Under ground cables

Southern Technical University

Basra Technical University
Department of Electrical Power Techniques Engineering

Student name:
‫فاطمة عبد الصمد عيدان‬

Supervisor:
‫ رشيد صباح‬.‫د‬

Stage/Study:

‫صباحي‬-‫أ‬-‫رابعة‬

Course:
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Abstract
Governments and energy operators are often confronted with opposition to the
construction of new high-voltage overhead transmission lines and a lack of public
support. A frequently discussed strategy for enhancing support is to build underground
cables instead of overhead lines. So far, however, there is not much empirical evidence of
whether substituting overhead lines by underground cables actually reduces public
protest or affects public perceptions. This study contributes to filling this gap by
comparing local residents’ perceptions and protest behavior observed at two grid
expansion sites in Germany by means of a quasi-experiment. At the time when the data
were collected, both grid expansion projects–an overhead line project in Lower Saxony
and an underground cable project in Hesse–were at the same stage of the legally defined
planning and approval procedure. After controlling for various potential confounders, we
obtained results revealing that there are no differences in the perceptions, attitudes, and
protest behavior of residents interviewed at the two project sites, or only marginal ones.
Hence, our findings do not support the assumption that building underground cables
necessarily enhances public support for power grid expansion.

Introduction
This overview contains information about electric transmission lines which are installed
underground, rather than overhead on poles or towers. Underground cables have
different technical requirements than overhead lines and have different environmental
impacts. Due to their different physical, environmental, and construction needs,
underground transmission generally costs more and may be more complicated to
construct than overhead lines. Issues discussed in this pamphlet include:
-Types of Underground Electric Transmission Cables
-Ancillary Facilities
- Construction and Operation Considerations
- Costs
- Repairs
The design and construction of underground transmission lines differ from overhead lines
because of two significant technical challenges that need to be overcome. These are: 1)
providing sufficient insulation so that cables can be within inches of grounded material;

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and 2) dissipating the heat produced during the operation of the electrical cables.
Overhead lines are separated from each other and surrounded by air. Open air circulating
between and around the conductors cools the wires and dissipates heat very effectively.
Air also provides insulation that can recover if there is a flashover. In contrast, a number
of different systems, materials, and construction methods have been used during the last
century in order to achieve the necessary insulation and heat dissipation required for
undergrounding transmission lines. The first underground transmission line was a 132kV
line constructed in 1927. The cable was fluid-filled and paper insulated. The fluid was
necessary to dissipate the heat. For decades, reliability problems continued to be
associated with constructing longer cables at higher voltages. The most significant issue
was maintenance difficulties. Not until the mid-1960s did the technology advance
sufficiently so that a high-voltage 345 kV line could be constructed underground. The
lines though were still fluid filled. This caused significant maintenance, contamination,
and infrastructure issues. In the 1990s the first solid cable transmission line was
constructed more than one mile in length and greater than 230 kV.

Advantages of underground cables:

• less liable to damage through storms or lightning,
• low maintenance cost,
• less chance of faults,
• smaller voltage drop as the Inductive reactance of O.H.T. Lines is more
• better general appearance.

Disadvantages of underground cables:

• they have greater installation cost
• they introduce insulation problems at high voltages compared with the equivalent
overhead system.
• Capacitance and charging current is high in case of underground cables, so that for long
distance power transmission, the charging current is very high results in over voltages
problems.

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Types of Underground Electric Transmission Cables
There are two main types of underground transmission lines currently in use. One type is
constructed in a pipe with fluid or gas pumped or circulated through and around the
cable in order to manage heat and insulate the cables. The other type is a solid dielectric
cable which requires no fluids or gas and is a more recent technological advancement.
The common types of underground cable construction include:
1- High-pressure, fluid-filled pipe (HPFF)
2- High-pressure, gas-filled pipe (HPGF)
3- Self-contained fluid-filled (SCFF)
4- Solid cable, cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE)

Transition Structures
For underground cables less than 345 kV, the connection from overhead to underground
lines require the construction of a transition structure, also known as a riser. Figures 6
depict sample transition structure designs. These structures are between 60 and 100 feet
tall. They are designed so that the three conductors are effectively separated and meet
electric code requirements. The insulated conductor of the overhead line is linked
through a solid insulator device to the underground cable. This keeps moisture out of the
cable and the overhead line away from the supporting structure.
Lightning arrestors are placed close to where the underground cable connects to the
overhead line to protect the underground cable from nearby lightning strikes. The
insulating material is very sensitive to large voltage changes and cannot be repaired. If
damaged, a completely new cable is installed.

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Transition Stations
High voltage (345 kV or greater) underground transmission lines require transition
stations wherever the underground cable connects to overhead transmission. For very
lengthy sections of underground transmission, intermediate transition stations might be
necessary. The appearance of a345 kV transition station is similar to that of a small
switching station. The size is governed by whether reactors or other additional
components are required. They range in size from approximately 1 to 2 acres. Transition
stations also require grading, access roads, and storm water management facilities.
Figure 7 is a photo of small transition station.

Reliability of Service
In general, lower voltage underground transmission lines are very reliable. However, their
repairtimes are much longer than those for overhead lines. Repair Rates – Pipe-Type
Transmission Cables For pipe-type lines, the trouble rates historically, for about
2,536miles of line correspond to about:
- One cable repair needed per year for every 833 miles of cable.
- One splice repair needed per year for every 2,439 miles of cable.
- One termination repair needed per year for every 359 miles of cable. These trouble
rates indicate that there would be, at most, a 1:300 chance for the most common type of
repair to be needed in any one mile of pipe-type underground line over any one year.
Repair Rates - XLPE lines
There is less available documentation regarding XLPE trouble rates and very little
information for 345 kV transmission lines. However, the following estimates are generally
accepted.
- One cable repair needed per year for every 1,000 miles of cable.
- One splice repair needed per year for every 1,428 miles of cable.
- One termination repair needed per year for every 1,428 miles of cable.
These trouble rates indicate that there would be, at most, a 1:1,000 chance for the most
common type of repair to be needed in any one mile of XLPE underground line over any
one year.

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Outage Duration
The duration of outages varies widely, depending on the circumstances of the failure, the
availability of parts, and the skill level of the available repair personnel. The typical
duration of an HPGF outage is 8 to 12 days. The duration of typical XLPE outages is 5 to 9
days. The repair of a fault in a HPFF system is estimated to be from 2 to 9 months,
depending on the extent of the damage. The outage rate would increase as the number
of splices increases. However, the use of concrete vaults at splice locations can reduce
the duration of a splice failure by allowing quick and clean access to the failure. The
outage would be longer if the splice were directly buried, as is sometimes
done with rural or suburban XLPE lines. To locate a leak in a pipe-type line, the pipe
pressure must be reduced below 60 psi and the line de-energized before any probes are
put into the pipe. For some leak probes, the line must be out of service for a day before
the tests can begin. After repairs, pipe pressure must be returned to normal slowly. This
would require an additional day or more before the repaired line could be energized. To
locate an electrical fault in an underground line, the affected cable must be identified. To
repair a pipe-type line, the fluid on each side of the electrical failure would be frozen at
least 25 feet out from the failure point. Then, the pipe would be opened and the line
inspected. New splices are sometimes required and sometimes cable may need to be
replaced and spliced. Then, the pipe would be thawed and the line would be re-
pressurized, tested, and finally put back in service. In contrast, a fault or break in an
overhead line can usually be located almost immediately and repaired within hours or, at
most, a day or two. One problem that increases emergency response time for
underground transmission lines is that most of the suppliers of underground transmission
materials are in Europe. While some of the European companies keep American-based
offices, cable and system supplies may not be immediately available for emergency
repairs.

Line Life Expectancies

While the assumed life of underground pipe-type or XLPE cable is about 40 years, there
are pipe-type cables that has been in service for more than 60 years. Overhead lines in
northern Wisconsin last 60 plus years. There are some overhead lines that have lasted
more than 80 years.

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The use of underground cables
Underground cables are employed where it is impracticable to use overhead lines, such
as:
populated areas (cities)where municipal authorities prohibit overhead lines for reasons of
safety, around plants and substations where maintenance conditions do not permit the
use of overhead construction.
- Submarine crossing.

- Airports.

Requirements of underground cables

• Generally electric Cables consists of
Conductors :Stranded aluminum conductors
Insulation: to insulate the conductors from direct contact or contact with earth
Protecting cover

The type of cable to be used will depend upon

the working voltage and service requirements

• The conductor used in cables should be tinned stranded copper or aluminium of high
conductivity.
• The conductor size should be such that the cable carries the desired load current
without overheating and voltage drop within permissible limits.
• The cable must have proper thickness of insulation in order to give high degree of
safety and reliability at the voltage for which it is designed.
• The cable must be provided with suitable mechanical protection to withstand the rough
use in laying it.
• The materials used in manufacture of cables should be such that there is complete
chemical and physical stability throughout.

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Construction of Cables
- Cores or Conductors.
- Insulation.
- Metallic sheath.
- Bedding.
- Armouring.
-Serving.

Classification of Cables
Cables for underground service may be classified in two ways according to
(i) the type of insulating material used in their manufacture
(ii) the voltage for which they are manufactured
(iii) the number of Cores

Classification according to the voltage

-Low-tension (L.T.) cables - up to 1000 V
-High-tension (H.T.) cables - up to 11,000 V
-Super-tension (S.T.) cables - from 22 kV to 33 kV
-Extra high-tension (E.H.T) cables - from 33 kV to 66 kV
-Extra super voltage cables - beyond 132 kV

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Underground Distribution Cable
Underground distribution cables range from 6.6 kV to 33 kV in voltage rating, and XLPE
cables that employ cross linked polyethylene as insulator are generally used. It may be
said that the history of XLPE cable is the history of countermeasures against water tree, a
process of insulation deterioration due to water absorption. Water tree is a phenomenon
in which water penetrates into insulation under the influence of electric fields forming a
dendritic (tree-like) array of voids filled with water, thereby degrading the insulation
performance. Countermeasures against this include: minimizing the foreign matters and
voids contained in the insulation, reducing the protrusions on the interface of the
insulation and relaxing the local concentration of electric fields. These can be realized by
dry cross-linking where cables are manufactured without using water vapor pressure, by
composing a layered cable insulation where the inner and outer semiconducting layers
are structured by semi conductive plastics replacing conductive tapes, and by extruding
the resultant semiconducting layers simultaneously with the insulation to carry out triple-
layer extrusion. These countermeasures were implemented sequentially in the 1980s,
significantly reducing the occurrence of water tree deterioration since that time.
Moreover, water-impervious XLPE cables were developed and applied in the late 1980s
centering on the 22- kV and 33-kV XLPE cables, with the aim of improving the reliability
further by completely preventing entry of water into the cables. The water-impervious
tape consisted of a laminated lead tape which is laminated with a lead foil and plastics to
improve the extensibility, making it possible for the tape to follow the thermal expansion
and con traction of the cable. This laminated lead layer was bonded on the inside of the
cable sheath, constituting a water impervious cable. In the 2000s, we eliminated lead
from water-impervious cables ahead of others intending to make an environment-
conscious cable. To this end, we replaced lead on the water-impervious layer with
aluminum to complete an aluminum water-impervious cable, and we are promoting
substitution of this cable for lead water-impervious cables (see Figure 13).

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Underground cables in operation
Underground cables are still a comparatively young technology in the world of EHV grids.
Up to now, the only underground cables in use in the EHV grid are ones that carry
comparatively low power levels over relatively short stretches – such as for connecting
individual customers or generating facilities. However, the energy transition necessitates
that high power levels are transmitted over very long distances. And yet we still don’t
have any substantial experience demonstrating how such cables behave in Germany’s
meshed transmission grid. That said, one thing is certain: the fact that underground cable
systems comprise a large number of operating elements makes the power grid more
complex. Integrating all of them safely and reliably into the network demands innovative
solutions. This is why we at Amprion are actively promoting research and development –
together with our partners in scientific research. We use research projects to test
different cable technologies and laying methods.

Conclusion
The soil analysis for medium and low voltage electrical cables will contribute to the
monitoring of study strategy of soil contamination with heavy metals and their
influence on polymeric insulating material. Also, it will contribute to the
development of knowledge in the field of analytical methods, which will be used to
determine certain heavy metals in the soil, before and during the exploitation. This study
will contribute, as well at the preparation of the remediation strategy of the
electrical cables defects in exploitation according to the contaminated soil with
heavy metals. The lifetime of the polymeric insulators depends by environmental local
factors and the physicochemical characteristics of the soil, where electric cables are
in exploitation. The presence of heavy metals including Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Zn, Cu and Al
from soil can affect the buried electrical cables in exploitation.

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References
[1] https://psc.wi.gov/Documents/Brochures/Under%20Ground%20Transmission.pdf
[2] http://www.saadawi1.net/upLoadedFiles/extra_files/b0iobm7o1b.pdf
[3] Underground cables vs. overhead lines: quasi-experimental evidence for the effects
on public perceptions and opposition Christoph E. Mueller; Silke I. Keil; Christian Bauer
[4] https://www.furukawa.co.jp/review/fr032/fr32_02.pdf
[5]https://www.amprion.net/Dokumente/%C3%9Cbertragungsnetz/Technologie/Erdkabe
l/AMP_16_028_BRO_Erdkabel_EN_170614.pdf

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