EE4123: Electrical Power Transmission

Lecture 3:

Transmission Lines
Construction, Substations, Subtransmission
Conductors, Line effects,

Building Transmission line: Preparation

 Land Surveying
– Identifying ROW boundaries
– Flagging centerline of transmission
route/structure locations
 Environmental Resource Surveys
– Cultural
– Biological
 Building access roads for construction and
maintenance of the line
 Structure site clearing and vegetation
management
 Construction yards and material staging
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 2

1
 Building Transmission line: Construction
 Excavation and installation of tower
foundations
 Assembling structures
– Components delivery and construction on
site.
– Setting up work sites along ROW for
equipment to pull and tighten the wires or
conductors.
 Conductor and shield wire stringing
 Restoring and revegetating disturbed
lands

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 3

Building Transmission line: Environmental effects

 Unlike locating a substation or
power plant that has a single
location, transmission lines require
development across many kms;
– thus avoiding impacts to
environmentally sensitive areas is
not always possible.
 Transmission owners try to select a
route that balances environmental
factors with other considerations
– That is engineering, community
and landowner input, costs, etc.

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 4

2
 Building Transmission line: Environmental effects
 Aesthetic/Visual Resources
– Forest area
– Interrupting view
 Cultural/Archaeological Resources
 Endangered/Threatened and
Protected Species
 Geologic/Seismic
 Invasive Species
 Water Resources – including
lakes, streams, floodplains
 Wetlands, Wooded and Forested
Areas
 Others…
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 5

Transmission line cost

 Transmission Capital costs include
– ROW land, materials, construction, regulatory and
permitting, and substations
 Transmission Operating costs include
– Operations and maintenance, vegetation management, taxes,
insurance – total about 3% of capital cost
 Other Costs:
– Transmission levelized cost
– Transmission Integration Cost

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 6

3
 Transmission line construction cost factors
 Voltage and Route length
 Overhead or underground
– rule of thumb – undergrounding costs 10x as much as a comparable
overhead line
 Design specifics
– e.g., structure types, number of phases, ROW width, whether you’re over-
building today to up-rate line later, strength requirements for local climate
impacts
 Type and location of land (urban costs more than rural)
 Materials costs
– type of conductor, steel v. concrete structures, amount of imported content
and relative currency costs, component materials scarcity
 Accommodations made to suit landowners and siting
authorities
– changes in structure type, route adjustments to meet environmental
requirements, community needs or landowner demands
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 7

Line design characteristics affecting cost

1. Line voltage 13. Broken conductors and broken
2. Loading (MW) conductors’ tension
3. Number of conductors 14. Allowable conductor
4. Number of circuits temperature
5. Phase bundle configuration 15. Ground clearances
6. Phase spacing 16. Ground clearances
7. Insulation characteristics 17. Grounding
8. Span length range 18. Transpositions
9. GWs: diameter, weight 19. Tower and foundation weight
factors
10.Number, type, and cost of
insulator units 20. Tower and foundation steel
Tower type 21. excavation and backfill costs
11.Wind pressure on conductors 22. Tower setup and assembly costs
Ice thickness 23. Pulling, sagging, and clipping
12.Unloaded loaded tension costs
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 8

4
 Single/One Line Diagram
 Very complicated to show the whole circuit for all three phases
therefore Single/One Line Diagram is used.
 eTAP and all other software tools use such diagrams

A simple switching circuit A simple Power system abstract diagram

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 9

Subtransmission networks

Radial type subtransmission Improved Radial type subtransmission

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 10

5
 Subtransmission networks

A loop type subtransmission

A grid or Network type subtransmission

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 11

Substations: Four main Types

 Switchyard
– located at a generating plant (or station) and usually very large installations covering
large areas
– used to connect the generators to the transmission grid and also provide off-site power
to the plant
 Customer substation
– primary source of electric power for one specific industrial/business customer.
– depends on the customer’s requirements
 Transmission substation (bulk power substations)
– located at the ends of the transmission lines emanating from generating switchyards
– provide power to distribution switchyards and substations, over subtransmission lines
– send large amount of power from the power plants to the load centers usually very large
and very expensive to build
 Distribution substation
– provide power to customers over primary/secondary lines, using distribution transformers
– most common facilities and are typically located close to the load centers
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 12

6
 Transmission Substations
The objective of a transmission substation design is
– to provide maximum reliability, flexibility, and continuity of service
– to meet objectives with the lowest investment costs that satisfy the system
requirements.

A substation connection of
transmission lines A 230/34.5 kV switchyard
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 13

Transmission substation
Performs one or more of the
following functions:
 Voltage transformation
 Switching functions:
– Connecting or disconnecting
parts of the system from each
other.
 Reactive power compensation:
– Shunt capacitors, shunt reactors,
synchronous condensers, and
static var systems are used to
control voltage.
– Series capacitors (SCs) are used
to reduce line impedance

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 14

7
 Substation equipment
 A typical substation may include the following equipment:
– power transformers,
– CBs,
– disconnecting switches
– substation buses and insulators
– current-limiting reactors
– Shunt reactors
– current transformers (CTs), potential transformers, capacitor VTs,
– Coupling capacitors,
– SCs and shunt capacitors,
– grounding system, lightning arresters and/or gaps,
– line traps and protective relays,
– station batteries, and other apparatus.

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 15

Switchyard bus/switching schemes

 Most commonly Single-bus
scheme
used bus schemes:
– Single-bus scheme
– Double-bus–double- Double-bus–
breaker scheme double-breaker
scheme
– Main-and-transfer bus
scheme
– Double-bus–single-
breaker scheme
– Ring bus scheme
– Breaker-and-a half
scheme Main-and-
transfer bus
scheme

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 16

8
 Switchyard bus/switching schemes

Double-bus–single-breaker scheme Ring bus scheme Breaker-and-a half scheme

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 17

Conductor Alternatives
 Typically aluminum or copper conductors are used.
 Aluminum is preferred over copper for its lower cost and lighter
weight, however, this comes at the price of some energy loss that
doesn't occur with copper.
 Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR)
– includes steel strands wrapped around aluminum conductors
to add strength.
– This is the most commonly used conductor.

Conventional Conductor Trapezoidal Conductor

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 18

9
 Transmission line conductor types
 ACSR (aluminum conductor, steel reinforced)
 ACSR/AW (aluminum conductor, aluminum-clad steel reinforced)
– can be used in worse corrosive atmospheric conditions
 ACSR-SD (aluminum conductor, steel reinforced/self-damping)
– (Trapezoidal strands included) can be used at very high tensions
without having any auxiliary dampers
 ACAR (aluminum conductor, allow reinforced)
– used in long spans in a corrosive atmosphere
 AAC-1350 (aluminum alloy conductor composed of 1350 aluminum
alloy)
– for good conductivity and has short spans
 AAAC-201 (all aluminum alloy conductor composed of 6201 alloy)
– For long spans because it is lighter (expensive)

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 19

Selection of Conductors
 When selecting transmission line conductors, the
following factors have to be taken into account:
– The maximum amount of allowed current in the conductor
– The maximum amount of power loss allowed on the line
– The maximum amount of voltage loss allowed
– The required span and sag between spans
– The tension on the conductor
– The climate conditions at the line location (the possibility of
wind and ice loading)
– The possibility of conductor vibration
– The possibility of having corrosive atmospheric conductors

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 20

10
 Conductor Sizes
 Conductor sizes are based on the circular mil.
 A circular mil is the area of a circle that has a
diameter of 1 mil.
 A mil is equal to 1 ×10-3 in.
 The cross-sectional area of a wire in square inches
equals its area in circular mils multiplied by 0.7854
×10-6
 Size is usually given by a gauge number according to
the American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard
 The larger the gauge size, the smaller the wire.
 A given conductor may consist of a single strand or
several strands.
 A solid conductor is often called a wire, whereas a
stranded conductor is called a cable.
 A general formula for the total number of strands is
Number of strands = 3n2 – 3n + 1
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 21

Voltage Drop Consideration

 This requirement is often expressed as a maximum voltage drop of
5% across the transmission line for a particular system.
 The total series impedance of the line is equal to the maximum
allowable voltage drop divided by the maximum load current.

– ZL is the magnitude of the total impedance of the line,

– R is the total resistance of the line,
– XL is the total inductive reactance of the line
– VDmax is the maximum allowable voltage drop for the line
– Imax is the maximum load current
 R is inversely proportional to the area of the conductor size.

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 22

11
 Other considerations
 Thermal considerations
– Should withstand overheating in maximum loading conditions
– Conductor should withstand temperature up to 75 o C
 Tension considerations
– Tension may vary between 10 % to 60% of rated conductor
strength
– Standard tension ratings given
 Cost considerations
– Includes investment cost of installing TL
– Present worth of energy cost of I2R losses
– Present worth of demand cost of I2R losses

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 23

Skin Effect and Proximity Effect

 Skin effect is a tendency for alternating current (AC) to flow
mostly near the outer surface of an electrical conductor
 The effect becomes more and more apparent as the
frequency increases
 Skin effect is caused by the back emf produced by the self
induced magnetic flux in a conductor.
 For a DC current, the rate of change of flus is zero, so there
is no back emf due to changes in magnetic flux
 Proximity effect is the tendency for current to flow in other
undesirable patterns
– loops or concentrated distributions due to the presence of
magnetic fields generated by nearby conductors.

 In transformers and inductors, proximity-effect losses

typically dominate over skin-effect losses
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 24

12
 Corona
 If the voltage in the transmission line exceeds a particular
threshold value, then the air surrounding the conductors will gets
ionized making the atmosphere conducting.
 This results in electric discharge around the conductors due to the
flow of these ions, called Corona.
Effects
1. Power loss
2. The 3rd harmonic components makes the current non-
sinusoidal and this increase the corona loss.
3. The ozone gas formed chemically reacts with the conductor
and can cause corrosion.
4. Light (faint violet glow).
5. Audible noise (hissing or cracking).
6. Insulation damage
7. Radio, television and computer interference.
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 25

Methods To Reduce Corona Effects

 Increase the diameter of the conductor
– i.e. ACSR conductors

 Increase the space between the conductors

 Using bundled conductors
– produced less resistances and reduce losses

9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 26

13
 Bundled Conductors
Advantages
– Decrease in Surge impedance
loading so more power delivery
– Decrease in corona
• Therefore decrease in power
loss
• Decrease in electromagnetic
interference
• Reduction in communication
line interference
– Current carrying capacity is
increased owing to reduced skin
effect.
– More effective surface area
exposed to air, it has better and
efficient cooling
9/27/2018 Capital University of Science and Technology Electrical Power Transmission EE4123 27

14