50-Year milestone for Deeside based National Grid engineer

A Deeside based National Grid substation engineer is celebrating an impressive 50 years within the electricity industry.

Dave Tyrer from Chester began his career with the Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board (MANWEB) in 1973, rising through the ranks and witnessing the industry’s significant evolution.

Dave started as a student engineer, self-enrolling on electrical engineering courses before being sponsored by MANWEB to further his career.

He joined the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1979 as a 3rd Engineer and progressed to become a 1st Engineer with National Grid in 1992.

Over the years, Dave has worked in various critical project roles, including business system software replacement, reflecting the industry’s technological evolution.

Currently, Dave is the Project Manager for the Deeside Off Grid Innovation Centre works and the SVC replacement works at Cellarhead 400kV substation.

His career has spanned the full lifecycle of projects, from development to delivery. Remarkably, he has even removed and replaced equipment that was part of projects he once installed.

[Dinorwig Machine Hall under construction in the late 1970s/National Grid]

When asked about his time at National Grid, Dave said, “I have always felt spoilt as an engineer at National Grid, as a young engineer, I had the opportunity to be involved in everything from nuclear power stations, pump storage and hydro-electric schemes, with such a huge variety it continued to keep me interested.”

Reflecting on the industry’s changes, Dave noted the shift towards renewables and the new challenges this presents.

He said, “Over the last fifteen years, my focus at National Grid has shifted – I’m now connecting more wind farms and fewer power stations – which has been a hugely motivating and exciting transition in my career.”

Dave’s advice to those starting their careers is to embrace new technology, develop IT and project management skills, and continue with relevant professional development.

He also emphasised the importance of having a personal mechanism to deal with inevitable career changes.

Outside of work, Dave enjoys caravanning and visiting sites of industrial archaeology.

As for what’s next, he plans to continue working on construction and Deeside projects before eventually retiring and focusing on smaller projects like house renovation.