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Field measurements and modelling of a 132 kV underground cable line

Conference Paper · September 2013

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.1751.2001

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
Field measurements and modelling of a 132 kV
underground cable line


Luigi Colla Engineering dept.
Prysmian Powerlink, Italy Via Chiese 72
20126, Milan, Italy
luigi.colla@prysmiangroup.com

Francesco Palone Engineering dept.
Terna Rete Italia, Italy Viale E.Galbani 70
00156, Rome, Italy
francesco.palone@terna.it

Bruno Ceresoli Consulting, Solution and Services Division
CESI Via Rubattino 54
20134, Milan, Italy
bruno.ceresoli@cesi.it

Stefano Lauria Dept. of Astronautics, Electric and Energetic Engineering
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Via Eudossiana 18
00184, Rome, Italy
stefano.lauria@uniroma1.it

Abstract - Operational experience with extruded HV and EHV cable systems is now more
than 15 years. In recent years the amount of cables in transmission networks is experiencing
a fast growth [1] due to the increasing number of submarine interconnections (i.e. offshore
windfarms) or because of environmental constraints.
Cable modelling is an actual task in electromagnetic analysis of power systems, as
demonstrated by the large number of papers on this issue all over the last four decades.
This paper focuses on the field tests carried out on a 132 kV underground cable line. The
cable system is described including cable design and installation conditions. Some field
measurements are compared with frequency domain simulations. The comparison shows that,
despite the high accuracy of cable impedance and admittance theory, real installation
conditions may introduce some elements which cannot be easily modelled (e.g. steel
reinforced concrete slabs).

Keywords: Cable modelling, transient analysis, field measurements, frequency-domain
simulation, cable line.


1 Introduction

The length of XLPE-insulated underground cable lines in the European HV / EHV network is
experiencing a fast growth [1] due to the increasing number of submarine interconnections
(i.e. offshore windfarms) and suitability to be installed also in urban area with nil visual
impact after installation. Use of cable stretches in combination with overhead lines has proven
to be a suitable mean to ensure feasibility of new EHV transmission circuits. The design of
long cable systems to be installed in HV and EHV networks is often associated with detailed
transient and harmonic studies, in order to identify potential network problem areas [2] [3].
Accurate and reliable models are needed to this purpose: time-domain simulation of power
cables in the frequency range of interest to power system transients, i.e. from dc to some
hundreds kHz still poses difficulties. On the other hand, frequency domain calculation of
admittance and impedance matrices for underground cable systems is nowadays well
established [8], for any cable arrangement of interest for power transmission applications.
Modal analysis techniques with constant transformation matrices [4], successfully applied to
overhead lines, are less suited to underground cable systems on account of the strong
frequency dependence of transformation matrices [5]. Other models accounting for frequency
dependence of transformation matrices and based on fitting techniques [6],[7] may suffer
numerical instability due to computation (truncation) errors, unstable poles fitting of the
transfer matrix and interpolation errors on modal time delays that are not in general integer
multiples of the simulation time step in EMTP-like softwares [5].
In order to estimate the accuracy of the current available models, TERNA and CESI started in
2010 a test campaign aimed at time and frequency domain measurements on HV underground
cables (MisCavAT); the first field tests have been carried out in november 2011 on a 132 kV
underground line (UGL) manufactured by Prysmian.
High frequency field tests on UGLs have been rarely performed, often evidencing a
discrepancy between time-domain measurements and simulation results [9]; these
discrepancies have also been associated by insufficient accuracy in ground return impedance
modelling [10].
The paper focuses on the results of this first test campaign which is part of a more
comprehensive testing program foreseen in the Italian HV transmission network.


2 Underground cable line characteristics and tests setup

The first test campaign has been carried out on a section of the new Terna 132 kV cable line
between Edolo hydroelectric power plant and Forno station in northern Italy; the UGL
consists of 3 single-core cables laid in close trefoil arrangement and protected by reinforced
concrete slabs, as shown in Fig. 1.
 Fig. 1.Cable laying arrangement

The XLPE-insulated cables have 1600 mm2 aluminium stranded conductors, and
longitudinally welded aluminium sheath.
Cable cross section drawing and main dimensions are shown in Fig. 2 and Tab. 1,
respectively.
 Fig. 2 Cable cross section drawing

Tab. 1 1600mm2 Al XLPE- insulated cable geometric data

Item Description Thickness Details Nominal Dia.
(mm) (mm)
1 Conductor - Aluminium 48
2 Conductor Screen Semiconducting compound
3 Insulation 17.0 nom XLPE
4 Insulation Screen Semiconducting compound
5 Water blocking tape Swellable tape
6 Metallic Sheath 1.0 nom Longitudinally welded Al
7 Serving 4.5 nom Polyethylene + Graphite 103

Tests have been performed on a line section, between two adjacent joint pits, about 400 m
long.
This line section under test has no connection joints, no cable transpositions or horizontal
drilling, so that the laying arrangements and soil characteristic can be considered uniform
along the line. This should allow for an easier comparison between measurements and ATP-
EMTP simulations.

3 Field tests set up
The tests were carried out at the Terna-Prysmian working site in Malonno (BS) on 24th and
25th November 2011; three main activities have been performed:
- Soil resistivity measurements
- Variable frequency impedance measurements tests (both short-circuit and open-
circuit cable condition)
Soil resistivity measurements have been arranged in order to measure the soil resistivity at
different depths.
Given the theoretically linear behaviour of the cable system, tests were carried out at low
voltage in order to use more accurate measuring instrument and to avoid safety issues.
Tests were performed injecting a sinusoidal current with variable frequency spanning over a
range in between few Hertz and some tens of kilohertz.

One of the joint pits, showing connections of cables conductors and sheaths, is reported in
Fig. 3.


Fig. 3. Joint pit with connections of cable conductors and sheaths.

Input currents have been generated using a Techron 7700 current amplifier, whose
characteristics are reported in the following Table 1, driven by a waveform generator.
Sinusoidal injected currents were in the order of few A.
Because of the wide frequency range of the signals to be measured, two different current
transducers have been used at the same time. The first is a Rogowski current transformer
(Pearson Electronics 301X) with a nominal transconductance of 100 A / V, and the second is
a Hall effect Tektronix current probe with a 5 A / V ratio. Current transducer output voltages
have been recorded by means of an oscilloscope, which also directly measured the induced
voltages at the injecting cable section.
The oscilloscope used for recording the data is provided with 100 MHz bandwidth and 2.5
GS/s sampling frequency, which are deemed adequate for the measurements. For each test
condition the data were recorded during a variable time window, containing an appropriate
number of periods (about 10) at the attendant fundamental frequency; each record contains
10000 points per channel.
 Tab. 2 Technical data of Techron 7700 current amplifier


3 ATP-EMTP simulation
The cable system has been simulated by means of the ATP CABLE PARAMETERS routine
in the frequency domain. In order to maximize the accuracy of the simulation a cascade of 50
distributed parameters cable sections has been generated and cable parameters re-calculated at
each frequency.
Dielectric losses of XLPE insulation and PE sheaths have been taken into account by means
of distributed shunt conductances assumed to linearly increase with frequency.


4 Measurements and simulations results

Prior to impedance measurements the soil resistivity was measured as around 3000 Ω m.
Measurements have been carried out to investigate self and mutual impedances associated
with cable sheaths since they have often been found difficult to be matched with calculations.
Sheaths impedances have been measured at different frequencies by means of both short-
circuit and open-circuit tests.
One short-circuit impedance test performed to measure sheath 6 input impedance is shown in
Fig. 4. Measurements are compared with ATP frequency scan simulations in Fig. 5.
Measurements and simulations match quite well from 10 Hz up to 35 kHz. At higher
frequencies a first resonance is approached, which is in the order of 60 kHz as for ATP
simulations but not as for field measurements. It is authors believe that the mismatch in the
range 35 kHz – 65 kHz could depend mostly on the presence of steel reinforced concrete
slabs, which are expected to reduce le longitudinal cable inductance and therefore to shift the
first resonance frequency towards higher values.

1a
1b
4a 4b

I
2a
3–phase cable system 2b
1,2,3 : phase conductors
5a 4,5,6 : metallic sheaths 5b

3a 3b
6b
6a

Fig. 4: test scheme for the short circuit measurement of sheath 6 self input impedance
100

10
|Z (Ω)|

1
Zself_sc_6a (measured with Hall effect clamp)
Zself_sc_6a (measured with Rogowski coil)
Zself_sc_6a (simulated)

0,1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
f (kHz)

Fig. 5: Measured and simulated sheath 6 self input impedance for the test scheme of Fig. 4.
The open-circuit impedance test performed to measure sheath 6 self input impedance and
mutual impedance between sheath 6 and sheath 5 is shown in Fig. 6. Measurements are
compared with ATP frequency scan simulations in Fig. 7. Measurements and simulation
match is poor. It is authors believe that this could mainly depend on earthing system
impedance and PE sheath dielectric losses in the frequency range investigated.

Fig. 6: test scheme for the open circuit measurement of the sheath 6 self input impedance and
mutual impedance between sheath 6 and sheath 5

120
110
100
90
|Z (Ω)|

80
70
60 Zself_oc_6a (measured) Zmutual_oc_6a-5a (measured)

50 Zself_oc_6a (simulated) Zmutual_oc_6a-5a (simulated)

40
0 10 20 30 40 50
f (kHz)

Fig. 7: Measured and simulated sheath 6 input self and mutual impedances for the test
scheme of Fig. 6

4 Conclusions

The paper reported the results of a first field test campaign on a 132kV cable system in Italy.
Field tests set up and ATP-EMTP simulation have been described. Measurements and
 simulations results have been compared highlighting ranges of better and worse matching.
Further work is necessary to identify if possible measurement set-up may improve the
robustness of the results with respect to “other than cable parameters” (earth resistivity,
earthing system) and to take into account additional elements which may influence the cable
system behaviour (steel reinforced concrete slabs).

5 References

[1] ENTSO-E & EUROPACABLE joint paper “Feasibility and technical aspects of partial
undergrounding of extra high voltage power transmission lines”. Brussels, December
2010, available online on https://www.entsoe.eu .
[2] L. Colla, F. M. Gatta, F. Iliceto, and S. Lauria, "Design and operation of EHV
transmission lines including long insulated cable and overhead sections" in Proc. 2005
IEEE International Power Engineering Conference, Singapore, 2005.
[3] M. Rebolini, L. Colla, F. Iliceto "400 kV AC new submarine cable links between Sicily
and the Italian mainland. Outline of project and special electrical studies" in Proc.
CIGRE 2008, Paris, Aug. 2008.
[4] B. Gustavsen, J. A. Martinez, and D. Durbak,“Parameter determination for modeling
system transients—Part II: insulated cables” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 20, pp.
2045-2050, Jul. 2005.
[5] J. R. Marti, “Accurate modelling of frequency-dependent transmission lines in
electromagnetic transient simulations,” IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
101, pp. 147-157, Jan. 1982.
[6] I. Kocar, J. Mahseredjian, and G. Olivier, “Improvement of numerical stability for the
computation of transients in lines and cables,” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 25, pp.
1104-1111, Apr. 2010.
[7] L. Marti, “Simulation of transients in underground cables with frequency-dependent
modal transformation matrices,” IEEE Trans. Power Delivery, vol. 11, pp. 1099–1110,
Jul. 1988.
[8] A. Morched, B. Gustavsen, and M. Tartibi, “A universal model for accurate calculation of
electromagnetic transients on overhead lines and underground cables,” IEEE Trans.
Power Delivery, vol. 14, pp. 1032–1038, Jul. 1999.
[9] U. S. Gudmundsdottir, J. De Silva, C. L. Bak and W. Wiechowski, “Double Layered
Sheath in Accurate HV XLPE Cable Modeling” IEEE Power and Energy Society General
Meeting proceedings, Minneapolis, 25-29 July 2010.
[10] Habib and Kordi “Calculation Of Multiconductor Underground Cables High-Frequency
Per-Unit-Length Parameters Using Electromagnetic Modal Analysis” IEEE Transactions
on Power Delivery, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 276-284 Jan. 2013


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