650-Kv Substations for Project EHV

P. A. A B E T T I
MEMBER AIEE

R. E. LARSON

ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

HE General Electric Extra-High-Voltage Project

(called "Project EHV" for short) comprises a complete prototype transmission system which operates at
500 kv, and will operate later at 700 kv (750 kv maximum). It was announced 1 in 1958, but technical work
and acquirement of the right of way had been proceeding since early 1957. The cost of the entire project is
estimated at $7,500,000 and is being contributed by 11
co-operating manufacturers and one utility. Construction work on the site was started in May 1959 and energization at 500 kv of the North Substation and adjacent
section of the line took place in December 1960. In
1962 the voltage will be raised to 700 kv. Plans call for
testing until the summer of 1963.
In the past, ehv research installations 2 have been
designed as open-ended test lines with limited and
nonrepresentative terminal equipment. Usually, no
effort was made to design the system for a given voltage. Instead, a broad range of voltages and system
parameters was investigated. The design philosophy
of Project EHV is more advanced, similar to that used
by utilities in establishing a new system. On the basis
of forecasts of development of ehv transmission in the
United States and Canada, 2 it was decided to design
all Project EHV line configurations specifically for 460
and 650 kv, and both substations for 650 kv. A voltage
of this magnitude appears to be adequate for fulfilling
transmission requirements in North America for the
next 20 years.
Project EHV includes prototypes of apparatus to be
used on future ehv systems, from 460 to 750 kv. For
instance, the capacity of the two 650-kv autotransformers was set at 40,000 kva, because calculations showed
that this was the smallest size of a forced-oil-cooled
unit, which would have basically the same construction and geometry of larger units of the same basic impulse insulation level (BIL). Actual service experience
will be obtained for several years under normal weather
and operating conditions.
As mentioned, the Project EHV line was designed for
two rated voltages, 460 and 650 kv. Conductors, hardware, and line insulation will be changed when the operating voltage is raised. The two terminal substations,
however, are designed only for the 650-kv level, with
the exception of the lightning arresters, which will be
rated 360 kv during operation of the system at the 460Digest of paper 61-155, recommended by the AIEE Substations Committee and approved by the AIEE Technical Operations Department for
presentation at the AIEE Winter General Meeting, New York, N. Y.,
Jan. 29-Feb. 3, 1961. Published in AIEE Power Apparatus and Systems,
Aug. 1961.
P. A. Abetti is with the General Electric Company, Pittsfield, Mass.;
R. E. Larson is with the Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pa.;
A. H. Powell is with the General Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa.;
and M. D. Robinson is with the Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, Boston, Mass.

676

Abetti

A. H. POWELL
MEMBER AIEE

M. D. ROBINSON

ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

kv level. It appears that the same design principles and

structures will be used for apparatus and substations
in the 460- to 750-kv range. Consequently, operation
at the highest voltage is sufficient to demonstrate the
correctness of the design and its economics and reliability. Furthermore, two 460-kv substations have been
built by the Pennsylvania Electric Company for their
Claysax Project, and operating experience will be
available from these installations.
The following design criteria for the two Project
EHV 650-kv substations are fundamentally the same as
would be used by a utility, but are modified in certain
aspects by the special instrumentation requirements:
1. The apparatus and structures are representative of
future designs for 460 kv and higher voltages. At present, both rigid and strain busses are being used for
345-kv substations, and it appears that both may be
used at higher voltages. Consequently, rigid aluminum
bus has been used for the North Substation, and strain
bus, consisting of bundled ACSR conductors, for the
South Substation.
2. Radio interference from the stations is negligible
compared to that generated by the line itself. This requirement is definitely more stringent than that which
would be used by a utility. Conductor-generated corona
and radio noise are at present important factors affecting the design of ehv lines, and therefore they will be
measured by means of 23 radio-noise meters and a special device which will separate the corona pulses, according to their magnitude, and count them. For theoretical and practical reasons, it is desired that most of
these pulses originate on the line and not in the station. Television interference from the station is negligible, since this usually results from hardware in poor
condition or from slack insulator strings.
3. Station insulation requirements are established by
lighting and switching surges, rather than by 60-cycle
voltages or overvoltages, because there are no insulator
pollution problems in the Berkshires. However greater
distances had to be used at times between phases than
would be necessitated by insulation requirements, because special instrumentation for corona loss measurements needed to be accommodated.
4. Mechanical design criteria require that the structures withstand the severe weather conditions of the
area, but that they be easy to erect, despite their large
dimensions. Maintenance should also be kept to a minimum.
REFERENCES
1. Project EHV, P. A. Abetti. Electrical Engineering, vol. 78, Aug. 1958,
pp. 669-74.
2. Progress in Extra-High-Voltage Power Transmission, P. A. Abetti, S. B.
Crary. AIEE Transactions, pt. I l l , (Power Apparatus and Systems), vol.
78, J u n e 1959, pp. 357-71.

et al.650-KV Substations for Project

EHV

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