STANDARD TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR ELECTRIC WORKS

CABLES AND ACCESSORIES

( SPECIFICATION )

11KV, 22KV OR 33KV XLPE-INSULATED THREE-CORE UNDERGROUND

CABLES
(SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION)

ADDC/AADC STANDARD : 619434525.DOC

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 CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

CONTENTS

1 GENERAL...................................................................................................3
1.1 Drawings...................................................................................................................3
1.2 Identification and Color Codes.................................................................................3
2 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION..................................................................4
2.1 Design.......................................................................................................................4
2.1.1 General.............................................................................................................................4
2.1.2 Cable System Design........................................................................................................4
2.1.3 Calculation of Current Ratings.........................................................................................5
2.1.4 Insulation Level................................................................................................................5
2.2 Cable Construction...................................................................................................5
2.2.1 Conductor.........................................................................................................................5
2.2.2 Conductor Screen..............................................................................................................6
2.2.3 Insulation..........................................................................................................................6
2.2.4 Insulation Screen (non-metallic).......................................................................................6
2.2.5 Manufacturing Process of conductor screen insulation and insulation screen...................7
2.2.6 Insulation Screen (metallic)..............................................................................................7
2.2.7 Interstitial Copper Conductor............................................................................................7
2.2.8 Laying Up.........................................................................................................................8
2.2.9 Inner Sheath......................................................................................................................8
2.2.10 Steel Tape Armour............................................................................................................8
2.2.11 Outer Sheath.....................................................................................................................8
2.3 Cable Installation......................................................................................................9
3 TESTING AND INSPECTION.................................................................9

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 CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

11KV, 22KV OR 33KV XLPE-INSULATED THREE-CORE UNDERGROUND

CABLES
(SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION)

1 GENERAL
This specification covers the design, manufacturing, factory testing, marking, packing, shipping,
transportation to the site, installation, site testing and commissioning of 11kV, 22kV or 33kV
XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables.
Further detailed and specific data are contained in the drawings, data sheets and other documents
that form part of these Bid Documents.
The Cables shall be installed in cable rooms, concrete cable trenches, etc. or directly in the
ground as specified in Standard Technical Specification, Part:
 S-AA-CAB-INST-GEN - Installation Requirements for Underground Cables

The 11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables offered shall be
complete in all respects necessary for their effective and trouble free operation when connected
to the system.
For applicable technical standards, tests and general requirements reference shall be made to:
 S-AA-CAB-GEN - General Requirements (Applicable Technical Standards, Tests,
etc.)

1.1 Drawings
Typical Drawings for the 11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core Underground
Cables provided in the Drawings Section are as follows:
Drawing No. Title
ADWEA CAB 01 12 01/02 Typical cross-section of 11kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core
Underground Cables
ADWEA CAB 01 17 01/02 Typical cross-section of 22kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core
Underground Cables
ADWEA CAB 01 11 01/02 Typical cross-section of 33kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core
Underground Cables

1.2 Identification and Color Codes

Concerning 11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core Underground Cables
Identification reference shall be made to Standard Technical Specification, Part:

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 CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

 S-AA-GEN-ID - Components Marking

2 TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

2.1 Design

2.1.1 General
The 11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated, Three-Core Underground Cables to be offered shall
be designed such as to have a service life of not less than 30 years in the working condition and
installation environment prevailing in Abu Dhabi. It shall also fully satisfy the safety, health and
environmental requirements enforced by the laws established in Abu Dhabi.
The binding delivery quantities, upon awarding the Contract shall be determined based on the
approved cable routes, and therefore the prices shall be adjusted accordingly.
ADDC/AADC will neither furnish manpower assistance for transport, laying and erection, nor
installation assistance, or other material. All incidental costs hereto shall be included in the Contract
Price.
Further clarification of the local conditions, if deemed necessary for the preparation of the Proposal,
shall be the responsibility of the Bidder/Contractor.
All cables shall be designed in accordance with the latest issues of IEC Publications as a minimum
requirement and other standards as may be approved by ADDC/AADC.
The cables may be exposed to the direct rays of the sun at the termination cubicles, etc. The cable
outer sheath shall be capable of withstanding such exposure continuously without any detrimental
effect.
All cables shall be selected to withstand without distress short-circuit currents as specified in the
Technical Data Sheets, in the conductor and metallic sheaths. This requirement superseding any
specific data as mentioned in this Tender Document.
The cables and their accessories shall be constructed to fulfill the requirements when operating
with full load or at any load factor.

2.1.2 Cable System Design

The Bidder/Contractor shall carry out the necessary calculations and design works at no extra
cost to ADDC/AADC so as to finalise the respective 11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated
Underground Cable System.
In designing the cable system for the specified cable route the following factors shall be taken
into account:
 Current carrying capacity

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 CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

 Mutual heating between adjacent circuits when more than one circuit is installed along a
common route and simultaneously loaded
 Earthing requirement.

2.1.3 Calculation of Current Ratings

The Bidder/Contractor shall provide at least the following calculations and records:
 Calculation results of the continuous current rating (as indicated in the offer) for the proposed
cables and their accessories
 The reduction factor of permissible transmission capacity applied for the site conditions as
result of the chosen bedding and backfilling material of the power cables and including all
crossing and parallel running power cables
 Report of permissible overload current of the power cables, starting from 50, 75 and 110 % of
the above mentioned continuous permissible transmission capacity of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 hours
 Tables/graphs showing the variation of the permissible transmission capacity against:
 the depth of laying of the cables
 the axial separation of the cables
 the ambient temperature
 the soil/backfilling material thermal resistivity (including moisture content), using the
ambient temperature as a parameter.
 Calculation results to proof that the conductor metallic screens and the interstitial copper
conductors meet the specified short-circuit current.

2.1.4 Insulation Level

All cables and their accessories to be supplied shall have insulation levels according to IEC
60502-2 and as specified in the Technical Data Sheets.

2.2 Cable Construction

2.2.1 Conductor

2.2.1.1 General
The conductor shall consist of stranded plain annealed copper wires according to the
International Annealed Copper Standard. The conductor shall be clean, smooth and free from
burrs and surface imperfections likely to damage the conductor screen or cause uneven electrical
stress distribution.

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The conductor shall be longitudinally water tight and shall meet requirement of water penetration
test of Clause 19.22 of IEC 60502. Water swelling tapes shall be applied around each layer of the
conductor wires.
The conductor shall comply with requirements of IEC 60228.

2.2.1.2 Size
The conductor sizes shall be as specified in the Technical Data Sheets.

2.2.1.3 Shape
The conductor shall be highly compacted and circular.

2.2.2 Conductor Screen

The conductor screen with a minimum thickness as specified in the Technical Data Sheets shall
be an extruded layer of black, semi-conducting tree-retardant compound.
The contact surface between conductor screen and insulation shall be smooth and free from
protrusion. The protrusions at the surface between the conductor screen and insulation shall be
limited to 0.075 mm into the insulation and 0.175 mm into the conductor screen. The screen
material shall adhere to the conductor surface but not penetrate into the conductor.
The conductor screen (non-strippable) shall be firmly bonded to the insulation and the bonding
shall not be affected due to the effects of bending, load cycling and short circuit. The screen
material shall adhere to the conductor surface but not penetrate into the conductor.
The volume resistivity of the screen material shall not exceed 1000 m at 90oC.

2.2.3 Insulation
The insulation shall be an extruded homogeneous layer of tree-retardant cross-linked
polyethylene complying with IEC 60502.
The insulation raw material shall be extra clean class with an extremely low level of
contamination.
The thickness of the insulation shall be as specified in the Technical Data Sheets. The maximum
deviation of the insulation thickness shall not be more than 4 % of the average thickness of six
measurements at any point.

2.2.4 Insulation Screen (non-metallic)

The insulation screen with a minimum thickness as specified in the Technical Data Sheets shall
be an extruded layer black, semi-conducting tree-retardant compound and continuously covers
the whole area of the insulation.

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11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

The contact surface between insulation and insulation screen shall be smooth and free from
protrusion. The protrusions at the surface between the insulation and insulation screen shall be
limited to 0.125 mm into the insulation and 0.125 mm into the insulation screen.
The inner surface of the insulation screen shall adhered continuously to the outer surface of the
insulation and shall have no tendency to separate from the insulation due to the effect of bending
during installation, load cycling and short circuit under service conditions.
This insulation screen shall be a cold strippable layer and capable of being removed by hand
without any special tool or applying heat, without impairing the performance of insulation and
leaving no semi-conductive material which cannot be removed readily. When tested, the
stripping force shall be not less than 4 N and not more than 45 N according to IEC 60502-2
(Clause 19.21.2).
The volume resistivity of the insulating screen material shall not exceed 500  m at 90oC.
Phase identification shall be provided, by means of thin colored tape Red, Yellow and Blue and
placed between the non-metallic insulation screen and the metallic core tape. The phase
identification tape shall be heat resistant, suitable for continuous operation at 90oC and the color
shall not fade when exposed to heat or organic chemicals.

2.2.5 Manufacturing Process of conductor screen insulation and insulation screen

The conductor shall be covered with three layers (screen, insulation, screen) the insulation being
of tree-retardant MV insulation compound, extruded under high pressure and heat treatment.
The conductor screen, the insulation and the insulation screen shall be mutually compatible and
shall, in the same manufacturing process, be continuously extruded and completely dry cured by
a common head (simultaneously).
For insulation row material handling, DIRECT FEED SYSTEM and for cooling after vulcani-
zation, dry cooling are preferred.
The Bidder/Contractor shall give a detailed description on the extrusion and curing processes.
A quality audit of the manufacturing process, machinery and Quality Management System of the
cable manufacturer may be performed by ADDC/AADC before awarding of the contract.

2.2.6 Insulation Screen (metallic)

Metallic screen of plain annealed copper tape with suitable overlay shall be provided as specified
in the Technical Data Sheets.

2.2.7 Interstitial Copper Conductor

3 numbers of annealed bare copper wire conductors shall be placed in the interstices in contact
with the copper tapes, during the three core assembly.
Short-circuit

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 CABLES AND ACCESSORIES
11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

The Bidder/Contractor shall prove by calculation that the interstitial copper conductors together
with the insulation metallic screens are adequate to meet the specified short-circuit current. The
calculation results shall be supported by actual executed Short-Circuit test results.
When carrying the short time current as specified in the Technical Data Sheets, the integrity and
performance of any part of the cable shall not be deteriorated due to the rise of the surrounding
temperature. The sheath temperature under specified short circuit conditions shall not exceed the
allowable temperature rise of the insulation or the allowable short circuit temperature of the
sheath protection covering whichever is lower.

2.2.8 Laying Up
The three cores and the interstitial copper conductors shall be laid up together with
polypropylene yarn filler or equivalent to form a compact circular cable and wrapped with
suitable binder tapes. The materials used shall be suitable for the operating temperature of the
cable and compatible with the insulating materials.

2.2.9 Inner Sheath

The extruded inner sheath shall meet IEC 60502 and the requirements specified in the Technical
Data Sheets. The inner sheath shall not be susceptible to cracking during the life of the cable.

2.2.10 Steel Tape Armour

The cable armouring shall consist of two layers of galvanised steel tapes. The tape armour shall
be applied helically in two layers around the bedded cables so that the outer tape is
approximately central over the gap of the inner tape. The gap between adjacent turns of each tape
shall not exceed 50% of the width tape. The galvanising of the steel tapes shall be smooth finish.
The zinc coating shall be applied on both sides as well as edges, either by the hot dip or the
electro galvanising process.

2.2.11 Outer Sheath

The outer covering shall meet the requirements as specified in the Technical Data Sheets and
shall be suitably prepared against cracking and decomposition under the prevailing service
conditions at site.
On the outer sheath the following shall be embossed at one meter interval starting from 000
against each drum length:
 Voltage designation
 Cable size
 Number of cores
 Manufacturers name

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11kV, 22kV or 33kV XLPE-Insulated Three-Core Underground Cables (Supply and Installation)

 Year of manufacturing
 Owners name as ‘PROPERTY OF ADDC/AADC-UAE’
 Sequential length marking at every meter interval starting from 000.

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2.3 Cable Installation

Please refer to Standard Technical Specification Part:
 S-AA-CAB-INST-GEN - Installation Requirements for Underground Cables
 S-AA-CAB-ACC-CLEAT - Cable Cleats and Fixings
 S-AA-FIF - Fire Fighting System

3 TESTING AND INSPECTION

The Bidder/Contractor shall carry out electrical and function tests in accordance with the latest
edition of IEC 60502 and as specified in Technical Specification, Part:
 S-AA-CAB-GEN - General Requirements (Applicable Technical Standards, Tests,
etc.)
when installation of the Cables have been completed.

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