1
Model of a Double Circuit with Parallel Cables
for Each Phase in a HV Cable Connection
L. Wu, Student Member, IEEE, P.A.A.F. Wouters, and E.F. Steennis
Abstract--In Extra/High-Voltage (EHV/HV) power systems,
power cables are chosen instead of over-head lines (OHL) at
some places. In the Randstad region in the west of the
Netherlands, the cable connection consists of a double circuit
where each phase is connected via two parallel cables. The cables
are cross-bonded every 0.9 km. A complete model is required to
efficiently analyze interaction with the remainder of the
connection consisting of overhead lines. This paper presents a
method to build a symbolic model of the parallel connection of
multiple cables per phase in a (EHV/HV) cable system, which can
be the basis of transient analysis in the frequency domain of a
large transmission system containing multiple parallel
conductors. The model is analyzed and compared by means of a
frequency scan of the system with PSCAD/EMTDC simulation.
Index Terms--Frequency domain analysis, Power cables,
Power system simulation
I. INTRODUCTION
C URRENTLY over a total length of 20 km HVAC power
cables are planned at various places within a new 380 kV
connection in the west of the Netherlands (Randstad380
project). To match the capacity of the overhead lines to which
the cables are connected, each phase consists of two cables,
meaning 12 cables in total for a double circuit. In order to
analyze the influence introduced by the cables to the network,
models of them are required. Power system simulation
software using Electromagnetic Transients Program (EMTP)
theory is capable to analyze the cable numerically. A symbolic
approach, if possible, allows software users to better interpret
the results by the ability of conveniently varying parameter
values. The symbolic solution can provide complete
information helping to gain deeper knowledge about the
system.
In this paper the cable model consists of one major section
containing three 0.9 km long minor sections which are cross-
bonded. The screens at the ends of the major section are
grounded as indicated in Fig. 1. The model of cross-bonding
system can be found in [1]. The symbolic solution for a three-
cable three-phase system including cross-bonding system can
This work was financially supported by TenneT TSO B.V. within the
framework of the Randstad380 cable research project, Arnhem, the
Netherlands.
L. Wu, P.A.A.F. Wouters, and E.F. Steennis are with Eindhoven
University of Technology, P.O.Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, the
Netherlands (e-mail: lei.wu@tue.nl). E.F. Steennis is also with DNV KEMA
Energy & Sustainability, P.O.Box 9035, 6800 ET, Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Cable Major Section
1
Minor Minor Minor
Phase Section 1 Section 2 Section 3
A
B
C
Screen termination Screen cross-bonding
Fig. 1. Configuration of one major section with three cross-bonded minor
sections.
be formulated in terms of the so-called ABCD-matrix (see
[2]). The parameters involved are established in a similar way
to the methods used in [3]-[6]. This paper introduces a method
that supports parallel connected cables in a three-phase cable
system. As demonstration of the model, a frequency scan is
applied to part of the actual Randstad380 connection and the
results are analyzed and compared with results from
PSCAD/EMTDC simulation.
In Section II, the symbolic model of the parallel connection
of any number of cables is introduced. Section III describes
the symbolic method for obtaining the frequency response. In
Section IV, the frequency response of a given cable system is
compared with simulation
II. PARALLEL CONNECTION OF MULTIPLE CABLES
In order to have a flexible model, the parallel connection
applies to an arbitrary number of parallel cables per phase.
Each phase can be represented by a single input and output
port, see Fig. 2; in a three-phase cable system there are three
input and output ports. This section deals with the modeling of
parallel connection of two or more cables. Directly applying
the parallel information to the ABCD-matrix of a cable
system will result in tedious calculations. Moreover, for
different number of parallel cables, one has to specifically
derive the equations for each specific situation. This
complexity can be avoided by adopting the method presented
in this paper.
 2

A. N Parallel Cables per Phase K A11 " K A1N

Suppose there are in total n cables in an arbitrary cable K11 = # % #
system (n = N or n = 3N for a single-phase or three-phase K AN1 " K ANN
system, respectively with N is the number of cables per Rearranging this equation to the form of (3) provides the
phase), the resulting ABCD-matrix of this system is a 2n-by- expressions for the M sub-matrices:
2n matrix,
M A11 " M A1N M B11 " M B1N
U 1 p A11 " A1n B11 " B1n U 1q
# M11 = # % # , M12 = # % #
# % # # % # #
M AN1 " M ANN M BN1 " M BNN
U np An1 " Ann B n1 " B nn U nq
= (1) M C11 " M C1N M D11 " M D1N
I 1 p C11 " C1n D11 " D1n I 1q
# # % # # % # # M 21 = # % # , M 22 = # % # (7 )
M CN1 " M CNN M DN1 " M DNN
I np C n1 " C nn D n1 " D nn I nq
resulting for every component in (4)
Here, the subscripts p and q indicate the left and right
I 1 p = M A11U 1 p + " + M A1N U Np
terminals, and all U and I quantities are related to the
conductor of the cables. Equation (1) not only can represent a + M B11U 1q + " + M B1N U Nq
single phase if all cables are parallel connected, but also can
#
be generalized to a three-phase system. Equation (1) can be
compactly written in the form I Np = M AN1U 1 p + " + M ANN U Np
U p K 11 K 12 U q + M BN1U 1q + " + M BNN U Nq
I = (2)
p K 21 K 22 I q
Rearrangement such that the current related quantities occur at I 1q = M C11U 1 p + " + M C1N U Np
the left hand side results in + M D11U 1q + " + M D1N U Nq
I p K 22 K 12
1 1
K 21 K 22 K 12 K 11 U p
I = 1 1 (3) #
q K 12 K 12 K 11 U q I Nq = M CN1U 1 p + " + M CNN U Np
The reverse rearrangement starting from
+ M DN1U 1q + " + M DNN U Nq
I p M11 M12 U p
I = (4) For a parallel connection, the following relationships hold:
q M 21 M 22 U q U 1 p = " = U Np = U p
results in:
U 1q = " = U Nq = U q
U p M 211M 22 M 211 U q
I = 1 (5) I 1 p + " + I Np = I p
p M12 M11M 21M 22 M11M 211 I q
Assume there are N cables (in a single-phase connection I 1q + " + I Nq = I q
n = N) and they are parallel connected, see Fig. 2. With the definitions for Up, Uq, Ip and Iq above, we get
I p M A M B U p
Ip Cable 1 Iq I = (8)
q M C M D U q
Up Uq where the scalars MA, MB, MC and MD are the sums of all
Cable 2
elements in M11, M12, M21, and M22 in (7), respectively.
Combining (5) to (8) results for the final equation for the N
Cable N parallel cables:
Fig. 2. Single phase with parallel connection of N cables U p M C1 M D M C1 U q
I = 1 1 (9)
The ABCD-matrix for N cables can be written in the form p M B M A M C M D M A M C I q
of (2). The U and I quantities are column vectors, given This equation can directly be generalized when considering a
by three-phase system (with phases A, B, and C). Each cable
[
U p = U 1p " U Np ] T
(6)
shown in Fig. 2 represents three cables and only the cables in
= [I ] T the same phase are parallel connected. All U and I
Ip " I Np
1p quantities above are replaced by 3-by-1 column vectors, for
where each element in K is an N-by-N matrix, for example for example in (6):
K11: [
U 1 p = U A1 p U B1 p U C1 p ] T

I1p = [I A1 p I B1 p I C1 p ] T
 3

Further, every element in K and M, for example MA11 in (7), U U

becomes a 3-by-3 sub-matrix. VI, p VI, q
U '2 p = U V, p , U '2 q = U V, q
B. Application on Two Cables per Phase U U
IV, p IV, q
A cable system with e.g. two cables per phase can have
different connection styles. For each style, in order to use (9), I VI, p I VI,q
the row rearrangement in the ABCD-matrix must be applied
I '2 p = I V, p , I'2 q = I V, q
accordingly. In Fig. 3, two options, indicated with and , are I I
shown. The six cables are labeled with Roman numerals. For IV, p IV,q
style , the phase order of I-III is equal to VI-IV; while for The rearrangement matrix Rpara has the form
style , the phase order of I-III is equal to IV-VI. In the ID O O O
following, only style is considered as an example. The O Ex O O
analysis is similar for style . R para =
O O ID O
Terminal p Terminal q
A O O O Ex
Style I
B
C
II where ID is the 3-by-3 identity matrix, O is a 3-by-3 zero
III
matrix, and matrix Ex is given by
IV 0 0 1
Ex = 0 1 0
V
VI

A 1 0 0
Style I
B
C
II
III
3. The resulting model for the six-cable system with style
interconnection is obtained by applying all the parallel
IV
V connection modeling steps described above till (9)
U Ap U Aq
VI
Fig. 3. Two examples of parallel connection indicated with style and
U Bp U Bq
The complete model can be constructed according to the U Cp A B U Cq
following steps. = (12)
I Ap C D I Aq
1. Construct the matrix equation, where the ABCD-matrix, I I
named K, has the form of (2). Bp Bq
U1 p U1q I Cp I Cq
U
2 p = K U 2 q (10)
I1 p I1q
III. FREQUENCY SCAN ANALYSIS
I 2 p I 2 q The result of (12) can be employed to make a frequency
The U and I quantities are 3-by-1 column vectors; scan of the cable system. As an illustration, a three-phase load
the subscripts 1 and 2 indicate the two three-phase is added to the terminal q of the cable, see Fig. 4.
circuits respectively. ZLoad
[
U1 p = U I, p U II, p U III, p ] T Ip
Cable System
= [U ] T Up
U2 p IV, p U V, p U VI, p
I1 p = [I I, p I II, p I III, p ] T
Fig. 4. Diagram for applying a frequency scan of the loaded cable system
I2 p = [I IV, p I V, p I VI, p ] T

The aim is to derive the impedance matrix Zp, which

2. Cables I and VI are parallel connected, as well as cable II
connects Up and Ip, according to
and V, and III and IV. The rows in U2p, U2q, I2p, and I2q
U p = Z pI p
must be rearranged accordingly. The row rearrangement
matrix Rpara can be obtained with the method described in where
the Appendix resulting in Z AA Z AB Z AC
U1 p U1q
Z p = Z BA Z BB Z BC
U' U'
2 p = R KR -1 2 q Z CA ZCB ZCC
I1 p para para
I1q
(11)
U p = [U A U B U C ] T, I p = [I A I B I C ] T
I '
2 p I '
2 q Suppose the ABCD-matrix has the form of (12), being
where
 4

U p A B Uq 82.9 0.1 0.1

I = (13)
p C D Iq Z p (50 Hz ) = 0.1 82.9 0.1 ( )
with the load equation Uq = ZLoad Iq. According to Fig. 4, the 0.1 0.1 83.0
load impedance matrix becomes This cable system is also simulated in PSCAD/EMTDC,
Z Load,A 0 0 where the same impedance is calculated, named as ZPSCAD.
The deviation between the result of the model in this paper
Z Load = 0 Z Load,B 0
0 and the simulation result is calculated according to
Z Load,C
0
Error = Z PSCAD Z p / Z PSCAD 100% ( )
since the load is composed of three individual impedances.
The deviation is plotted in Fig. 7. In the frequency range taken
Equation (13) can be rewritten as:
from 1 to 10 kHz the deviation is virtually absent.
U p = (A Z Load + B ) I q
250
I p = (C Z Load + D) I q 250
Z
AA
Z

Impedance Magnitude (k)

Solving the above two equations gives the relationship 200 BB
200 Z
between Up and Ip: CC

U p = (A Z Load + B ) (C Z Load + D) I p 1
150 150

Comparing it with Up = ZpIp produces the Zp matrix 100

Z p = (A Z Load + B ) (C Z Load + D) 1 100

50

The frequency dependency of Zp can be plotted by scanning 50 0

the frequency f, and calculating the corresponding magnitudes 288 290 292
of Zp. Note that Zp is a diagonal symmetrical matrix [4],
0
Z AB = Z BA , Z BC = Z CB , Z AC = Z CA . 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Frequency (Hz)
a)
IV. FREQUENCY SCAN EXAMPLE 40
40 Z
The method described in Sections II and III is applied to 35
BA
Z
Impedance Magnitude (k)

generate a frequency scan for the cable connection indicated in CA

30 30 Z
Fig. 4 with two cables per phase connected according Fig. 3, CB

style . The result is compared with simulations generated 25

from PSCAD/EMTDC software. The parameters used in the 20

20

model are summarized in Table I; the specific cable

15
parameters (Fig. 5) are included in Table II. The chosen load 10
is only meant to generate an exemplary cable system to allow 10
a comparison with the simulations. 5 0
287 288 289 290 291 292
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
r1 Frequency (Hz)
r3
b)
r2 Fig. 6. Frequency scan, with zoomed-in curves shown as insets: a) Main
r4
diagonal elements, b) Off diagonal elements
1
Relative Error of Impedance Magnitude

Fig. 5. Cable radii, r1: conductor, r2 - r1: insulation, r3 - r2: conductive screen,
r4 - r3: outer sheath
0.5 Z
AA
The result is shown in Fig. 6, where the frequency is varied
from PSCAD (%)

Z
from 1 Hz to 10 kHz (increment steps of 1 Hz). In this figure, BA
Z
only the lower-left part including the main diagonal elements 0
CA
Z
of matrix Zp is shown because of its symmetry. The resulting BB
values of Zp (rounded numbers) at resonant frequency (289 Z
CB
Hz) are -0.5 Z
CC
220 16 37
Z p (289 Hz ) = 16 202 19 (k )
-1
37 19 223 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Frequency (Hz)
while at power frequency (50 Hz) the values are Fig. 7. Relative error for the results shown in Fig. 4 of the cable model
compared with the result from PSCAD/EMTDC
 5

TABLE I TABLE II
INPUT DATA FOR FREQUENCY SCAN OF THE CABLE SYSTEM INPUT OF CABLE CROSS-SECTIONAL MODEL (REFERING TO FIG. 5)
Nominal Voltage (kV) 380 Cable Depth (m)* 1.25 Layer 1 2 3 4
Cable Minor Section Cable Distance Radius (mm) 30.65 60.35 62.76 67.86
0.9 0.6
Length (km) (m)* Resistivity (m) 2.0410-8 - 7.3210-8 -
Earth Resistivity (m) 100 Load (H)** 0.255 Relative
1 1 1 1
Earth Return Approximation Saad [6] Permeability
Number of Minor Sections 3 Relative
- 2.67 - 2.3
* Refer to the center of cable conductor Permittivity
** Assume the loads at three phases are equal.
The rows in K are exchanged via
V. CONCLUSION # # # # # # # # # #
" " b " " " " a " "
A method of modeling parallel connection of several cables
applied in each phase is introduced. The method is applied to a # # # # # = R # # # # #
three-phase double-cable-per-phase system in order to
demonstrate the application of the model, and in addition, to " " a " " " " b " "
# # # # # # # # # #
validate it by comparing the result with that from
PSCAD/EMTDC software. This symbolic approach gives the Applying the transformation to a matrix equation,
same result, but is more flexible and efficient in terms of P = KQ
computation time when studying the effect of varying input where P and Q are both n-by-1 vectors
parameters. This is specifically relevant when considering P = [" pa " pb "] T
more complicated networks, e.g. having 12 cables (four cables
per phase) together with several major sections with cross- Q = [" q a " qb "] T
bonded minor sections and combining the cable model with results in
overhead lines. (
RP = RKQ = RKR 1 RQ , )
i.e.
VI. APPENDIX
# # #
This section describes the row rearrangement of a matrix p q q
equation employed in Section II. The row rearrangement of a b b b
matrix or vector can be realized by multiplying with a matrix # = RKR 1 # M #

which takes care of exchanging two or more rows. For an n- pa q a q a
by-n matrix K, # # #

# # # # # This results in the transformation employed in (11), in
" " a " "
Section II.
K=# # # # # M = RKR 1

" " b " "
# # # # # VII. REFERENCES

[1] U.S. Gudmundsdottir, B. Gustavsen, C.L. Bak, W. Wiechowski, "Field
exchanging of rows a and b is achieved by left multiplication Test and Simulation of a 400-kV Cross-Bonded Cable System," IEEE
with matrix R which equals the identity matrix with Transactions on Power Delivery, vol.26, no.3, pp.1403-1410, July
exchanged rows a and b: 2011.
[2] P.L.D. Peres, I.S. Bonatti, A. Lopes, Transmission Line Modeling: A
1 Circuit Theory Approach, Society for Industrial and Applied
% Mathematics, vol.40, No.2, pp.347-352, June 1998.
[3] A. Ametani, "A General Formulation of Impedance and Admittance of
1 Cables," IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,,
vol.PAS-99, no.3, pp.902-910, May 1980.
0 1a [4] Monitoba HVDC Research Centre, EMTDC Users Guide, version 4.7,
1 fifth printing, February 2010.
[5] L.M. Wedepohl, D.J. Wilcox, "Transient analysis of underground
R= % power-transmission systems. System-model and wave-propagation
1 characteristics," Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers,
vol.120, no.2, pp.253-260, February 1973.
1b 0 [6] O. Saad, G. Gaba, M. Giroux, "A closed-form approximation for ground
return impedance of underground cables," IEEE Transactions on Power
1 Delivery, vol.11, no.3, pp.1536-1545, July 1996.
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