Rmp ).
Fig. 4 shows the calculated Rmp values considering the various
distances D/a (and therefore different CE positions) as well as
the measured value of Rm1 . From Table I and Fig. 4 it can be
seen that, from D/a = 2, an oscillation occurs in the calculated
values of ground resistance (in relation to the value of Rm1 ). This
oscillation is less than 10%, except for the point corresponding
to D/a = 3. Specifically, it is found that at point D/a = 3 a
significant “jump” occurred in the calculated value of Rmp . The
convergence of the optimization method may be a probable cause
for this behavior. However, this “jump” in D/a = 3 should be
better evaluated. Fig. 4 indicates that the calculated values of
Rmp are, for the most part, greater than the measured value Rm1
indicating that the methodology provides conservative values
for the ground resistance.
2) Comparison With Data From Measurements: In [11],
measured values of ground resistances are presented, obtained
with FoPM. The measurements refer to the ground grid of the
500 kV Haibowan substation in China. The dimension of the
substation ground grid is 450 m × 300 m and is installed in a
soil that has the following structure: ρ1 = 114 Ωm, h1 = 2.4 m;
ρ2 = 3812 Ωm, h2 = 16.8 Ωm; ρ3 = 74 Ωm; and h3 = infinite.
The measured value of ground resistance of the ground grid was
0.185 Ω (Rmeasured ), as shown in Fig. 5. Additionally, Fig. 5
shows the measured resistance values considering that the CE
is 400 m away from the periphery of the ground grid under test.
 TELLÓ et al.: SUBSTATION GROUNDING GRID DIAGNOSIS APPLYING OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES 1193

voltage Vt is the voltage measured at the point corresponding to

Zeq (Vt = It Zeq ), which is obtained applying (6). Additionally,
the test current splits into two-currents: 1) ground current (Im )
and 2) current through the equivalent ladder circuit Zext (Iext ).
In order to estimate (Im ) an equation that relates measured
parameters with parameters of interest was determined. So, an
optimization method is applied to the equation that governs the
phenomenon to obtain the parameters Rm and Zext .
To obtain the equation that governs the phenomenon under
study, the following equations are considered:
It Zeq = Im Rm (7)
Iext Zext = It Zeq . (8)
Fig. 5. ♦ Measured resistances and  Ground grid resistance of a 500 kV Also, the following relationship is taken into account:
substation [11].
It Zeq Im Rm
= . (9)
Iext Zext It Zeq
TABLE II
EXPERIMENTAL GROUND GRID (COMPARISON OF RESULTS) From (9) we have the following:
It2 Zeq
2
= Im Iext Rm Zext (10)
and
It2 Zeq
2
Rm Zext = . (11)
Im Iext
Remembering that
Rm
2
Zext
2
Zeq
2
= . (12)
(Rm + Zext )2
Taking (12) in (11) it is possible to write
Im Iext (Rm + Zext )2 − It2 Rm Zext = 0. (13)
Fig. 6. Equivalent impedance (Zeq ) obtained by applying (6) from data Also, the following relationship is considered:
measured based on FoPM.
Vt
Im = (14)
Rm
That is, the ground grid and the CE are close (D/a = 2.48 or Vt
n = D/2a = 1.24). Iext = It − Im = It − . (15)
Rm
Table II presents the result obtained applying (6) as well as
Finally, taking (14) and (15) in (13) and making some ar-
the difference between the measured and calculated values of
rangements the result is as follows:
resistance (Diff).
Table II indicates that there is a good agreement between (Rm + Zext )2 Vt It Rm − Vt2 − It2 Rm
3
Zext = 0. (16)
the calculated (Rmp ) and measured (Rmeasured ) value of ground
resistance for the ground grid of 500 kV Haibowan substation. The solution of (16) allows to estimate the ground current
(Im ), from the determination of Rm and Zext .
The constraints definition is an important step related with the
B. Second Step: Ground Current Determination (Im ) solution of (16). Constraints must be linked to the parameters that
The transmission line ground wires and towers form a lad- affect the performance of the grounding system (grid resistance,
der circuit, which is reduced to external equivalent impedance touch and step potentials). Looking from this perspective, one
(Zext ). This external equivalent impedance is connected to sub- of the constraints must be related to the resistivity of the soil,
station ground grid (Rm ). The current division between the because the soil structure constitutes the basis of grounding
ground resistance and the external equivalent impedance of study.
each circuit is computed by applying Kirchhoff’s current law. Equation (16) is the equation to be optimized. The soil struc-
Fig. 6 shows the circuit under study, where Zeq is the equiv- ture is usually stratified into several horizontal layers with differ-
alent impedance of grounding system (Rm //Zext ). To obtain ent resistivity values, where each layer has a certain thickness.
the impedance Zeq , it is necessary to circulate the current (It ) Conceptually, each layer of soil contributes to grid resistance.
between the substation grounding system under test and a CE. Therefore, considering that max and min are the maximum
With the current It continuously flowing in the ground grid the and minimum values of soil resistivity at the place where the

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 1194
TABLE III
EXPERIMENTAL GROUND GRID (COMPARISON OF RESULTS)
Fig. 7. Layout of SE Iguatemi 69 kV substation ground grid.
ground grid was built, the following constraints are associated
with (16):
Rm > Zeq
Zext > Zeq
0.443ρmin 0.443ρmax
√ ≤ Rm ≤ √ .
Sm Sm
In the constraint (17c) the expression: 0.443ρ
√
Sm
is the equation
proposed by Laurent to estimate the substation ground grid
[5]. In this expression, Sm is the area occupied by the ground
grid (m²).
1) Comparison With Data Obtained From Measurement:
The results provided by the optimization method will be com-
pared with the test data obtained from bibliographical references
and with measurement data performed in a new substation.
Regarding the methodology adopted in the measurements, it is
important to comment that in [4] and [12] the coupling effects
among various elements that form the grounding system under
test were calculated. Thus, in these references, measured and
calculated data were used to determine the current distributions
by the various elements of the grounding system. Table III
presents the comparison of the results between the presented
methodology and these references, where the last column shows
the percentage of the total injected current flowing to the sub-
station ground grid (ground current module divided by injected
current module).
Analyzing the results, the values of (Im ) calculated using the
optimization method are higher than the values indicated by the
consulted references. That is, the touch voltage values calculated
from (Im ), obtained through the optimization method, will be
conservative (in favor of safety).
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 56, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2020
Fig. 8. SE Iguatemi: application of FoPM with short distance between auxil-
iary electrodes.
Fig. 9. FoPM: Measured value of Resistances (short distances).
(17a)
TABLE IV
(17b) COMPARISON OF RESULTS (SE IGUATEMI)
(17c)
In the following, the differences between the measured and
calculated values of (Im ) presented in Table III will be discussed.
a) Discussion about [4]: Field measurements of ground
injected current distribution considering the grounding complex
impedance (ground wires of transmission lines, tower counter-
poises, telephone cables and numerous 25 kV feeder neutrals
connected to the grid) of Hydro-Québec Yamaska Substation)
were presented. In [4], current distribution in the whole ground-
ing complex (portion of the external current) was measured (in
magnitude and angle). Ground current was considered to be the
result of the subtraction of the injected current by the external
measured current. Therefore, the performed measurements indi-
cate that 394.63@1050 A flow through external connections of
the ground grid and about 202@1230 A is drained to substation
grounding grid. The injected current magnitude is 591@1110 A.
In the optimization method, the parameter Vt is given by the
product of the current It (591@00 A) by the Zeq (0.115@00 Ω).
Applying the optimization method, it was obtained that 59.16%
(349.6 A) of the total injected current is drained into the substa-
tion ground grid. The difference in the obtained results indicates
 TELLÓ et al.: SUBSTATION GROUNDING GRID DIAGNOSIS APPLYING OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES
Fig. 10. Methodology for the diagnosis of substation grounding grid.
that the optimization method provides conservative values (in
favor of safety).
b) Discussion about [12]: Reference [12] presented the
field measurements of ground fault current distribution and
substation ground impedance of LG-2 complex in Québec.
In [12], the grounding system is formed by the ground grid
impedance of 735 kV substation, the water intake ground
grid impedance, the power houses grid and the equivalent
ground impedance (overhead ground wires, counterpoises, dis-
tribution neutrals, communication cable shields, etc.). Know-
ing the total current circulating in the grounding system,
the rest of the injected current will pass into the substation
ground grid. The measured voltage and injected current pha-
sors were 129@00 V and 554@220 A, respectively, and the
obtained ground current value into the substation ground grid
was 180@-270 A. Applying the optimization method, 32.85%
of the injected current is drained by the substation ground
grid (180@00 A).
III. CASE STUDY
Field tests were performed on a new high voltage substation
located in southern Brazil (SE Iguatemi). The results obtained
by applying the optimization method were compared with the
ground grid design data. The 69 kV SE Iguatemi is a GIS indoor
substation with two power transformers of 20 MVA–69/13.8 kV
including one double circuit of transmission line. Fig. 7 shows
a layout of the referred substation ground grid, with dimension
of 34 m × 17 m.
The soil has the following structure: ρ1 = 500 Ωm, h1 = 8.6 m;
ρ2 = 5000 Ωm and h2 = infinite. The total ground fault current,
Isc , is 24 540 A. The tests were carried out with the overhead
ground wires of transmission lines connected to the SE ground
grid. Additionally, the SE was de-energized during the tests.
The FoPM with short distance between electrodes was ap-
plied. Fig. 8 shows the measurement scheme used and the
distances adopted for current and potential auxiliary electrodes.
In the test, the current was injected at 60 Hz and the angular
difference between the quantities of interest was not considered.
Fig. 9 shows the measured resistance value corresponding to
each position of the PE. The test current (It ) was 1.6 A.
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1195
Table IV presents a comparison between the values
determined by ground grid design and the methodology pre-
sented in this article.
Table IV indicates that the optimization method provided
conservative results for (Im ).
After the comparisons made it is possible to “open” the dashed
line shown in Fig. 1. Thus, Fig. 10 presents the steps that allow
estimating the ground grid diagnosis [13].
IV. CONCLUSION
This article presents a new methodology for determining
(Im ), based on data acquired from field tests conducted in
substations. The values obtained for (Im ) were conservative.
It is important to point out that there are uncertainties of vari-
ables such as soil resistivities, current distribution along differ-
ent grounding elements and field measurements. Specifically,
considering that the geological complexity in which a grid is
installed results in inaccuracies of the soil structure model as well
as measurement uncertainties, it is difficult to obtain accurate
ground current values. However, the conservative values ob-
tained provide an indication that the grounding grid is safe even
if the models do not have the desired high accuracy. Addition-
ally, the developed methodology applied to field measurements
results in a practical method for the safety assessment provided
by substation grounding grids, although it does not present the
expected high precision due to the uncertainties mentioned.
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[12] J. Fortin, H. G. Sarmiento, and D. Mukhedkar, “Field measurements of Lucas T. C. Pulz was born in Porto Alegre, Rio
ground fault current distribution and station ground impedance at LG-2, Grande do Sul, Brazil, on December 8, 1989. He
québec,” IEEE Trans. Power Del. vol. PWRD-1, no. 3, pp. 48–60, Jul. 1986. received the B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees in electri-
[13] M. Telló, D. S. Gazzana, V. B. Telló, L. T. C. Pulz, R. C. Leborne, and cal engineering from the Federal University of Rio
A. S. Bretas, “Substation grounding grid diagnosis applying optimization Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil, in
techniques based on measurements and field tests,” in Proc. 19th IEEE Int. 2014 and 2017, respectively.
Conf. Environ. Elect. Eng., Genoa, Italy, Jun. 2019, pp. 1–6. He is one of the Founders and Director at Vör
Electric. His research interests include power quality
and grounding systems.

Marcos Telló was born in Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul,

Brazil, on November 1956. He received the Ph.D.
degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do
Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2000.
He was a Full Professor with the Pontifical Catholic
University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), where
he was the Head of Electromagnetic Compatibil-
ity Group (GCEM). He is currently a Senior Engi-
neer with the State Company of Electrical Energy Roberto Chouhy Leborgne received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering
(CEEE D), Porto Alegre. His main research inter- from Itajubá Federal University, Itajubá, Brazil, in 2003, and the Ph.D. degree in
ests include electromagnetic compatibility grounding electrical engineering from the Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg,
systems and lightning. Sweden, in 2007.
He was with ABB-Daimler Benz Transportation, Brazil, and Teyma Abengoa,
Uruguay. He is currently a Professor with the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. His research interests include power quality and
power system planning.
Daniel S. Gazzana was born in Veranópolis, Rio
Grande do Sul, Brazil, on December 6, 1977. He
received the B.Eng. degree in mechatronics, the
M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Pontif-
ical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto
Alegre, Brazil, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical en-
gineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, in 2002, 2004, and
2012, respectively.
He is currently an Assistant Professor with
Arturo S. Bretas was born in Bauru, São Paulo,
UFRGS. His main research interests include
Brazil, on July 5, 1972. He received the B.Eng. and
grounding systems, lightning, power systems, and
M.Sc. degrees from the University of São Paulo, São
numerical methods.
Paulo, in 1995 and 1998, respectively, and the Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Poly-
technic Institute and State University, Blacksburg,
VA, USA, in 2001.
Victor B. Telló was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande He is currently a Professor with the University of
do Sul, Brazil, on November 23, 1990. He received Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. His research inter-
the B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering in 2017 ests include power systems protection, control, and
from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul operation.
(UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he is currently
working toward the M.Sc. degree.
He is currently a Project Manager with SIEMENS
Ltd, Porto Alegre, working in the areas of power
systems and renewable energy. Also, he is one of the
Founders and Director at Vör Electric. His main re-
search interests include grounding systems and power
systems.

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