Earthing (grounding) system

according to IEC, BS-EN and IEEE standards

www.goodgrounding.eu
Legal regulations being applied when designing
earthing (grounding) systems

1. Good earthing (grounding) system according to IEC/BS EN 62305-3:2011 standard

E.5.4 Earth-termination system

E.5.4.1 General
(...) The LPS designer and the LPS installer should select suitable types of earth electrodes and
should locate them at safe distances from entrances and exits of a structure and from the external
conductive parts in the soil, such as cables, metal ducts, etc. Hence the LPS designer and the LPS
installer should make special provisions for protection against dangerous step voltages in the vicinity of the
earth-termination networks if they are installed in areas accessible to the public (see Clause 8).
The recommended value of the overall earth resistance of 10 is fairly conservative in the case of
structures in which direct equipotential bonding is applied. The resistance value should be as low as
possible in every case but especially in the case of structures endangered by explosive material. Still
the most important measure is equipotential bonding.

E.5.4.2.2 Type B arrangement

(...) The type B earth-termination system is preferred for meshed air-termination systems and for LPS
with several down-conductors.
This type of arrangement comprises either a ring earth electrode external to the structure, in contact
with the soil for at least 80% of its total length, or a foundation earth electrode.

E.5.4.3.2 Foundation earth electrodes

(...) A further problem arises from electrochemical corrosion due to galvanic currents. Steel in concrete
has approximately the same galvanic potential in the electrochemical series as copper in soil. Therefore,
when steel in concrete is connected to steel in soil, a driving galvanic voltage of approximately 1 V
causes a corrosion current to ow through the soil and the wet concrete and dissolve steel in soil.
Earth electrodes in soil should use copper, copper coated steel or stainless steel conductors
where these are connected to steel in concrete.

2. Good conductors and rods for earthing (grounding) system according to

IEC/BS EN 62561-2:2012

Material, conguration and cross sectional area of earth electrodes

a Manufacturing tolerance
Material Congu- Cross sectional area a Recommended dimensions
ration Earth rod Earth conductor 3%
mm2 mm2 c The copper shall be in-

Solid 14 mm diameter, if 250 m minimum radial trinsically bonded to the

150 h
round copper coating, with 99.9% copper content steel. The coating can be
Solid 8 mm diameter, if 250 m minimum radial measured using an elec-
Copper 50
round copper coating, with 99.9% copper content tronic coating measuring
coated
Solid 10 mm diameter, if 70 m minimum radial thickness instrument
steel c 78
round copper coating, with 99.9% copper content h In some countries, the
Solid 3 mm thickness, if 70 m minimum radial cross sectional area may
90
tape copper coating, with 99.9% copper content be reduced to 125 mm2

www.goodgrounding.eu 1
3. Good cross section of earthing conductors according to IEEE Std 80-2000

11.2.2 Copper-clad steel

(...) Copper-clad steel is usually used for underground rods and occasionally for grounding grids, especially
where theft is a problem. Use of copper, or to a lesser degree copper-clad steel, therefore assures that
the integrity of an underground network will be maintained for years, so long as the conductors are of
an adequate size and not damaged and the soil conditions are not corrosive to the material used.

Calculation of the cross section of earthing conductors based on IEEE standards 80-2000

A earthing conductor cross section in mm2

I rms current in kA
TCAP thermal capacity per unit volume in J/ (cm3 oC)
tc duration of current in s
r thermal coecient of resistivity in 1/oC
r resistivity of the ground conductor in -cm
Ko 1/o or (1/r) Tr in oC
Tm maximum allowable temperature in oC
Ta ambient temperature in oC

Samples cross section for copper clad conductors with dierent rms current in kA (I) and duration of current in s (tc)

tc \ l 10 kA 20 kA 30.5 kA
mm2
mm2 mm2
0.11 s 74
25 A or C 50 A or C
B or D
mm2 mm2 mm2
0.5 s 53 105 158
A or C F H
A) 8 mm 50 mm2
mm2 mm2 mm2
1s 75 149 223 B) 10 mm 78 mm2
D H 2xG C) 20 x 3 mm 60 mm2
mm2 mm2 mm2 D) 25 x 3 mm 75 mm2
2s 105 210 315 E) 30 x 3 mm 90 mm2
F 2xF 2xH F) 30.5 x 3 mm 105 mm2
mm2 mm2 mm2 G) 30 x 4 mm 120 mm2
3s 129 257 386 H) 40 x 4 mm 160 mm2
H H 2xI
I) 40 x 5 mm 200 mm2

www.goodgrounding.eu 2
4. In the points from 4A to 4D there are the guidelines to design earthing
(grounding) systems to the particular building facilities and structures
according to the standards for these facilities.

4A

GROUNDING SYSTEM
OF TRANSMISSION LINE TOWER (HV AND MV)
BS EN 50522:2010

Applied products:

G100 11 G104 12
G100 12 G104 13
G100 14 G110 73(40M)
G100 22 G110 74(30M)
G103 10 G110 75(30M)
G103 80 G110 81(20M)
G103 82 G110 83
G103 97 G111 50
G104 02 G114 01
G104 03 G114 02

Resistance of the tower ground ring Resistance of the grounding rod with depth h

D = L/ diameter of the ring in m L length of the grounding rod in m

L length of the ring tape in m d diameter of the grounding rod in m
d half the width of the tape in m E soil resistivity in m
E soil resistivity in m

Resistance of the grounding system

As the tapes and vertical rods of the external rods system are connected with the steel immersed
in the stop footing concrete of the antenna tower, they have to made of precious metals, such as
copper-bonded steel, stainless steel or solid copper. Copper-bonded steel materials were applied
in the presented installation. This allowed to decrease the grounding (earthing) costs by 45%
comparing to the stainless steel or solid copper.

www.goodgrounding.eu 3
4B

GROUNDING SYSTEM OF LV TRANSMISSION

LINE
TELECOMMUNICATION TOWERS
HD 60364-5-54

Resistance of the tower ground ring

L length of the ring tape in m
E soil resistivity in m

Resistance of the grounding rod

L length of the grounding rod in m
E soil resistivity in m

Resistance of the grounding system

Applied products:

G100 11 G103 97 G110 75(30M)

G100 12 G104 02 G110 81(20M)
G100 14 G104 03 G110 83
G100 22 G104 12 G111 50
G103 10 G104 13 G114 01
G103 80 G110 73(40M) G114 02
G103 82 G110 74(30M)

As the tapes and vertical rods of the external rods system are connected with the steel immersed
in the stop footing concrete of the antenna tower, they have to made of precious metals, such as
copper-bonded steel, stainless steel or solid copper. Copper-bonded steel materials were applied
in the presented installation. This allowed to decrease the grounding (earthing) costs by 45%
comparing to the stainless steel or solid copper.

www.goodgrounding.eu 4
4C

POWER STATION (HV and MV)

IEEE Std 80-2000

14.3 Schwarzs equations

(...) Schwarz developed the following set of equations to determine the total resistance of a grounding
system in a homogeneous soil consisting of horizontal (grid) and vertical (rods) electrodes. Schwarzs
equations extended accepted equations for a straight horizontal wire to represent the ground resistance,
R1, of a grid consisting of crisscrossing conductors, and a sphere embedded in the earth to represent
ground rods, R2. He also introduced an equation for the mutual ground resistance Rm between the grid
and rod bed.
Schwarz used the following equation introduced by Sunde and Rdenberg to combine the resistance of the
grid, rods, and mutual ground resistance to calculate the total system resistance, Rg.

R1 ground resistance of grid conductors in

R2 ground resistance of all ground rods in
Rm mutual ground resistance between the group of grid conductors,
R1, and group of ground rods, R2 in

Ground resistance of the grid

E is the soil resistivity in m
Lc is the total length of all connected grid conductors in m
is for conductors buried at depth h in m
2 is the diameter of conductor in m
S is the area covered by conductors in m2
k1, k2 are the coecients [see Figure 1 and 2]

Lr is the length of each rod in m

2b is the diameter of rod in m
nR number of rods placed in area S

A is the length of the grid, B is the width of the grid,

A/B is the length-to-width ratio,
h is the depth of the grounding grid

www.goodgrounding.eu 5
 Figure 1

curve 1 for depth h = 0

y1 = 0.04x + 1.41

curve 2 for depth

y2 = 0.05x + 1.20

curve 3 for depth

y3 = 0.05x + 1.13

Figure 2

curve 1 for depth h = 0

y1 = 0.15x + 5.50

curve 2 for depth

y2 = 0.10x + 4.68

curve 3 for depth

y3 = 0.05x + 4.40

Applied products:

G100 11 G103 10 G104 02 G110 73(40M) G110 83

G100 12 G103 80 G104 03 G110 74(30M) G111 50
G100 14 G103 82 G104 12 G110 75(30M) G114 01
G100 22 G103 97 G104 13 G110 81(20M) G114 02

As the tapes and vertical rods of the external rods system are connected with the steel immersed
in the stop footing concrete of the antenna tower, they have to made of precious metals, such as
copper-bonded steel, stainless steel or solid copper. Copper-bonded steel materials were applied
in the presented installation. This allowed to decrease the grounding (earthing) costs by 45%
comparing to the stainless steel or solid copper.

www.goodgrounding.eu 6
4D

GROUNDING SYSTEM OF HIGH-VOLTAGE LINES

WIND TURBINE
FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION
(IEC) BS EN 62305-3

E.5.4 Earth termination system

E.5.4.1 General
(...) the LPS designer and the LPS installer should make special provisions for protection against dangerous
step voltages in the vicinity of the earth-termination networks if they are installed in areas accessible to
the public (see Clause 8).
The recommended value of the overall earth resistance of 10 is fairly conservative in the case of structures
in which direct equipotential bonding is applied. The resistance value should be as low as possible in
every case but especially in the case of structures endangered by explosive material. Still the most
important measure is equipotential bonding.

www.goodgrounding.eu 7
 E.5.4.2 Types of earth electrode arrangements
E.5.4.2.1 Type A arrangement
(...) This type of arrangement comprises horizontal or vertical electrodes connected to each down-conductor.
Where there is a ring conductor, which interconnects the down-conductors, in contact with the soil the
earth electrode arrangement is still classied as the type A if the ring conductor is in contact with the soil
for less than 80% of its length.

E.5.2.2 Type B arrangement

(...) This type of arrangement comprises either a ring earth electrode external to the structure, in contact
with the soil for at least 80% of its total length, or a foundation earth electrode.

For bare soild rock, only the type B earthing arrangement is recommended.

As the tapes and vertical rods of the

external rods system are connected
with the steel immersed in the stop
footing concrete of the antenna tower,
they have to made of precious metals,
such as copper-bonded steel, stainless
steel or solid copper. Copper-bonded
steel materials were applied in the
presented installation. This allowed to
decrease the grounding (earthing) costs
by 45% comparing to the stainless steel
or solid copper.

Applied products:

G100 11 G104 12
G100 12 G104 13
G100 14 G110 73(40M)
G100 22 G110 74(30M)
G103 10 G110 75(30M)
G103 80 G110 81(20M)
G103 82 G110 83
G103 97 G111 50
G104 02 G114 01
G104 03 G114 02

www.goodgrounding.eu 8
5. Resistivity of soil

Resistivity measurements for good earthing (grounding) system according to IEEE Std 80-2000
(...) A number of measuring techniques are described in detail in IEEE Std 81-1983. The Wenner four-pin method,
as shown in Figure below, is the most commonly used technique. In brief, four probes are driven into the earth
along a straight line, at equal distances a apart, driven to a depth b. The voltage between the two inner (potential)
electrodes is then measured and divided by the current between the two outer (current) electrodes to give
a value of resistance R.

Wenner four-pin method

then for b a:

where
a is the apparent resistivity of the soil in m
R is the measured resistance (R = U/l) in
a is the distance between adjacent electrodes in m
b is the depth of the electrodes in m

Resistivity for types of soil according to IEC 60364-5-54:2011

Nature of ground Resistivity m

Marshy ground From some units to 30
Alluvium 20 to 100
Humus 10 to 150
Damp peat 5 to 100
Malleable clay 50
Marl and compact clay 100 to 200
Jurassic marl 30 to 40
Clayey sand 50 to 500
Siliceous sand 200 to 3 000
Bare stony soil 1 500 to 3 000
Stony soil covered with lawn 300 to 500
Soft limestone 100 to 300
Compact limestone 1 000 to 5 000
Cracked limestone 500 to 1 000
Schist 50 to 300
Mica-schist 800
Granite and sandstone according to weathering 1 500 to 10 000
Granite and very altered sandstone 100 to 600

www.goodgrounding.eu 9