First International Power and Energy Coference PECon 2006 575

November 28-29, 2006, Putrajaya, Malaysia

The Impact of Underground Cables on Power
Transmission and Distribution Networks
H. Al-Khalidi, IET Member, A. Kalam, IEEE Member

Abstract - The electricity sector is facing enormous challenge Although reliability benefits associated with
in most countries around the world due to deregulation and underground cables in some instances sound ambiguous,
growing demand on power. Efficient supply of electricity in yet in many countries around the world construction of a
restricted environment conditions has added more pressure new overhead transmission lines will draw a strong
on power utilities to operate increasingly on commercial
terms. Therefore, utilities must develop greater flexibility opposition from regulators and locals to a point where no
and security in terms of supply and distribution of permit will be given or it would take many years to
electricity in the most effective and environment-friendly approve the constructions; meanwhile underground cables
way possible. Underground cables have the potential to will not face such opposition. Other substantial benefits
reduce outages, maintenance cost and transmission losses. In include: interconnection of renewable energy generation,
general transmission losses are lower with underground improvement of amenity, reduction of bush fires risk and
cables compared to overhead lines. Additionally, new reduction in number of fatal car accidents [1].
underground cable technology with its unique
characteristics of low impedance and ohmic loss enables a II. UNDERGROUND CABLE TECHNOLOGY
massive increase in power transmission capacity.
Underground cables can also deliver economic benefits Cable technology is the main element in
where civil works are reduced by avoiding unnecessary designing underground power cables. Selecting the best
digging, besides a big savings in tree pruning for local available and reliable underground cable technology has
councils. the potential of overcoming many of the cost, safety and
environment related issues. This paper will focus on three
This paper will demonstrate the potential impact of different types of cables.
underground cables on Power Transmission and
Distribution Networks and examine other cable influence A. Cross-inked Polyethylene (XLPE) Cable
relating to power networks. Today XLPE cables are used widely worldwide at
Index terms - Underground cables, transmission lines, power voltages up to 132-154kV and with a limited use of
network, XLPE cable, HTS Cable.' 220kV and above. This type of cable uses vulcanised
polyethylene insulation, which is solid insulation
I. INTRODUCTION extruded onto the conductor during cable manufacturing.
Electricity has been transmitted from generation to This process involves chemically treating the
consumers using overhead power lines. Overhead lines polyethylene at high temperatures to enhance its
have been demonstrated to be the most reliable solution mechanical properties. To ensure high quality insulating
for power transmission and distribution technically and properties, the raw materials must be clean from any
economically for decades. Predominately, overhead was contaminants; the extrusion and vulcanising process must
the most effective and competitive power solution to ensure homogeneity and absence of voids and moisture in
select at the time and even for many years to come. In the the insulation. The flexibility, lightness, strength and
middle of the 20th century, environmental facets started lower maintenance costs, are the most important
to attract more awareness when planning and constructing advantages of XLPE cables. This simplified design
a new electrical network at a time when underground compared to oil-filled cable design has eliminated the
power cables were commercially and economically need for an auxiliary fluid-pressure system. XPLE cables
becoming viable. Improving overall power network has made many advances during the last decade which so
performance by utilisation of underground power cables far no other power cables have had such an elevated scale
with overhead power lines was achievable due to of improvement.
extensive research and development, yet modern
technology made it possible to fabricate and manufacture Despite the cable design simplicity, the high mass of
highly reliable cables. Due to the nature of overhead lines the cable requires large drums to be used to deliver it to
they are susceptible to external factors such as storms, the site. Therefore, the amount of cable that can be drawn
fires and car accidents; on the other hand underground from each drum is limited and a joint must be constructed
cables are immune to certain extent from such conditions. at each length along the route of the cable. Jointing must
However, most overhead interruptions occur for a short provide a high quality electrical connection, which
period of time, mainly less than a second due to surge involves highly skilled techniques to guarantee the cable
strikes and switching actions; underground cables rate. The insulation is then poured across the joint and an
interruptions are less compared to overhead interruptions insulating and waterproof casing is constructed for final
but take a much longer time to repair. protection [1-3].
B. Gas Insulated Lines (GIL)
The GIL cable has achieved high system reliability
H. Al-Khalidi is currently with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne VIC 8001, Australia He by means of the austerity of its design. This design
can be contacted at: hassan.al-khalidi research.vu.edu.au consists of aluminium conductor supported by insulators

1-4244-0273-5/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE

 576
and spacers with a pressurised gas compartment which is similar voltage, is another unique characteristic of HTS
covered by aluminium envelope. The technology has cable which is an outcome of its low electric losses which
established its reliability in more than 3,000 km and 30 is about < 1% compared with about 8% for conventional
years of operation exclusive of main failures. Hitherto, cables of low to medium voltage range. HTS Cable
GIL cables' advantages have been limited to special technology allows an enormous growth in power
application. Nevertheless, they turn out to be an transmission capacity, thus HTS Cable has the potential
economical solution for long distance application with the of becoming a practicable solution to power transmission
introduction of site assemblage, standardization of its dilemmas. Other advantages are an ability to carry current
components and better design. Yet a major cost reduction up to 5 times more than conventional underground power
could be accomplished through highly standardized GIL cables, power evaluation of up to 10 times more than the
units, developing automated orbital welding machines same thickness copper wire and the transmission of the
and pipeline laying methods [3, 4]. power can be done at lower voltage. The delivery of an
extra capability is vitally advantageous especially in
According to reference [4], the first US Gas Insulated highly congested cities. Meanwhile, transmissions at
Transmission line installed in 1972 still operates today at lower level voltages are more approachable, it has the
the PSEG Hudson Generating station in New Jersey, potential to reduce supplementary generation by
while in 1974 Europe installed the First Gas Insulated transmitting a larger portion of generated power and it
Transmission Line to connect the electrical generator of a provides, in commission, cost savings. In the same token,
hydro pump storage plant in Schluchsee, Germany. The this technique may well decrease or even eliminate
GIL went into commission in 1975 and up to now it has numbers of transformers and related equipment, savings
been in service without interruption. A section of 700 also in building extra substations, consequently reduction
meters of the line was installed in a tunnel in the in power systems costs and declining system
mountain, nonetheless, this GIL is the longest application vulnerability.
at 420 kV voltage level in the world, while the world's
longest GIL installation with 20 km single phase length is To this point, HTS cables show a promising future.
the Shinmeika-Tokai Line in Chubu, Japan. Currently Nevertheless, the significant ordeal of this technology has
nearly 200 kilometers of GIL are installed worldwide at always been the high cost associated with the cost of
voltage levels from 135 to 800 kV. The GIL applications superconductive materials on top of the cable-cooling
include high voltage substations, power generation plants cost which is essential for its normal operation
and areas with severe environmental restrictions. temperature (-208°C for current HTS cables). In an
Moreover, GIL has a flexible design, where circuit length attempt to reduce the second most expensive component
can vary between 10 meters to kilometers in length, in of HTS cable system, a new cryogenic electrical insulator
addition to all different climate conditions from the low design has been developed to reduce costs by 40-50°O,
temperatures in Canada to the high ambient temperatures and it cuts the energy losses by 500/O; the estimated cost of
in Saudi Arabia or Singapore, or rough conditions in HTS conductor required to transmit 1 kA over 1 m length
Europe or South Africa. using HTS Cables is approximately 11 EUR/kAm
compared to 42 EUR/kAm for a copper conductor with
The importance of GIL in configurations is clearly the same current rate. In the meantime, highly reliable
represented by an idea of installing a double-circuit GIL cable cooling technology has been developed aiming at
in the pilot tunnel of the new planned railway galleries longer service life for longer service intervals to reduce
between Italy and Austria through the Brenner Pass. maintenance costs. All the previous incentives will make
Another aspect of GIL system is isolation from HTS Cable technology more practically feasible at the
surroundings because the entire high voltage system current time, but industry scale production is necessary to
including insulators is entirely sealed inside the considerably bring the cost down on the longer run.
aluminium field. The magnetic field effect in any GIL
arrangement normally is tremendously low due to the Although HTS Cable developing and manufacturing
shielding effect of the opposing currents flowing in the seems to be gloomy, the forecast predicts a rational
field, therefore, this feature is crucial when extremely low technical and economic alternative for power systems.
magnetic field levels are demanded for example in The market expectation for superconductor products is
countries with highly restrictive magnetic field anticipated to intensify to near US$5 billion by the year
regulations [4, 5]. 2010 and to US$38 billion by 2020 [6].
C. High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) Cable III. IMPACT OF UNDERGROUND POWER
HST cable has an exclusive feature of the ability to CABLES TO POWER NETWORK IN
conduct electricity without resistive losses; this feature AUSTRALIA
grants a potential for increasing the reliability of the cable Adopting underground power cables has been slow
hence, the power system. As opposed to conventional in Australia in the past mainly as a consequence of the
power cables, HTS Cable is high-tech underground cable high cost of the cable technology, the low density
technology; it presents not only advanced power transfer demographic of Australian cities and limited restrictions
mechanism with minimum losses and more compact on the use of overhead lines. Major catastrophic events
designs of power applications, but also a better power have normally acted as the mechanism which drives the
flow absorption in the networks at the same voltage undergrounding of power lines. In 1974, when Cyclone
levels. A high current rate and higher capacity than Tracey hit Darwin it provided the justification for
conventional overhead lines or underground cables at undergrounding Darwin overhead lines so subsequently
 577
by 1980, more than 50°O of that city was serviced by the cost of overhead maintenance would approximately
underground LV and MV cables. Although there was double provided replacement materials cost was included.
little effort to retrofit existing areas throughout Australian Table 1 shows average maintenance in the Australian
cities since 1980, a steady introduction of underground electricity network.
cables for new residential areas has been undertaken. The
bush fire risks in Australia has turned out to be more TABLE 1 AVERAGE MAINTENANCE COSTS OF AUSTRALIAN
apparent due to climate change, in many cases these
bushfires were results of clashing of bare conductors.
Besides, the consumer demand for a more reliable and
safer power supply will highlight the necessity of
undergrounding the existing power network [7]. The
relevant aspects of different underground cables have
been elaborated.
A. Reliability Aspect Preventative 282 128 380 158 590 941
Based on the System Average Interruption Duration
Index (SAIDI) of a local power distribution company, it Vegetation Management 107 nil 194 nil 285 nil
is predicted that 7000 of outages are encountered on the
overhead network and 30°O on the underground network, Reactive 79 102 155 178 527 460
with an average duration for an overhead fault of 50
minutes and an average duration of approximately 65 Total # 468 230 729 336 I I
minutes for an underground fault. The longer time it takes (no capital) 402 401
to repair an underground faulty cable, reflects a higher Total (with capital & 1 2 2
936 460 672
duration for the underground network fault. This is a non capital) 458 804 802
reflection of the time it takes to effect repairs. On a per *
Represents the lower 25% quartile, medium and upper 25% quartile of
unit basis an underground fault will take about 10 times maintenance expenditure from a database of thirteen utilities.
longer to repair (with a similar cost ratio). # Costs are for urban residential areas, excluding the central business
As reference [8] reported, the top predominate causes district and lightly populated rural areas and the costs include, labour,
contractors, vehicles and materials, but exclude capital costs such as
of outages which account for over 5000 of all power transformers, poles and cable.
outages were external and due to Tree and Conductor
Failure. Figure 1 shows the percentage of top causes for The figures indicate that maintenance costs of
outages for SP AusNet Electricity Distribution, Australia overhead network are about twice as much as
in 2004. underground. Nevertheless, the figures are a
representation of the difference between the maintenance
35% costs of existing overhead systems and new underground
30% cables. However, $786 per kilometer of line per year for
25% the medium avoided maintenance cost is expected to
20% draw near the difference between the figures for overhead
15% and underground shown in Table 1, as time progresses
10%
and the new underground system ages [2].
5%
0%
<~6A e$
B. Economical Aspect
S e
,<,,,e,' e,,
0 4,e The high cost associated with underground cables is
.~~Z& J~~§~ o mainly due to the cost of cable materials including
C?B 9O
insulation. A comprehensive economic analysis has been
presented in reference [2] and it has estimated an amount
Fig. 1: Unplanned SAIDI by Cause for 2004 [8] of AUS$4,042 in 1998 per kilometer of line per annum
worth of benefits could be dispensed from converting
This figure shows that there is a correlation between overhead to underground. This figure has been calculated
reliability and external factors. Progress in reliability is using the national model used input data from the
achievable by reducing the controllable unplanned stocktake and survey of costs, for the purposes of
outages such as trees, no cause identified outages and comparison; the same four elements are presented in
equipment failure. In other words, implementing Table 2. These are:
underground cables will have the potential to reduce a. Motor vehicle accidents;
power outages throughout normal weather and limit the b. Maintenance;
damage of severe ones, although if a fault occurs a longer c. Tree trimming; and
time is needed to recover the power supply. d. Transmission losses.
Another aspect of underground reliability is the In that model the net benefit of putting cables
potential of reduced network maintenance and losses underground was estimated to be 10.8 per cent of the total
caused by electricity outages and reduced transmission cost.
losses. As reference [2] suggested, maintenance costs are
equal to the sum of preventive maintenance, vegetation
management and reactive maintenance; in spite of that,
 578
construction of extra high voltage overhead lines usually
requires approval at the federal level. In addition,
approval and permits may also be compulsory at local
government level. In other countries, such as Switzerland,
Kecucec motor vet the approval process can be extremely difficult and could
accidents (b)
Maintenance costs. 18 (c) 1 531 (d)
take long time, when major infrastructure projects are
referred to a public enquiry. Some of the European Union
Tree trimming (e) 35 1 120 Members have taken extra measurements to implement
Transmission losses 0 (f) 292 (g) the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) directive.
This forces an EIA to be carried out for all power lines
Total 1 411 5 736
with a voltage above 220kV and 15 km in length. Other
members implemented lower limits, for example, Italy
There are other indirect economic benefits such as: has an EIA mandatory for all lines above 150kV and
improving amenity of properties and local areas, planting longer than 15 km and above 100kV and longer than 10
additional trees hence better landscaping and reduction in km at the regional level, moreover, any proposed lines
wind noise [2]. between 3 and 10 km require a screening process. An EIA
can be expected for proposals to construct lines in
C. Environmental Aspect environmentally sensitive areas, heavily populated areas
Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMFs) have been the or on land already crossed many times by other lines [3].
centre of major studies worldwide over the past three
decades. The focus of these studies was to examine the
IV. CONCLUSION
existence of electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) having a
This paper presented the potential impact of
harmful effect on health. EMFs can be formed by
thunderstorms or as a result of the transmission of the underground cables on Power Transmission and
Distribution Networks. There is ongoing demand for
electricity in a conductor. Electric fields are generated by reliable electricity in terms of supply and distribution.
voltage, this field is proportioned to the amount voltage
and current, meaning a higher voltage or current will Underground cables have the potential to reduce outages,
maintenance cost and transmission losses in the best and
generates a higher electric field which is measured by
most effective environment-friendly way possible. In
volts per meter (V/m), whereas Magnetic fields are
measured in microTeslas (pT). The Electric fields general transmission losses are lower with underground
cables compared to overhead lines. Modem technology
transmits via different means such as air, buildings, trees
makes underground cables a more practical solution to
and fences but magnetic fields can pass promptly through
most structures.
improve power network reliability where they were not
an option in the past. GIL and HTS Cable technology
enables the massive increase in power transmission
The threshold of electric and magnetic fields
exposure has been set by the European Union in 1999 to capacity, with its unique characteristics of the low
100 microTeslas (pT) for magnetic fields and 5,000 volts impedance and low ohmic losses; HTS Cable has the
per meter for electric fields. Also limits on the minimum
potential of becoming a feasible new solution to power
transmission problems. This incorporates environmental
height clearance for overhead lines and a "buffer zone" benefits of no thermal or magnetic field emission and no
each side of the line have been placed. In other countries,
visual impact on the surroundings. Economic benefits can
including the United States, legislation has been also be achieved in situations where civil works are
introduced preventing the construction of new homes
reduced by avoiding unnecessary digging. Underground
being built near overhead power lines. cables can deliver big savings in tree pruning for local
Generally, the underground cables can generate councils, yet reduce the risk of bush fires and increase
higher magnetic fields directly above them than an public awareness of negative impact on the environment
of overhead lines. Another important benefit is to reduce
overhead line as a result of smaller physical distance from
the number of fatal accidents and minimise the severity of
the underground cable. For example, 400kV cables can
an injury.
produce over 30 ptT at ground level falling to 10 ptT at 2
meters above the ground. Though, the field falls rapidly
with distance to the side and the way the cable is
structured, some cable structure produce almost no
electric field [3].

D. Political Aspect
Governments or regulatory bodies in many countries
impose mandatory policies to install all or part of the
power network by underground cables. This tactic would
involve a certain restriction to install new overhead lines.
For example; Belgium has a voluntary ban on the
construction of new overhead lines, other countries have
less restricted approach in France, and there is an
agreement between the government and industry
regarding such policies. Usually, approval for the
 579
V. REFERENCES
[1] Karlstrand, J., Bergman, G., and Jonsson, H.-A. "Cost-efficient
XLPE cable system solutions", AC-DC Power Transmission,
Seventh International Conference, 2001.
[2] Putting Cables Underground Working Group, "Putting Cables
Underground Report", 1998.
[3] ICF Consulting Ltd, "Overview of the Potential for
Undergrounding the Electricity Networks in Europe", London,
2003.
[4] Koch, H. and Hopkins, M. "Overview of gas insulated lines
(GIL)", Power Engineering Society General Meeting, IEEE, 2005.
[5] Benato, R., Di Mario, C., and Koch, H. "High Capability
Applications of Long Gas-Insulated Lines in Structures", PES TD,
2006.
[6] Kalam, A., Al-Khalidi, H., and Willen, D. "HTS cable and its
anticipated effects on power transmission networks", AC and DC
Power Transmission, ACDC, 2006.
[7] Marazzato, H. and Barber, K.W., "The Challenge for
Undergrounding Electricity Supply", Australian Power
Transmission & Distribution magazine.
[8] Ausnet, SP, "SP AusNet Electricity Distribution Price Review
2006", 2005.

VI. BIOGRAPHIES
Hassan Al-Khalidi received his Bachelor of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering and
Master of Telecommunication Engineering
degree from Victoria University, Australia. He
then worked as electrical engineer for Powercor
Australia Ltd on Uninterrupted Power Supply
project. Later he worked for Ericsson Australia.
He is currently working towards his PhD degree
focusing on Underground Power System at
Victoria University. Hassan Al-Khalidi is member of IET and
Electricity Supply Association of Australia (ESAA).

Akhtar Kalam received his B.Sc. and B.Sc.

Engineering from Calcutta University and
Aligarh Muslim University, India in 1969 and
1973 respectively. He completed his MS and
-1 j Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma, USA and
the University of Bath, UK in 1975 and 1981
respectively. He has been teaching in various
higher institutions around the world since 1981.
Currently he is the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of
Health, Engineering and Science and holds the
Professorship in Electrical Engineering. He is
also the Chairperson of the Save Energy Research Group. His major
areas of interests are power system analysis, control, protection and
cogeneration systems. He regularly offers professional development
courses on Power System Protection and Cogeneration and Gas Turbine
Operation to the Electricity Supply Association of Australia (ESAA).
He has conducted research, provided industrial consultancy and
published over 281 articles on energy systems and written over 15 books
in the area. Professor Kalam is a Fellow of IEAust, IEE and a member
of IEEE.