Education and Science, Energy, Forum, Latvia

The first Latvian Championship for Electricians last year started a new tradition in Latvia – competitions for professional electricians. Given the great popularity of the first competition, this year the organiser of the championships, Schneider Electric Latvija organised four preliminary rounds in Ventspils, Cēsis, Daugavpils, and Riga. Winners of the regional competitions then met in the competition’s final in Riga.

“In the battle of champions, the winner was determined by the tiniest of nuances, almost to the point where the quality of polishing of wire ends was being looked at. Tough competition and top-level results is how I would describe the final this year,” commented “Schneider Electric” Product Development Manager for the Baltic countries Gatis Arājums, the person who suggested the idea of the competition.

Winners of the Electricians’ Championship 2015 final round:

1st place – team Citrus Solutions – Vadims Skrastiņš and Jānis Mellis

2nd place – team Valmieras Piens – Vjačeslavs Kutiščevs and Agris Neimanis

3rd place – team Moduls Rīga – Deniss Fjodorovs and Jevgēņijs Goldblats

“Even if we had not win, we would have learned new things at the competition,” says the winner, the Citrus Solutions team made up of two construction managers for whom offering various energy efficiency solutions to clients is a job they do on a daily basis. “After receiving the assignment, we learned about many products, for instance, presence sensors that set the lighting level and maintain a constant level of light in a room. We tried regulating daylight, which could be a good, energy-efficient solution to office buildings. Such things cannot be found on shelves in your usual shop, but we had the opportunity to see them thanks to the competition of electricians. Skills we have learned in our job helped us win – after all, we have to know how to demonstrate things to our employees, or to tell a client what needs to be done.”

The “Schneider Electric Electricians’ Championship” in Latvia is a unique competition. It helps raise qualifications of electrical installation experts, teaches new skills, emphasises the importance of the profession of the electrician, as well as gives best electricians the opportunity to vie for valuable prizes and the honour of being the best electrician in Latvia. One of the main objectives of the championships is the creation of an energy efficient electrical installation without potentially affecting the comfort level in a given room. During the competition, electricians’ professionalism is evaluated by a professional jury in terms of technical precision and creativity, paying particular attention to the energy efficiency, safety, and innovation of electrical installations created during the competition. Presentations of the installations in conclusion of the competition were of crucial importance.

For the final of the “Schneider Electric Electricians’ Championship”, there were ten stands featuring various types and materials for creating electrical installations. The participating electricians were tasked with the creation of small-scale energy-efficient solutions, using the products provided by Schneider Electric, the application of which would ensure full functionality, as per the task, as well as energy efficiency.