Safety Performance Evaluation of Fence Grounding
Configurations in High Voltage Installations
Zacharias G. Datsios1, Pantelis N. Mikropoulos2, Andreas Teneketzoglou3 and Dimitrios Tzikas4
High Voltage Laboratory, School of Electrical & Computer Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 541 24, Greece
1
zdatsios@auth.gr, 2pnm@eng.auth.gr, 3ante@ee.auth.gr, 4dctzikas@auth.gr
Abstract- The design of the grounding configuration for the
metal fence of a high voltage installation is important as the
outside perimeter of the fence is accessible to the general public.
In this work the safety provided by several fence grounding
techniques commonly used in high voltage installations is
evaluated for a 150/20 kV air insulated substation, a 400 kV
step-up GIS substation and a large scale photovoltaic power
station with the aid of grounding analysis software. A safe and
cost-efficient fence grounding design depends on ground fault
characteristics, soil conditions, installation area, distance
between the fence and grounding grid as well as on the size and
geometry of the latter.
Index Terms--fence grounding, photovoltaic power stations,
safety, substations, touch and step voltages.
I. INTRODUCTION
A well designed grounding system of a high voltage
installation should afford protection to persons against the
danger of critical electric shock [1], [2]. Thus, the grounding
system design should ensure that, in case of the most
dangerous ground fault, the arising touch and step voltages
are limited to values lower than the corresponding allowable
voltage limits. When a ground fault occurs, the grounding
grid, therefore also all grounded metal structures, are elevated
to the same potential, called ground potential rise (GPR).
Metal structures which are not connected to the grounding
grid attain a potential due to coupling through the ground and,
therefore, may pose a threat to persons. Hence, safety should
also be evaluated for such structures located inside or in the
vicinity of the installation area, e.g. security lighting and
CCTV posts, pipes, rails and fences.
Most commonly, high voltage installations such as
substations, power plants and industrial facilities are
protected by fences. The design of the grounding
configuration for the metal fence of a high voltage installation
is essential as the outside perimeter of the fence is accessible
to the general public; this is even more so where the
installation is located in a residential or urban area.
Furthermore, it is well known that metal fences with large
lengths could transfer high potentials to areas away from the
grounding grid of the installation. This is common where the
grid only covers small parts of the whole installation area,
e.g. power plants and industrial facilities; in such cases
measures against dangerous potentials transferred through the
fence should be considered as well. Several papers have been
published regarding the safety provided along fences against
potentials arising due to ground faults [3]-[5] as well as due
to coupling effects [6]-[10].
According to the IEEE Std 80-2000 [1] and its recent
revision [2], grounding of a metal fence which encloses an
installation having energized electrical conductors or
equipment can be achieved either by connecting the fence to
the installation grounding grid or by utilizing a separate
grounding configuration. If the latter design is selected, it
must be ensured that the fence cannot be accidentally
connected to the grounding grid, e.g. via metal pipes or cable
sheaths. Otherwise, in case of a ground fault the fence will
attain the ground potential rise of the grid and high touch and
step voltages could appear along its length.
In this paper, fence grounding techniques commonly used
in high voltage installations are evaluated for a 150/20 kV air
insulated substation, a 400 kV GIS step-up substation and a
large scale photovoltaic power station. These installations
differ in area, ground fault characteristics and distance
between fence and grounding grid. The safety provided by
several fence grounding techniques is assessed with the aid of
grounding analysis software [11]. It is shown that a safe and
cost-efficient fence grounding design depends on ground fault
characteristics, soil conditions, installation area, distance
between the fence and grounding grid as well as on the size
and geometry of the latter.
II. 150/20 kV AIR INSULATED SUBSTATION
The 150/20 kV air insulated substation under study (Fig. 1)
encompasses an area of approximately 11500 m2. The most
dangerous ground fault in this substation is a 150 kV single
phase ground fault with a symmetrical current, If, of 30 kA.
The fault current division factor, Sf, is 0.8. The decrement
factor, Df, is calculated 1.0313 for a fault duration, tf, of 0.5 s
and a X/R ratio of 10. Hence, the maximum grid current, IG, is
calculated 24.75 kA. Based on soil resistivity measurements,
in accordance with [12] and [13], it was found that a uniform
soil model with a resistivity of 87.1
satisfactorily the actual soil conditions in the installation area.
Table I shows the allowable touch, Etouch70, and step, Estep70,
voltage limits for the evaluated substation calculated
according to the IEEE Std [1], [2], as influenced by surface
material thickness, hs, and resistivity, s. These limits,
referring to a shock current duration of 0.5 s and body weight
of 70 kg, are also retained for the area beyond the outer
boundaries of the substation, which is located in a rural area.
 the grounding grid; therefore, care should be taken to avoid
unintended connections which could lead to hazardous touch
and step voltages around the fence. As an additional measure,
the part of the fence located below incoming overhead
transmission and distribution lines can be isolated from the
remaining fence by using insulating fence sections. However,
it is extremely difficult to achieve safety in case of phase
conductor falling on the isolated fence section; the entire fault
current flows through the grounding configuration of this
short section. Furthermore, according to IEEE Std [1], [2], it
is unusual for phase conductors to fall on the fence, especially
for the short and dead-ended last line spans. Nevertheless, the
isolating practice may prevent the transfer of dangerous
potentials to the remaining part of the fence.
The fence of the 150/20 kV substation is assumed to be
Fig. 1. Grounding grid for the 150/20 kV air insulated substation; solid red appropriately connected to a separate horizontal ground
line: fence, dashed red line: fence (alternative design), green lines: insulating electrode installed at a depth of 0.6 m beneath the fence.
fence sections, circles: ground rods. Details on grounding and equipotential bonding of different
TABLE I fence parts can be found in [14]. The ground resistance of the
ALLOWABLE TOUCH AND STEP VOLTAGE LIMITS FOR THE 150/20 kV substation grid is computed 0.458 . For the most dangerous
SUBSTATION CALCULATED ACCORDING TO THE IEEE STD [1], [2]
ground fault, the GPR of the grid and the fence potential are
hs (m)
11.34 kV and 7.32 kV, respectively. The maximum touch
0.1 0.15 0.2
Etouch70 Estep70 Etouch70 Estep70 Etouch70 Estep70
voltage along the fence is 2.47 kV, arising inside the
s( m) (V) (V) (V) (V) (V) (V) substation area where the fence is very close to the grid (point
without 251 338 251 338 251 338 A in Fig. 1). Relatively high touch voltages outside the fence
4000 1150 3933 1253 4348 1315 4593 are obtained in limited areas far away from the grid
5000 1379 4852 1510 5373 1587 5681 (maximum: 1.75 kV, point B in Fig. 1), due to an increased
6000 1609 5771 1766 6397 1859 6768
difference between fence and surface potentials. The average
7000 1839 6689 2022 7422 2130 7856
8000 2069 7608 2278 8447 2402 8943 touch voltage along the fence at profiles parallel to the fence
9000 2298 8527 2534 9472 2674 10031 line at a distance of 1 m from the latter is computed 0.45 kV.
10000 2528 9446 2791 10496 2946 11118 Step voltages exceeding the allowable limit without surface
material application (Table I) are observed in limited areas
Fig. 1 shows the actual substation grounding grid, designed
near fence corners (points A, B, C in Fig. 1); the step voltage
based on safety of people against the danger of critical
attains a maximum value of 1.22 kV within the substation
electric shock due to ground faults. The grid covers an area of
area, specifically at point A in Fig. 1.
~7000 m2 and comprises ~3200 m of horizontal tinned copper
Safety around the fence could generally be achieved by
conductors with a cross section of 120 mm2 as well as 31
extending the application of the surface material up to a
copper-clad steel rods with a diameter of 17 mm and a length
distance of 1 m beyond the fence. To prevent scattering of the
of 3 m. It is buried at a depth of 0.6 m and its maximum mesh
granular surface material due to the elements of nature, a
size is 5x6 m. The auxiliary building is grounded through a
rather short (~0.2 m) concrete wall should be constructed at a
foundation ground electrode connected to the grounding grid.
distance of 1 m outside the fence. In small areas around
The entire substation area is covered with a high resistivity
points A, B and C in Fig. 1, where touch voltages higher than
surface material ( s=4000 m, hs=0.1 m).
the allowable limit (1.15 kV, Table I) are observed, a surface
A chain-link fence with outward-inclined barbed wire on
material of higher resistivity should be used. For the areas
top surrounds the substation. The fence has a total length of
around points B and C a ground mat could be installed,
~390 m and its distance from the grounding grid varies
instead, under the surface material to equalize the surface
between 1.2 and 23.7 m (Fig. 1). Three different fence
potential up to 1 m outside the fence.
grounding techniques are evaluated in what follows: fence
An alternative design for a separately grounded fence could
connected to a separate ground electrode, fence connected to
be the installation of the fence ground electrode at a distance
the grounding grid and segmented fence grounding.
of 1 m beyond the fence. This leads to slightly lower fence
A. Fence connected to a separate ground electrode potential (7.11 kV). However, the maximum touch voltage
Fence connection to separate ground electrodes is typically outside the fence remains the same and the corresponding
employed when the fence is at a distance from the grounding value inside the fence at point A in Fig. 1 increases to 2.9 kV;
grid. The minimum value of this distance is often imposed by by displacing the fence ground electrode, the fence potential
utility specifications. In case of separately grounded fence it is reduced whereas the surface potential remains high in this
is important that the fence remains electrically isolated from area due to the close proximity to the grounding grid.
B. Fence conne
connected to the substation grounding grid 1.49 kV (point B in Fig. 1). Safety is achieved by extending
Grounding the fence to the substation grid is a practice the application of the surface material up to a distance of 1 m
commonly used when the fence is located close to the grid. outside the fence; in a limited area around point B a higher
When using this technique, the fence potential is equal to the resistivity surface material ( s 000 m, hs 0.15 m) is
GPR of the grid and, therefore, touch and step voltages near required.
the fence may be high. The fence of the evaluated 150/20 kV
D. Evaluation of fence grounding techniques
substation is at its longest length located away from the
Fig. 2 shows touch voltages computed along profiles 1 and
substation grid (Fig. 1); consequently, extending the grid up
2 parallel to the fence as shown in Fig. 1. From Fig. 2(a) it
to the fence is not a cost-effective design. Nevertheless, this
can be observed that extending the grounding grid outside the
technique is assessed in this subsection.
fence results in much lower touch voltages along profile 1.
The simple interconnection of the fence ground electrode
The maximum touch voltage along profile 2 (Fig. 2(b)) is
with the grounding grid using a number of horizontal ground
obtained at the fence corner designated as point B in Fig. 1
electrodes installed at 10 or 20 m intervals, yields maximum
for all evaluated fence grounding techniques. Segmented
touch voltages higher than that obtained for the case of
fence grounding shows the lowest value for maximum touch
separately grounded fence. Extending the grounding grid up
voltage among fence grounding techniques.
to 1 m beyond the fence line, using 5x6 m meshes, results in
Table II summarizes grounding analysis results on fence
an average touch voltage along the fence of 0.63 kV. The
grounding techniques for the 150/20 kV substation. From
touch voltages at points B and C (Fig. 1) are 1.98 kV and
Tables I and II it can be deduced that safety is achieved for all
1.31 kV, respectively; the former, being the maximum touch
fence grounding configurations with the application of
voltage arising on the fence, is much lower than the
surface material up to a distance of 1 m beyond the fence.
corresponding values for the case of separately grounded
However, as a concluding remark, the fence grounding
fence. However, this technique, requiring ~1530 m of
technique resulting in the safest, yet cost-efficient, design is
additional ground conductors, is certainly not cost-efficient.
segmented fence grounding.
C. Segmented fence grounding 3.0
Separate grounding
2.0

Segmented fence grounding should be considered when the Separate grounding, 1 m beyond
Grounding to the grid
2.5
distance of the fence from the substation grounding grid 1.6

varies widely. A trial and error procedure is usually employed 2.0

to determine where the fence should be segmented into 1.2

1.5
electrically isolated parts to ensure safety. This is not a
0.8
difficult task for relatively small installations; for larger 1.0

installations a systematic procedure can be used as proposed 0.4 Separate grounding

in [4]. It is important that insulating joints or sections 0.5
Separate grounding, 1 m beyond
Grounding to the grid
isolating two metal fences should be able to withstand the 0.0
(a)
0.0
(b) Segmented grounding

maximum potential difference arising between these fences; 0 10 20

Profile 1 length (m)
30 40 0 10 20 30
Profile 2 length (m)
40 50

otherwise,
therwise, flashover may occur transferring dangerous Fig. 2. Touch voltage computed along profiles (a) 1 and (b) 2 (near points A
and B in Fig. 1) parallel to the fence at a distance of 1 m from the latter for
potentials from one fence to another. Furthermore, the length all evaluated fence grounding techniques.
of such sections should be long enough, to avoid accidental
TABLE II
bridging between fences and coupling through the ground. GROUNDING ANALYSIS RESULTS FOR THE 150/20 kV SUBSTATION
For the evaluated 150/20 kV substation the fence could be
Fence Fence
segmented at its section being in closest proximity to the GPR Etouch,max Etouch,ave* Estep,max
grounding Rg potential
(kV) (kV) (kV) (kV)
grounding grid, that is, at the section near the ultimate technique (kV)
transmission tower (Fig. 1). To achieve a more efficient Separately grounded inside: 2.47
0.458 11.34 7.32 0.45 1.22
fence outside: 1.75
grounding design, this part of fence is moved within the grid Separately grounded inside: 2.9
area, leaving the tower outside the substation (Fig. 1, dashed 0.459 11.36 7.11 0.45 1.20
fence, 1 m beyond outside: 1.76
red line segment). This fence section is grounded to the grid Fence connected to
0.378 9.36 9.36
inside: 1.31
0.63 0.72
the grounding grid outside: 1.98
whereas the remaining part of the fence is connected to a
Segmented inside: 1
separate ground electrode, buried under the fence (depth: 0.6 0.457 11.31 7.12 0.40 0.78
fence grounding outside: 1.49
m). Insulating fence sections 6 m in length (Fig. 1, green line *
Average touch voltage along the fence, computed at profiles parallel to the fence line
at a distance of 1 m from the latter.
segments) are used to isolate the two different fence parts.
The maximum touch voltage along the fence section III. 400 kV STEP-UP GIS SUBSTATION
grounded to the grid is 1 kV, considerably lower than the The 400 kV GIS substation (Fig. 3) covers an area of
corresponding values obtained for the previously examined ~4500 m2. The most dangerous ground fault in this substation
fence grounding techniques. The average touch voltage along is a 400 kV single phase ground fault (If=40 kA, tf=0.5 s,
the fence decreases by ~11% when compared to the case of Sf=0.7). The decrement factor, Df, is calculated as 1.0427 for
separately grounded fence; the maximum touch voltage is a X/R ratio equal to 13.7. Thus, the maximum grid current, IG,
 700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 5
Profile 1 length (m)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 5
Profile 2 length (m)
Fig. 3. Grounding grid for the 400 kV step-up GIS substation; red line:
fence, empty circles: ground rods; green and blue circles represent
respectively removed and additional ground rods in the final design. Graphs
show step voltages computed along profiles 1 and 2.
is 29.2 kA. Based on soil resistivity measurements [12], [13],
it was found that a uniform soil model with a resistivity of
actual soil conditions.
Fig. 3 shows the substation grounding grid, designed based
on safety of people against the danger of critical electric
shock due to ground faults. The grid (maximum mesh size:
8x8 m) covers the whole substation area and it is installed at a
depth of 0.5 m. It comprises ~1300 m of tinned copper
conductors (185 mm2) and 27 copper-clad steel rods 19 mm
in diameter and 3 m in length. The building housing the GIS
buses and switchgear is grounded through a foundation
ground electrode connected to the grounding grid. The entire
substation area is covered with a high resistivity surface
material ( s=5000 m, hs=0.2 m). The allowable touch and
step voltage limits with and without surface material
application were respectively calculated according to the
IEEE Std [1], [2] as Etouch70=1.58 kV, Estep70=5.67 kV and
Etouch70=0.23 kV, Estep70=0.27 kV.
The substation is protected by a chain-link fence with
outward-inclined barbed wire on top. As the grounding grid
covers the whole substation area, the fence is grounded to the
grid. To reduce touch voltages, the fence (~280 m in length)
is installed within the grid area at a distance up to 1.5 m from
the periphery conductors.
The ground resistance is computed 0.223 , hence, the
GPR is 6.51 kV. The maximum touch voltage is 1.38 kV
(point A in Fig. 3), lower than the corresponding limit with
surface material application. However, outside the boundaries
of the substation, specifically up to ~4 m from the fence, step
voltages with a maximum of 0.65 kV exceed the allowable
limit without surface material application. As the application
of surface material outside the substation area is not possible,
other measures should be considered to reduce the arising
hazardous step voltages. It is noteworthy that high step
voltages outside the grounding grid are commonly found in
installations covering a limited area when high fault currents
are dissipated to the ground.
Initial grounding design
Final grounding design It is well known that touch and step voltages near the grid
periphery depend on mesh geometry and size in this area.
Touch voltages can be mitigated by reducing the mesh size at
grid perimeter, increasing consequently the surface potential.
Step voltages outside the fence can be reduced by increasing
the burial depth of the outer grid conductors; this, however,
10 15 20 leading to lower surface potential, causes higher touch
Initial grounding design
Final grounding design
voltages. An additional measure to reduce step voltages is to
install deep rods at the perimeter of the grid, reducing also
touch voltages.
For the evaluated GIS substation safety against dangerous
step voltages outside the substation area could be achieved by
burying the peripheral grid conductors at a depth of 1.5 m
10 15 20
instead of 0.5 m. Furthermore, it is necessary to increase the
length of the rods at the grid perimeter from 3 to 9 m and
install three additional rods as illustrated in Fig. 3. The
ground resistance and GPR are estimated
5.96 kV respectively. The maximum touch voltage is found
1.14 kV, lower than in the initial design. As shown in Fig. 3,
the maximum step voltage is reduced to 0.27 kV,
approximately equal to the allowable voltage limit.
IV. PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER STATION
Large scale photovoltaic (PV) power stations cover large
areas and typically deliver power to the medium voltage
distribution network. In many actual cases the distance
between the fence and the installation grounding grid varies
widely; this depends on property area covered and on the
provision of future expansion. In case of a ground fault, high
potentials appearing on the fence could be transferred in areas
away from the grid, posing therefore a threat to persons.
Hence, cautious treatment of fence grounding should be
applied in large scale PV power stations to ensure safety.
In this work fence grounding of a 3 MWp PV power station
(Fig. 4) is investigated. The total property area is ~98300 m2
whereas the 12 PV panel array groups cover ~58000 m2. As
detailed in [15], the most dangerous ground fault is a 20 kV
single phase ground fault (If=1 kA, tf=0.5 s, Sf=1). The
decrement factor, Df, was calculated 1.0127 for a X/R ratio
equal to 4. Hence, the maximum grid current, IG, was found
1012.7 A. A two-layer soil model was derived for the
installation area (upper and lower layer resistivities: 2796 and
7250 m, respectively, upper layer thickness 4.45 m).
The safe grounding grid design for this PV power station
has been presented in [15]. The grid comprises the concrete-
encased part of the steel piles supporting the PV panel arrays
as well as copper-clad steel ground conductors buried next to
the arrays at a depth of 0.5 m interconnecting all metal
support structures. The total number of piles is 3766 and the
total length of ground conductors is ~1.7 km. The substations
and the auxiliary building are grounded via a foundation
ground electrode along with a ring electrode surrounding
them at a distance of 1 m from their boundaries. According to
common practice, surface material in large scale PV power
stations is used only in certain areas to achieve safety. Hence,
the allowable touch and step voltage limits without surface