ENEL481-26S2 (C) Semester Two 2026

Electrical Machines

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 13 July 2026
End Date: Sunday, 8 November 2026
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 26 July 2026
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 27 September 2026

Description

This course focuses on two aspects. The first topic is the design of electrical machines from first principles including transformers, rotating machines, and electroheaters. The second topic covers industry-standard high-voltage testing of generators, power transformers and cables.

Firstly, students will learn about the principles and practice of Earth grid design.

Secondly, students will learn about applications of Power Electronics in Power Systems. This includes grid-supporting reactive power compensation circuits, and the system stability challenges of Inverter based Resources. Inverter control structures and their effects on the power supply network are examined in a rotating reference frame.

Thirdly, students will learn about high-voltage electric fields and how to make measurements required for the condition assessment of electric machines in the electric power industry. We will cover industry-standard high-voltage testing necessary when buying new equipment, upgrading existing equipment, or performing investigations. These tests are applicable to generators, motors, cables, and transformers.

• Earth grid design, earth grid voltage rise, management of step and touch potentials.
• Power Electronic Static Vars Compensator and STATCOM circuits. Inverter Based Resource control structures and their properties. Park’s transformation and Phase Locked Loops. Grid Following and Grid Forming inverters.
• Electric Fields, Stress and Breakdown: Basic field theory, Maxwell’s equations, Electric field mapping, Discharges in gases, liquids and solids, Statistical treatment of high voltage testing.
• High Voltage Engineering: High voltage measurement systems, Estimation of uncertainty, Partial discharge causes, models and measurements, AC withstand testing, Impulse testing.
• Electrical Machine Testing: Electrical testing of power transformers, Generator stator and rotor testing, Insulation oils, oil quality and dissolved gas analysis.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of this course you should be able to:
• LO1: Understand, design and analyse Electric Power System Earth grid systems (WA1, WA2, WA3, WA5)
• LO2: Understand the reasons for, and the different types of controlled reactive compensation (WA1, WA2, WA3, WA4, WA5)
• LO3: Understand the grid support functions of Inverter Based Resources in an Electric Power System, understand the common control strategies and their implications for stability.
• LO4: Demonstrate theoretical and practical knowledge of insulation systems and test equipment used in high-voltage engineering. (WA1, WA4, WA5, WA9)
• LO5: Apply industry-standard condition monitoring, assessment and testing techniques for electrical machines, accounting for quality and safety (WA1, WA2, WA3, WA4, WA5, WA6, WA12)
• LO6: Communicate the design of complex electrical machine systems in written form (WA10)

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Employable, innovative and enterprising

Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.

Prerequisites

Timetable 2026

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 14:00 - 15:00 E6 Lecture Theatre
13 Jul - 23 Aug
7 Sep - 18 Oct
Lecture B
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 10:00 - 11:00 Rehua 101 Lectorial
13 Jul - 23 Aug
7 Sep - 18 Oct
Lecture C
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 10:00 - 11:00 F3 Lecture Theatre
13 Jul - 23 Aug
7 Sep - 18 Oct
Lab A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Monday 08:00 - 11:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep
02 Tuesday 15:00 - 18:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep
03 Wednesday 13:00 - 16:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep
04 Tuesday 11:00 - 14:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep
05 Thursday 14:00 - 17:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep
06 Thursday 10:00 - 13:00 High Voltage Lab 101
21 Sep - 27 Sep

Course Coordinator

Andrew Lapthorn

Lecturer

Alan Wood

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Test 50%
Assignment 20%
Final Examination 30%

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Carlsson, A., Wegscheider, F., Schemel, G. and Fuhr, J; Testing of power transformers and shunt reactors ; 2nd Edition; ABB Ltd, 2010.

Hauschild, W. and Lemki, E; High-Voltage Test and Measuring Techniques ; Springer-Verlag Berlin, 2014.

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

Artificial Intelligence Tools

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for the assessment in ENEL481 is summarised in the
Table below. No AI use is allowed in the test and exam because these are closed-book invigilated
assessments. Students are always responsible for the accuracy of the submitted works, regardless of
which tools are used.

Assessment Item and Permitted use of AI.
Assignment: Generative AI tools are permitted for certain parts of this assessment.
Tests: Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment.
Exam: Generative AI tools cannot be used for this assessment.

Generative AI Tools Are Permitted for Certain Parts of This Assessment:

In these assessments (Assignment), you are permitted to use generative artificial intelligence (AI)
for the purpose of proof reading and  editing the document, and for gathering and summarising
knowledge. No other use of generative AI is permitted. To assist with maintaining academic
integrity, you must appropriately acknowledge any use of generative AI in your work. Please include
a Statement of AI use (if no AI tool has been used, then this must also be stated) and a listing of
all prompts provided to the AI tool, clearly indicating which AI tools were
and how they contributed to your assessment.

Assessment and grading system

The examiners will award a failing grade to students who score less than 40% for the Tests and Exam combined. More formally, (Test1Percent * 0.5 + ExamPercent * 0.3) / 0.8 must be greater than or equal to 40 for a pass mark to be awarded. This note is put in place to ensure that each student has adequately shown to the examiners they have gained some mastery of the topic.

In order to maintain consistency across courses and fairness for students, scaling of raw marks occurs. In the Faculty of Engineering, target course GPAs are calculated based on the performance of the cohort of students in their courses in the previous year. Scaling of the raw total course marks is normally performed so that when converted to grades (using UC Grade Scale) the outgoing GPA is in line with the target GPA for a course. Scaling up or down can occur.

The Grading Scale for the University:
https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/study-support-info/study-related-topics/grading-scale

Late submission of work

Lateness Penalties
For the Lab Test Plan and Assignment Report, a lateness penalty of 10% (in absolute terms) per day or part day late will be deducted from the original mark. For example, an assignment with a nominal mark of 83% submitted 0-24 hours late will receive a mark of 73%, and submitted 24-48 hours late will receive 63%.

Mahi ā-Ākonga | Workload (expected distribution of student hours, note 15 points = 150 hours):

Contact Hours

Lectures: 36 hours
Tutorials: 0 hours
Workshops: 0 hours
Laboratories: 3 hours

Independent study

Review of lectures: 30 hours
Test and exam preparation: 31 hours
Assignments: 40 hours
Laboratory Calculations: 10

Total 150 hours

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,344.00

International fee $6,488.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Electrical and Computer Engineering .

All ENEL481 Occurrences

  • ENEL481-26S2 (C) Semester Two 2026