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Invited papers

Whole-Life Costs
And Environmental
Assessment Of High Voltage
Power Cable Systems
Gary STEVENS, Ben PHILPOT, Janet THOMAS GnoSys Global Ltd, (GB),
Mike FAIRHURST, Ankit GORWADIA, National Grid, (GB),

Abstract change in the form of materials supply


This paper reports on a new whole- and the need for process energy reduction
life cable model applied to a comparison during manufacture. These environmental
of conventional XLPE and a novel high and economic drivers are becoming more
operating temperature thermoplastic and more important for efficient cable
cable system. It explores the whole life production and in meeting procurement
cycle including: manufacture, deployment, requirements a number of which are
operation and end-of-life. increasingly reflecting green procurement
The new cable addresses a fundamental policies.
limitation inherent in existing electricity
Tools
transmission and distribution networks by
improving the capability of power cable In order to respond to these drivers,
system to tolerate increased peak demand there are many methods for assessing the
whilst reducing whole-life environmental economic and environmental performance
impact. of products at production level, but few
A new concept cable was successfully that deal with the whole life cycle. These
developed using new thermoplastic methods include Life Cycle Assessment
insulation materials that do not require (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Total
cross-linking. This reduced the process Cost Assessment (TCA) and a raft of
energy required during manufacture and technical approaches and studies. However,
enabled recycling of the cable, further there hasnt been an approach to these
reducing the carbon footprint of the cable. assessments which aims to bring all aspects
together in one methodology and tool.
Introduction Leets
There are many environmental drivers at a LEETS is a methodology and software
European level requiring the improvement tool1 which brings together multiple
of the design and deployment of power assessments and enables them to be used
cable systems. These include the European to compare cable technologies, and their
Carbon Strategy, the EU Waste Framework manufacture and deployment with account
Directive and the move to low carbon of the local environmental and end of life
networks. Many of these do and will affect management options. As such it is ideally
industry across the whole cable life cycle, placed for carrying out assessments in
not just manufacture but also deployment response to the requirements of various
and end of life management. stakeholders, be it the cable manufacturer
Economics too is providing a force for or the utility using the cable.

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LCC (derived from LEETS) the same cable construction but with a
LCC is a new integrated life cycle cost thermoplastic replacement of the XLPE for
and risk assessment methodology, which the primary dielectric.
addresses whole life costs from original
Functional Unit
planning, to construction, operation and
eventually the management of end-of-life The functional unit (or unit of service
of assets. The approach was developed provided by the cable in a cable circuit) was
to support asset investment and policy chosen to provide a fair comparison of the
to enable optimum solutions to be performance of alternative cable designs
identified, taking into account economic, in a number of different, yet common
environmental, health and safety and social deployments, and load conditions in the
costs, with explicit account of hazards and context of what the cable is intended to
risks, including those arising from asset deliver.
failure2. The use of LCC within the LEETS This study was unusual in requiring a
cable model is planned for subsequent number of operational extremes to be
projects. considered ranging from low load factor
continuous operation to high load factor
HV Cables
and high peak transmission conditions
High voltage cables typically use XLPE which may require the maximum operating
as the dielectric material. While this has temperature of the cable system to be
excellent performance characteristics, it used for relatively short periods of time
is energy intensive to produce, requires under emergency conditions - typically
cross-linking and related degassing and is from one hour to ten or more hours. Hence
difficult to recycle. the study required a functional unit cable
New cable designs utilising new operational profile to be adopted for a unit
thermoplastic materials which are not length of 400kV HVAC cable. The primary
crosslinked have been developed. functional unit was: carrying a load of 35%
These can operate at higher conductor of continuous rating over 1 kilometre of a 3
temperatures if required; potentially up phase 400kV HVAC cable system consisting
to 150C. The materials used for so-called of 1 cable per phase.
HTC cables are not cross-linked and offer
System Boundary
both economic and environmental benefits.
These were the subject of a recent UK The system boundary includes product
Technology Strategy Board project 3. and material flows as well as energy use
and emissions to air, water and land. It also
Methodology highlights areas where there is potential
for materials to be diverted from current
In order to meet the requirements of the disposal practices of incineration and
project a number of methodologies, both landfill to recovery for further use i.e. re-
laboratory and desk-based, were employed. use/recycling.
Critically these included LCA studies, At each of the stages in the life cycle
which was carried out and integrated into a variety of inputs/outputs occur, such
the LEETS-Cable model which included as raw materials, products, energy and
other environmental impacts and parallel environmental emissions. These are
economic and risk impacts. identified and quantified through this study.
Figure 1 details the stages identified for
Goal
the production of the primary cable, from
The goal of the life cycle study was to raw material supply, to cable manufacture
evaluate the environmental impacts of the and deployment, then operation and
manufacturing, deployment, operation and finally material recovery and recycling.
end of life management phases of high The system boundary includes the whole
voltage power cables. The benchmark life cycle to achieve the functional unit
scenario chosen was a typical XLPE cable and by definition it includes those factors
technology for HVAC transmission which specific to each deployment scenario
is currently employed by National Grid in which can create additional environmental
the UK. The new thermoplastic cable used and economic impacts and benefits.

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Figure 1: LCA System Boundary

The study and the Leets cable model on transport of the raw materials to the
assess each stage in the life cycle but the cable manufacturer. The extrusion of the
study is implemented as a streamlined model cable is assumed to be carried out on a
to capture the most important impacts and vertical extrusion line feeding a heated
ensure the focus is maintained on cable crosslinking catenary. In this paper the
performance rather than infrastructure degassing stage is not included.
which are common for different cable
Cable Deployment
types. The cost and environmental impacts
associated with putting in place the local An assessment of cable deployment was
infrastructure for deployment of the cable made and there was no difference between
are also considered. cable type. Deployment options included
cable tunnel deployment, lay direct or
Cable Manufacture
direct buried in ducts or troughs with
The production of each of the raw backfill. Transport to site is assumed to
materials used in the cable construction be independent of cable type as it is more
is assessed in addition to the actual usual to transport the largest possible
cable production process. So the original cable drums consistent with road haulage
production of the polymer sheathing and maximum drum weight constraints,
compound, the insulation polymer, the therefore transport to site is assumed
semi-conductor compound and the metallic to be the same for all cable types and
conductor material (electro-refined copper) deployment scenarios.
are all considered for this LCA. The LCA for Some key differences would arise in
cable manufacture differentiates between relation to the effective number of cable
extrusion followed by heated pipe catenary joints used in deployment as the maximum
crosslinking in the case of the benchmark length between joints increases for smaller
XLPE cable and extrusion combined with conductor and cable sizes. Cable joints
controlled cooling for thermoplastic blend are not considered as they fall outside the
cables. This also includes some assumptions system boundary.

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Figure 2: Whole life Global Warming Potential by cable type for direct buried deployment

The deployment type can also have Results


an impact on the cable rating. Tunnel Essential conclusions include:
deployments limit the current in cables Deployment of the cable has a significant
because of a limitation on cooling, which environmental and economic impact in
arises from air flow limits in the tunnel. This addition to that of cable production and
is particularly the case for long stretches of operation of the cable circuit.
tunnel. The operation of the cable circuit and
The operation of cables, buried directly the conductor power losses (I2R losses) are
in the ground, would also be limited by a dominant factor in overall environmental
the heating and drying effects on the soil performance.
immediately surrounding the deployment. The difference between Global
This could be particularly evident in rural Warming Potential impact (GWP) of tunnel
environments due to the effect on nearby deployment and the other deployment
vegetation. scenarios is a factor of 8 relative to surface
troughs and 78 relative to direct buried
Operation
(Figure 3).
The operational phase of the cable life Re-using the tunnel at end of life
cycle was modelled, particularly in regard significantly reduces the GWP in the second
to the cable rating and the I2R losses cable life cycle.
during transmission. The University of Reducing copper conductor size must
Southampton undertook a cable ratings be traded against increase I2R losses the
study for a variety of cable deployments smaller the conductor cross section, the
from direct buried to cable tunnel larger the portion of transmitted energy
installations in order to compare the new lost.
cable system with conventional XLPE Life cycle carbon impacts are very
insulated cables. LEETS-Cable used this sensitive to energy mix. This project
data. used an example energy mix provided
by National Grid which includes long
End of Life
term changes resulting from increased
End of life scenarios have been created renewables generation in the UK. This
for the both the XLPE cable and HTC. was used for operational impacts where
Recycling, incineration with energy energy use plays a significant role.
recovery, and landfill have all been The impact of the energy mix was clearly
considered as End of Life possibilities. seen where the effect of decreasing

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Figure 3: Global
Warming Potential
- Deployment
Comparison

coal-based generation and increasing The overall carbon saving of the new
renewables is evident. While this model cable over XLPE was 125 tonnes CO2
looked only at mixes for UK, LEETS could across the life time (60 years) for the
operate similar models based on generation functional unit employed.
mixes from around the world.
Economic Analysis
The life cycle data for manufacture of
the cables also incorporates a variety of Economic data has been difficult
generation mixes. Components of the extremely hard to obtain partly because
cable will likely be sourced from a number there is no current transmission system
of different countries, each with their own project on which this report can be based
characteristic generation mix profile. The and partly because many of the detailed
option to select the most appropriate mix economics rest with external contractors
is built into the LEETS-Cable model. and cable manufacturers rather than
Operating cables at a higher conductor National Grid.
temperatures (150C compared to 90C
Manufacturing
for XLPE) leads to a significant increase in
transmission losses, especially at higher The cable procurement cost (or direct
loads (Figure 4). However, this is usually purchase cost) and end of life costs have been
only for a very short period over the whole taken from a report by the Highland Council
life of the cable so its impact is relatively in Scotland (for an XLPE system). This makes it
small in comparison with the whole life clear that the costs may not be accurate and
impact. were difficult for them also to obtain.
Processing energy, from manufacture,
Construction
are potentially substantially lower for the
new cable design due to there being no The construction costs are taken from
need for cross-linking (Figure 5). an LCC asset policy study carried out by

Figure 5: Annual
transmission losses
by load and cable
type

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Invited papers
Figure 6: Processing energy during cable manufacture

GnoSys Global Ltd for National Grid 4. this is per circuit not per km. The longest
Operation time a circuit is likely to be in a fault
state for is 6 hours and the energy which
Operation and maintenance costs are should have been transmitted in this time
estimated in the Highland Report1 as at 35% load is 544.2 MWh. This results in
5600 per km per year for a double circuit. an outage cost of 26121.60 for a single 6
Since these are relatively low level costs, hour outage.
they have been rounded up for use here.
Stakeholder Perspectives
For tunnels, a figure has been included for
the operation of cooling fans. This is based Manufacturers
on data provided by National Grid 5. To better understand a manufacturers
The costs of operational losses are perspective there are two key factors that
evaluated using a figure of 5.5 pence per must be considered: material supply cost
kWh, somewhat below the consumer price and process energy costs.
of electricity since a wholesale price would Material prices were taken from Plastics
be more appropriate. Currently, the losses Infomart 6; standard low density
are not paid for explicitly; rather the cost is polyethylene: $1600 per tonne, alternative
incorporated into the price that distribution standard insulation material: $1380
networks pay the generators. However, per tonne. This suggests a materials cost
this may change in the future. The energy reduction of approximately 14% for the
figure used to calculate the losses is for a new insulation material.
2500mm2 cable operating at a continuous A conversion to sterling and scaling for a
35% max load. This equates to 259332 MJ km of cable results in:
or 3962 per year. We have assumed that 6760 per km new thermoplastic material
the losses will be the same regardless of 8150 per km for XLPE
dielectric and deployment type. An overall cost reduction of about 17%
The fault outages costs are also taken due to lower commodity price and lower
from the same report and are in alignment density of dielectric. Note that standard
with the figures quoted by National Grid. rather than clean grades of polymer were
Historical figures from National Grid all that was available and the latter will be
indicate that the occurrence of one fault more costly.
each year would be an overestimate Processing costs vary between XLPE and
of failures, however it simplifies the the new material because the new material
calculations. It should also be noted that does not require cross-linking.

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Invited papers

Figure 7: Process
energy costs for
cable manufacture
(Electric)

This additional step requires the to 50% and this would help to reduce the
heating of not only the dielectric but also system constraint costs in an event of a
the cable inside it (conductor and inner fault.
semiconductor). The additional energy Key TSO benefits with HTC are the
use can again be quantified in terms of ability to relax constraints during post-fault
the energy supply cost. If we assume the operation. In some cases this could be from
heating is electric, then using the same 20 minutes using an XLPE cable to 6 or
price (5.5p/kWh) the processing costs even 24 hours using the new design.
could be significantly reduced as shown in
Figure 6 and Figure 7. Conclusions
Wholesale natural gas prices are slightly
cheaper so using 1.3p/kWh, the processing The LEETS-Cable model has been
costs would be: developed to be applied to any power
cable system and its deployment in any
TSOs circumstances. It may also complemented
Emergency ratings studies carried out by by whole life cost assessment including
National Grid concluded that if a double account of planned outage and cable and
cable circuit was replaced with a single accessory risk of failure. The cable model
HTC circuit and operated within 90C prior now combines environmental impacts
to the fault, the 6hr emergency rating could with economic and operational data to
be significantly enhanced by between 40 enable the consideration on trade-offs

Figure 8: Process
energy costs for
cable manufacture
(Gas)

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and to support decision making and the conductor size could be more desirable, in
incorporation of life time risk is possible some circumstances.
with the use of LCC. System emergency and constraint studies
The environmental impacts for the carried out by National Grid concluded
manufacturing process are small compared that if a double circuit was replaced with
to the impact of lifetime operational energy a single HTC circuit and operated within
losses. Since there was no manufacturing 90C prior to the fault; the 6hr emergency
process data available from cable rating would help to reduce the system
manufacturers certain assumptions were costs in an event of a fault.
necessary in order to carry out the analysis TSO benefits with HTC are the ability
effectively. to relax constraints during post-fault
Although in this study we concentrated operation. In some cases this could be
on Global Warming Potential (GWP), other from 20 minutes using an XLPE cable to 6
CML environmental impacts were also or even 24 hours using the new design.
analysed, these should also be considered It is important to consider the LCA
to obtain a more complete picture of findings of the whole life cycle in conjunction
the whole environmental effects of our with the results of the cable ratings
functional unit. studies, emergency ratings studies and
When manufacturing only was the economic analysis in order to establish
considered it was no surprise that the trade-offs for the in order to optimise the
main contributors to global warming cable circuit design, cable deployment and
were the manufacture of the copper and in principle cable operation.
dielectric components of the cable. The
new cable design showed a reduction in
the global warming impact of the main
wall dielectric component in comparison
with conventional XLPE insulation. When REFERENCES
[1] G C Stevens, B Philpot, P Haywood,
the end of life was also considered, carbon
S. Jayasinghe and C Smith; Life Cycle
credits were gained for the recovery Economic and Environmental Assessment of
of copper and other recoverable cable Transmission Systems (LEETS), C3-205, CIGRE
components. This increased the difference 2008.
[2] G C Stevens, ,A Mitchel, P. Scobier, D Culley
in environmental impact between the two
and J Fitch; New Life Cycle Costing and Risk
dielectric components since the new design Approaches to, CIRED 2011 to be published.
dielectric component is recyclable. [3] The Highland Council, Cairngorms National
Economic analysis showed that the Park Authority & Scottish Natural Heritage
Undergrounding of Extra High Voltage
process energy involved in the production
Transmission Lines, Jacobs Babtie, 2005.
of the two different cable systems has [4] Co-location of High Voltage Cable Systems
a significant effect on the cost of cable Within Tunnels, GnoSys Global Ltd (National
manufacture. The New Design HTC cable Grid), 2010
[5] National Grid private communication
is likely to give a significant cost benefit
[6] See link - http://www.plasticsinfomart.com/
in terms of energy consumption during
manufacture.
When considering environmental
impacts in isolation, it would appear that
the optimum cable design with respect to
global warming impact would use a small
conductor size (consistent with current
rating requirements) with the new design
dielectric insulation. However cable
ratings studies carried out at Southampton
University revealed that the I2R losses
under continuous operation were too large
in smaller conductors so smaller conductor
sizes would not be practical. Larger
conductor sizes lead to a lower resistance
cable and lower I2R losses, therefore larger

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