TRANSMISSION LINES

Sunil Shrestha

1
Introduction
• Transmission lines are required for transmission of electric power
over long distances as generation sites and load centres are situated
far from each other.
• Transmission lines that connect different generating stations and
substations form a grid that helps in distributing power to the
required places from excess areas.
• Transmission lines must be continuously maintained and upgraded to
account for the rising generation and load.

2
Classification of Transmission lines based on
Operating Voltage
• LV: below 1 KV (Local Distribution)
• MV: up to 69KV (Short Distance Transmission)
• HV: up to 230KV (Long Distances)
• EHV: up to 800KV (Long Distances and very high power)
• UHV above 800KV
• HVDC: for very long distances and high power.

3
 Classification based on number of circuits
• Single Circuit
• Double Circuit
• Multiple Circuit

4
Transmission lines in Nepal
• The length of electricity transmission lines in the country is 3115
circuit kilometres.
• 66 KV: 511 km
• 132 KV: 2451 km
• 220KV: 75 km
• 400 KV: 78 km
• Common conductors used in Nepal are: Dog, Wolf, Bear, Panther,
Duck, Cardinal, Moose, Bison, ACCC(HTLS)

NEA Annual Report 2016 5

 Contd.
• Under Construction Lines is total
• 132kv: 775 km
• 220kv: 965 km
• 400kv: 740 km

• Planned and Proposed for future construction.

• 132kv: 1400 km
• 400kv: 1560 km

NEA Annual Report 2016 6

Components of a transmission line
• Tower: The main structure for
transmission lines.
• Conductors: Required for actual
transfer of power.
• Insulators: To support conductors
on the tower and for clearances.
• Earth Wire: For protection from
lightning.

7
Auxilliary
• Joint Sleeves: To connect conductors with each other.
• Armor Rod: For strengthening the conductors at joints
• Vibration Dampers: To damp out vibrations occurring in line.

8
Design of Transmission line
• Transmission line design depends on:
• Amount of power and distance to be transmitted
• Thermal, dielectric and Voltage Limits
• A large current flow increases the losses in the form of heat. This results in increased
conductor temperatures.
• Excessive temperature may result in expansion and resultant sag of conductors
causing decreased clearance to ground. Temperature extremes have an "annealing
effect" that cause reduced mechanical strength of aluminum and may cause larger
sag or snapping of line.
• Exceeding dielectric limits (maximum electric field strength) results in failure of
insulation, causing faults.
• Deviation of voltages beyond certain limits can also be considered to be an
unacceptable compromise on the quality of power being supplied to consumers. Low
or high voltages can also damage electrical equipment.
9
Economical Voltage Selection
𝐿 P
• V = 5.5 * +
1.6 150 ∗ cosФ ∗𝑁𝑐
• Where, L - Length [km], P - Power to transmit (kW), cosФ - power
factor, and Nc - No. of circuits
• Nearest standard voltage is selected after considering other factors
such as acceptable power loss, voltage regulation, cost and present
and future requirements.

10
Conductors
• Types of Conductors
• AAC - All Aluminium Conductor
• AAAC - All Aluminium Alloy Conductor
• ACSR - Aluminium Conductor Steel
Reinforced
• ACAR - Aluminium Conductor Aluminium-
Alloy Reinforced
• ACCC – Aluminium Conductor Composite
Core

11
Conductors are selected on the basis of
• Power loss allowed on the line
• Voltage loss allowed on the line
• Climate at the line location
• Required sag and span between conductors
• Tension on the conductors
• Whether or not the atmosphere is corrosive
• Whether or not the line is prone to vibration

12
Bundled Conductors
• Multiple conductors per phase of a line
may also be bundled together.
• Advantages of bundled conductors are:
• Decrease in line inductance.
• Increase in current carrying capacity.
• Reduction in Corona.
• Better cooling as more surface area is
exposed to air.

13
• Conductors are usually named after animals according to British standards
and after birds in American standards.
• Some Common conductors used in Nepal are:
Name Nominal Approximate Sectional Approx Breaking DC Current Power Power
Area Overall Area weight Load kN Resistance Rating limit at limit at
2 2
(mm ) Diameter (mm ) kg/km at 20ºc (A) 132KV 220 kV
(mm) ohm/km (MW) (MW)

Wolf 150 18.13 167.50 506 35.70 .1815 349 39.1578 65.263

Bear 250 23.50 326.1 1213.4 111.5 0.1093 481 53.9682 89.947

Bison 350 27 431.2 1442.5 121.3 0.0758 595 66.759 111.265

Cardinal 296 30.42 547.3 1834 149.7 0.0596 681 76.4082 127.347

Moose 500 31.8 597.0 1997.3 159.92 0.0547 763 85.6086 142.681

14
Towers
• Types of Tower
• Based on no. of circuits
• Single circuit tower
• Double circuit tower
• Multi circuit tower
• Based on angle of deviation
• A – type tower – angle of deviation 0º to 2º.
• B – type tower – angle of deviation 2º to 15º.
• C – type tower – angle of deviation 15º to 30º.
• D – type tower – angle of deviation 30º to 60º.
• E – type tower – angle of deviation greater than 60º.

15
• The portion from bottom cross arms up to the ground level is called
transmission tower body. This portion of the tower plays a vital role
for maintaining required ground clearance of the bottom conductor
of the transmission line.

16
Design of tower
• During design of transmission tower the following points to be
considered in mind,
• The minimum ground clearance of the lowest conductor point above the
ground level.
• The length of the insulator string.
• The minimum clearance to be maintained between conductors and between
conductor and tower.
• The location of ground wire with respect to outermost conductors.
• The mid span clearance required from considerations of the dynamic
behaviour of conductor and lightning protection of the line.

17
Contd.
• Factors determining the height of the
tower.
• Minimum permissible ground clearance
(H1)
• Maximum sag of the conductor (H2)
• Vertical spacing between top and bottom
conductors (H3)
• Vertical clearance between ground wire
and top conductor (H4).
• Tower Height = H1 + H2 + H3 + H4

18
Body and Leg Extension
• Power transmission line traverse in various geographical areas and
the ground level is not uniform everywhere.
• Body extension is used to increase the tower height and this will also
obtain the required minimum ground clearance. These types of body
extensions are widely used for road crossings, river crossing and
where ground obstacles occur.
• Leg extensions are widely used for any leg or any pair of transmission
line tower legs locations where footing the towers are at different
levels. These kind of circumstance happen highly in hilly terrain where
the ground is not uniform.

19
Clearance Voltage
in KV
Phase to
earth in mm
Phase to
phase in mm
66 685.8 787.4
• Clearance between conductors 132 1066.8 1219.2
as per BS 162 220 1778 2057.4

Over National
KV Ground Clearance Highway
• Clearance from ground as per 8.0 Meter
66 KV 6.1 Meter
Indian Electricity Rule 132 KV 6.1 Meter 8.6 Meter
220 KV 7.0 Meter 9.8 Meter
400KV 8.8 Meter 10.8 Meter
• According to Nepal Electricity Rule - 2050,
• For 132, clearance from ground,= 6.1 + 4*.305=7.32 m
• For 220, 6.1 + 6.66*.305=8.1313m
20
Sag
• The difference in level between points of supports and the lowest point on
the conductor is called sag in overhead transmission lines.
• In order to permit safe tension in the conductors, they are not fully
stretched but are allowed to have a dip or sag.
• The conductor sag should be kept to a minimum in order to reduce the
conductor material required and to avoid extra pole height for sufficient
clearance above ground level. It is also desirable that tension in the
conductor should be low to avoid the mechanical failure of conductor and
to permit the use of less strong supports. ’
• However, low conductor tension and minimum sag are not possible.
• Following factors may increase sag and are often considered –
temperature, age, wind and ice loading.
• If sag is high then cost of line is increased, and fault in line may occur.

21
Insulation
• Overhead line insulators are used to separate line conductors from
each other and from supporting structure electrically.
• The insulator should be able to withstand the over voltages due to lightning,
switching or other causes under severe conditions in addition to the normal
working voltages.
• It should possess high mechanical strength to bear the conductor load under
worst conditions.
• It needs to have a high resistance to temperature changes to reduce damage
from power flashover.
• The leakage of current to earth should be minimum to keep the corona loss
and radio interference within reasonable limits

22
Types of Insulators
• Pin Insulator
• Suspension Insulator
• Strain Insulator

23
Number of Insulators
• The required number of insulators are based upon over-voltage due
to switching surges, line fault and flash-over arcing due to lightning,
and insulation clearance of the conductor from the tower (suspension
type).
• The length of insulator string is called the creepage distance. It is
calculated by
• Thickness of insulator disc (usually 292mm)* no. of discs.
• Specific creepage distance mm/kV is classified according to (pollution
levels.
Pollution Class 1 2 3 4
Creepage(mm/kV) 16 20 25 31 24
Right Of Way
• This is the legally granted free space that may be leased or purchased
when constructing overhead lines.
• The right of way has to take into account the environmental and
aesthetic value of the area through which the line passes.
• In locating towers and stringing the lines, the route of the line has to
be determined
• Once this is established, then it is necessary to determine the right of
way.

25
• In some cases, the right of way cannot be obtained, and as a result,
alternate routes, in which the right of way can be obtained must be
devised.
• Right of Way must be clear of trees, or any obstructions which may
cause the line to fault, or touch, or even result in the tower
collapsing.
• In Nepal’s scenario,
• 132 kV is generally provided 18 m ROW.
• And 220 kV is generally provided 30m ROW.

26
Earth Wire
• The overhead earth wire or ground wire is the form
of lightning protection using a conductor or
conductors.
• Fiber lines for communication systems are also run
with this earth wire.
• It is attached from support to support above the
transmission line and well grounded at regular
interval.
• The earth wire intercepts the direct lightning strikes,
which would strike the phase conductors.
• When the lightning strikes an earth wire at mid-span,
waves are produced which travel in opposite
directions along the line. The waves reach the
adjoining tower, which passes them to earth safely.
• The earth wire is effective only when the resistance
between the tower foot and earth is sufficiently low.

27
Contd.
• If the resistance between tower foot and earth is not
low and the earth wire or tower will be struck by the
lighting, then the lighting will be raised to the very high
potential, which will cause a flash over from the tower
to one or more phase conductors. Such a flashover is
known as back flashover.
• The shielding or protective angle is the angle between
the vertical earth wire and the phase conductor which
is to be protected.
• For effective shielding, the protective angle should be
kept as small as possible. The angle between 20° and
30° is quite safe, and it should not be kept above 40°.

28
 Grounding
• A fundamental factor that determines the
effectiveness of protection schemes is an efficient
connection to earth.
• The designing of earthing system intended to
protect against lightning strikes should have an
earthing resistance not exceeding 10Ω
• In cases where the tower footing resistance is
higher than the standards value (10Ω or less),
additional measures such as use of a vertical or
horizontal electrode or even using a special
resistance reducing material to achieve a lower
tower footing resistance.
• higher footing resistance, for example 50Ω, may
cause outage rate of the shielded transmission line
higher than that of the unshielded one

29
Thank you.

30