The absolute protection of transmission lines against overvoltages (lightning, switching, and power frequency)

is impossible, even with the use of the most conservative approaches. Hence the designer should strive to design
transmission lines based on probabilistic methods (when sufficient probabilistic data exist) that combine low
risk (not no risk) with economy of design.

Good line insulation coordination is not only important to achieve high reliability of transmission lines, but also
is a focal element in station insulation coordination to obtain acceptable mean time between failures (MTBF).

Line insulation coordination is the specification of all the

dimensions or characteristics of the transmission line tower
that affect its voltage withstand. These dimensions include:
1. Strike distance, or clearance between the phase conductor and the grounded tower sides and truss
2. Insulator string length (number and type of insulators)
3. Location and number of overhead ground (shield) wires
4. Specification of supplemental tower grounds
5. Phase-phase strike distances
6. Conductor clearances at midspan

The goal behind line insulation coordination is to specify

the minimum line insulation for a specific degree of reliability at minimum cost. This specification is
determined
through:
1. Determining the electrical stress applied to the transmission line.
2. Comparing the stress to the insulation characteristics.
3. Applying ameliorating measures such as surge arresters,
shield wires, breaker–closing resistors, etc., when the
insulation strength requirements are excessive.
4. Balancing insulation strategy costs and—whenever possible—costs of failures.

As a first step, and for a new line,

experience on comparable systems and lines may be used
in the rationalization of both the system overvoltages and
line performance.

The insulation strength of lines for lightning and switching

stresses should be chosen on the basis of predicted overvoltages. This determination is then combined with
requirements from power frequency and temporary overvoltages. Either a statistical (probabilistic) or a
conventional procedure may be used
Statistical Procedure
The statistical procedure allows for some insulation failures to occur, and the procedure attempts to quantify the
risk of its failure. A rigorous determination of the probability or risk of failure requires that both the overvoltage
stresses and the line insulation strength be described in
terms of their respective frequency distributions (see Figure 3.6-1). Simplifications of the rigorous approach are
also made and have been applied. In such approximate
methods, the statistical lightning or switching overvoltage
is so defined that this voltage value, E2, has a 2% probability of being exceeded.

Typically the standard deviation for the SI is about 5% of

its CFO, and the standard deviation for LI is in the range of
1-2% of its corresponding CFO. For LI, the curve of the
CFO as a function of the strike distance is linear, compared
to the nonlinear relation for the CFO with strike distance
for the SI, as can be seen in Figure 3.6-2. Table 3.6-1 compares the characteristics of lightning and switching
impulse
strengths. Note that the insulator strength characteristics
are defined for standard conditions.

Shielding of Transmission Lines

On a line with overhead shield wires, most of the lightning
strokes that terminate on the line hit the shield wire. A
shielding failure is defined as a lightning stroke that terminates on a phase conductor. The number of shielding
failures calculated for a particular transmission-line model
depends on a number of factors. These factors include the
line’s electromagnetic parameters, the stroke current distribution, and natural shielding from trees, terrain, or
buildings. Not all shielding failures result in insulator flashover.
A lightning stroke terminating on the phase conductor creates waves of current and charge. These waves
develop into
voltage waves that, with no surge protection, flash over the
insulation in the majority of the cases (e.g., for a conductor
with a surge impedance of 400 ohms, a 10 kA stroke can
produce 10,000 x 400/2 = 2 MV). If the flashover occurs
through the air or across the porcelain insulation, the power
arc triggered by the flashover may cause damage, strip
insulator sheds, etc. On the other hand, if the flashover
occurs through solid insulation, such as a transformer or
cable in a substation, permanent damage would result
almost all the time. The critical current Ic is defined as the
lightning stroke current that, when injected into the conductor, results in flashover. The critical current for a
particular transmission line can be estimated by:
3.6-2
Where:
V50% = lightning impulse negative polarity critical
flashover voltage.
Z = conductor surge impedance.
Shielding Failure Flashover Rate (SFFOR)
The primary aim in the selection of the number and the
location of the ground wires is to provide a means of intercepting vertical lightning flashes before they hit the
phase
conductors—i.e., reducing the probability of shielding failure flashover rate (SFFOR). Hence one shield wire
may be
adequate in areas of low ground flash density, while two
may be needed for areas with higher levels of lightning
activity. A practical recommended value for the SFFOR is
0.05 flashovers per 100 km-year

Even if the shielding angle is set so that lightning flashes

with currents greater than the critical current do not terminate on the phase conductor, the SFFOR is not zero
because subsequent strokes will follow the same path. The
shielding angle is determined for the first stroke of the
flash, because this current is thought to have the strongest
correlation to the charge on the downward leader. However, even though the first stroke does not result in a
flashover, subsequent strokes may have larger currents that can
produce flashover. Two primary methods—the IEEE Std
1243-1997 (IEEE 1997b) and CIGRE Technical Bulletin

63 (CIGRE 1991a) methods—are in use to estimate the

SFFOR. Calculations with the two methods for the shielding angle values for different tower heights appear to
agree
for the lower tower heights, but can differ by more than 2:1
for larger heights. As a result, the user has to be cautious
when applying either method. The required shielding angle
decreases as the ground flash density increases for both
methods.

Backflash
A lightning stroke terminating on the overhead ground
conductor creates waves of current and voltage, which produce potential differences across the line insulation. If
the
potentials are in excess to the line insulation strength,
flashovers occur. Such an event is referred to as a “backflash,” from the tower to the phase conductor, and the
number of flashovers per 100 km per year is defined as the
backflash rate (BFR). In order of sensitivity the BFR is a
function of the insulation strength (length of the insulator
string length and strike distance), surge arresters (if used),
number of shield wires, tower footing resistance, ground
flash density (Ng), span length, tower height, and type of
conductors (single bundle) used. As in the case of shielding
failures, the backflash event can produce overvoltages that
travel to the substations and cause permanent damage in
solid insulation. In the case that a low BFR cannot be
attained by minimizing the tower footing resistance or
other measures, surge arresters can be applied across the
insulation.

mproving Performance of Existing Lines

Generally the primary method of improving the flashover
rate of an existing design is by use of supplemental grounding, which almost universally consists of a
combination of
radial counterpoise buried rings, or driven drilled rods.
However, in cases where counterpoise cannot be installed
because of soil conditions (rock formations), or because
towers are on public areas such as roads, improvements in
performance may be achieved by doing the following:
• Using transmission line surge arresters
• Increasing the number of insulators and strike distance
(overinsulation)
• Chemical treatment of the soil if environmental rules
permit.

Effect of Power Frequency Voltage on Lightning

Overvoltages
The power frequency voltage, although small in magnitude
compared to the surge voltage, is to some extent responsible for determining which phase insulation has the
largest
voltage and will flashover. Therefore, the voltages across
the insulators may be calculated throughout the 360-degree
phase rotation, and the flashover rate is determined by
averaging these values. Backflashes usually occur on a
phase with power frequency voltage that is opposite in
polarity to the surge voltage. The maximum longitudinal
overvoltage is the difference between the lightning overvoltage on one terminal and the power frequency
voltage
of opposite polarity on the other terminal of the switching
device. For shielding failures, the voltage on the struck
phase is random
Power Frequency Voltage (Initial Conditions). Phase
voltages at the instant of the lightning stroke should be
included. One simplified approach used for statistical
calculations, is to select phase voltages every 30 or 60
degrees and average the results. More rigorous analysis
assumes the phase voltages selects the phase voltages by
considering a uniform distribution between 0º and 360º.
For a deterministic calculation, worst-case conditions
should be determined and used. A value of phase voltage equal to 105% of the crest value of the phase-to
ground voltage and of opposite polarity to the tower
voltage can be used as the most conservative number

Introduction
As previously described, line insulation coordination
includes the selection of phase-to-ground and phase-tophase clearances, tower strike distances, tower footing
resistance, insulator lengths, and the leakage or creepage
distance of insulators. Any overvoltage countermeasures,
such as surge arresters and breaker-closing resisters, must
also be selected if required. The lowest values of the withstand voltages of the insulation must meet desired line
performance criteria when subjected to service conditions
It is also recognized that many utilities simply continue to use old proven
designs rather than risk potential savings against problems
with new optimized designs, unfamiliarity of workers with
new configurations for construction and maintenance, and
requirements for new families of spare parts

Deterministic Method
The deterministic method assumes that there is a known maximum overvoltage, Vmax, which may stress the
insulation, a known minimum insulation withstand voltage VW,and that these occur simultaneously. Insulation is
designed so that VWis larger than Vmax by a safety margin, as shown in Figure A3.3-1 (EPRI 1982). This safety
factor covers only the uncertainties involved in the designer's evaluation of Vmax and VW. The safety factor should
not be confused with

Transmission lines designed in the past using the deterministic method characteristically have very conservative
clearances and strike distances. Designs based on such an
approach can be more expensive than those obtained from
modern probabilistic methods. Today the deterministic
method is usually applied when no statistical information
on stress or strength is available, especially for coordination and design of non-self-restoring insulation.

Probabilistic (Statistical) Method

In actuality, both the stress (overvoltage) and the strength
(insulation withstand) exhibit probabilistic behavior. The
potential benefit of a probabilistic approach is that the
combination of maximum overvoltage and minimum insulation strength rarely occurs. Therefore considerable
economy may be achieved for self-restoring insulation by
modeling the probabilistic nature of both the voltage stress
and the insulation strength. This approach nearly always
results in a substantial decrease in line insulation, tower
dimensions, weight, width of right-of-way, and cost. That
decreased cost must then be weighed against the increased
risk of failure and the costs of such failures.
The probabilistic method is applied by modeling and combining the probability distributions of the overvoltages
and the insulation strength. By repeating the calculations for
different types of insulation and for different states of the
network, the total outage rate of the system due to the insulation failures can be estimated. The application of
probabilistic insulation coordination makes it possible to
estimate the failure frequency directly as a function of the
selected system design factors. In theory, optimization of
the insulation could be possible, if outage costs could be
related to the different types of faults. In practice, it is very
difficult to evaluate the consequences of insulation faults in
different operation states of the network and the uncertainty of the cost of the undelivered energy. Hence it is
usually better to slightly overdimension the insulation system
rather than optimize it. The design of the insulation system
is then based on the comparison of the risks corresponding
to the different alternative designs. Detailed computation is
discussed below.

Virtually all probabilistic calculation methods embody a

nonzero risk of failure. This results from the inability of
statistical models to precisely represent insulation strength
or insulation stresses. As an example, the typical statistical
model for air gap behavior gives a flashover rate that is
never zero, even for very small voltages. Designers recognize that in designing for nonzero levels of failure,
limitations in modeling techniques result in conservatism in the

designs. As will be described later, even designs with a relatively high 10% failure rate for switching surges
have
never in practice flashed over.
If the insulation were to be subjected to a
series of tests having the level specified by the BIL or BSL,
the insulation must not suffer disruptive discharges, or at
least not suffer disruptive discharges more often than specified by standards. Thus the actual value of withstand
voltage must be at least as high as the BIL or BSL. It may, of
course, be higher.
f (V1) x F (V1 ). The risk of failure R of the insulation, as
shown by the shaded area in Figure A3.3-8, is the sum of
all the preceding probabilities for all the possible voltages.

The preceding explanation lays the groundwork for economic considerations, but it is rather elementary,
principally because the functions that describe the probability of
breakdown and the probability of overvoltage occurrence
depend on many factors. There is no assurance that either
function can be expressed in any analytical form. Computer techniques are needed to calculate the risk of failure
and to optimize the line design.

If the actual distributions of overvoltage and withstand are

not known, an approximation of the risk may be obtained
by the simplified statistical method. This method is based
on the premise that the actual shape of the low-voltage end
of the overvoltage distribution is not too important,
because those low overvoltages will not cause failure.
Likewise, there is little need to keep accurate track of how
likely it is that the insulation strength is greater than normal. Accordingly, the actual distributions are replaced
by
simple distributions, generally Gaussian, that may be characterized by the standard deviation and one
measured
point. The overvoltage distribution is characterized by the
term “statistical overvoltage,” VS, this being the overvoltage at the 2% point. The distribution of withstand
voltages
is described by VW, the statistical withstand voltage measured at the 90% withstand, or 10% breakdown, point.
These points are illustrated in Figure A3.3-9. The ratio of
the two values defines the quantity , the statistical safety
factor, which is analogous to the conventional safety factor:

If VS and VW are known, and the rest of the distribution is

assumed, it is possible to evaluate the risk and to plot a
curve relating the statistical safety factor and the risk. The
procedure is illustrated in Figure A3.3-10.