Underground Transmission Lines

for High Power AC and DC Transmission

Michael Tenzer, Hermann Koch, Denis Imamovic
Siemens AG
Energy Management Division
Erlangen, Germany
michael.tenzer@siemens.com , hermann.koch@siemens.com, denis.imamovic@siemens.com

Abstract— The latest state of the art and ongoing research about (Figure 1). This enclosure is formed by a sturdy aluminum
high power gas-insulated underground transmission lines as well tube, which provides a solid mechanical and electrotechnical
as the latest technical improvements are presented in this containment for the system.
contribution. The basic technology is presented and the
advances of the technology with respect to different installation
options are discussed. A very high power transmission
capability, a low capacitance, lower resistive losses compared to
power cables and overhead lines, negligible magnetic fields, no
ageing phenomena of the insulating system and a maintenance
free design are the main benefits. In consequence, GIL
technology for high power HVDC transmission is actually under
development

Index Terms—Transmission Lines, Gas Insulation, HVAC &

HVDC Power Transmission

I. INTRODUCTION
In the 1970s, the technology of Gas Insulated
Transmission Lines (GIL) has been developed and introduced.
The first GIL world-wide has been installed in a hydro power
plant in Schluchsee (Germany) in 1975 and is still in service
today. GIL are well established for high power alternating
Figure 1: Basic design of GIL, consisting of two concentric aluminum tubes
current (AC) transmission used when environmental or and two cast resin support insulators (white). A particle trap ensures a high
structural considerations restrict the use of overhead reliability [1].
transmission lines. Up to now, more than 750 km of GIL tubes
(single phase) are in service all over the world. The maximum
operational voltage is 550 kV and the maximum operational To meet up-to-date environmental and technical aspects GIL
nominal current is 5000 A. are filled with an insulating gas mixture of mainly nitrogen
(N2) and a smaller percentage of sulphur hexafluoride
GIL offers several advantages for high capacity power (SF6) [2].
transmission as low transmission losses, low capacitive load,
negligible electromagnetic fields, no thermal or electrical II. INSTALLATION OPTIONS
ageing, a high reliability and a high level of personal safety.
In the center of the displayed GIL segment (Figure 2) a
High power ratings enables to go directly in series with
fix-point insulator (disk) is shown, which fixes the conductor
overhead transmission lines and an operation like an overhead
versus the enclosure. This distance between two fix points can
transmission line with the so-called auto-reclosure function is
be up to approximately 120 m. Between two of such fix points
practicable [1].
the conductor is resting on pairs of post type insulators which
The basic design of GIL consists of two concentric are installed in distances of approx. 11-13 m (shown in white
aluminum tubes: The inner conductor is resting on cast resin color). These post type insulators allow movement of the
insulators, which center it within the outer enclosure

978-1-5090-2157-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

Figure 2: Standard straight module of GIL with support insulators and with
one fix point inulator [2]
conductor for thermal expansion and contraction. At the place
where the conductor is connected to the next fix point a sliding
contact system is attached to the conductor end, which takes
up the expansion. In addition to the standard straight GIL
module which allows a bending radius of 400 m, any desired
radius of the routing can be realized by an elbow module.
The installation of GIL can be realized in a large range of
laying arrangements. Besides the horizontal laying, GIL can
be installed vertical or inclined laying. The most common type
of installation is the tunnel installation. Additionally, the
directly-buried installation option has been introduced in 2010
[3] and permits a fast and cost-efficient installation. The
prefabricated GIL segments (Figure 2) are joined by welding
using an orbital welding robot. To ensure the gas tightness, an
automated ultrasonic inspection of every welding seam is
executed directly after the automated welding process
The installation options are visualized in Figure 3, Figure 4
and Figure 5. With GIL, bending radii of 400 m are possible
with the standard GIL modules (Figure 3). For smaller radii,
special elbow modules with up to 90° radius can be used.
Figure 3: Tunnel installation of two 420 kV AC Systems with a bending
radius of 400 m realized with the standard straight modules. [2]
One of the main advantages of GIL is the high level of
safety: In the extremely unlikely case of insulation failure, the
fault arc is safely enclosed within the outer housing and no
influence would occur to the outside. The GIL are fire
resistant and do not contribute to fire load. This means optimal
protection of persons and environment. By this reason, GIL
can be installed in one tunnel which serves as emergency
978-1-5090-2157-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
Figure 4: Inclined tunnel installation of a 420 kV AC-System of an hydro
power plant [2]
access way for personnel, i.e. in hydro power plants
(Figure 4). By using GIL technology, there is no need to build
a second tunnel and in the consequence the costs for civil
engineering can be minimized.
As another possibility, the directly buried installation of
GIL offers a high power level on very small trace, low losses,
and the installation without additional tunnel (Figure 5).
In combination with an improved installation procedure
(for more details, see section III), an economic and fast
installation of GIL over long distances is the main advantage
of the directly-buried installation. Through optimizations the
costs per km are being significantly reduced.
Figure 5: Directly-buried GIL installation of two 420 kV AC Systems [4]
Considering EMC requirements, the GIL technology offers
negligibly low magnetic fields. This can be achieved by the
180 degree phase-shifted reverse current in the enclosure with
nearly the same amplitude. The advantage is that no special
shielding is required even in areas which are critical with
respect to EMC (e.g. airports, computer centers, populated
areas).
In more than 100 km phase length, installed by Siemens
worldwide, the technology of GIL has been approved for a
reliable power transmission featuring high power transmission
capability of up to 4700 MVA of an AC system at 550 kV.
Due to the high conductor cross section of the GIL
technology, transmission losses are minimized. The low
electrical capacitance, no phase angle compensation is
required. This is also true for long system length of 60 km or
more. The insulation system of GIL is not subjected to thermal
or electrical ageing phenomena. Not least thanks to the high
gas tightness of the welded modules, there is practically no
maintenance needed on the GIL for 50 years or more.

III. IMPROVEMENTS OF THE INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

Up to now, the conventional installation and laying process

of GIL today is based on an installation tent placed directly at
the laying trench or tunnel. By this, high voltage-conform
clean laying conditions are obtained for the pre-fabrication of
the modules on site. The welding of GIL tubes was realized in Figure 7: Vizualization of the mobile factory principle, front view of the
factory positioned in the trench [2]
structures especially built for this purpose. The maximum
length of welded GIL tubes pulled out of these buildings was
about 500 m. For longer GIL sections, the structure needs to requires high repeatability of high quality joints. Each re-
be shifted. work of a joint will cost time and increases the laying cost.
By using a “mobile factory” this installation procedure of The quality of gas tight welds of the enclosure pipe
GIL has now been further improved and made much more guarantees the lifelong operation of the GIL without any gas
efficient to reduce the project execution time at high quality refill. To ensure this, a 100% quality check is integrated into
level. With this further cost reductions can be realized. In the welding and laying process [2].
Figure 6 and Figure 7 the principle of the mobile GIL factory
is shown.
IV. DEVELOPMENT OF ±500 KV DIRECT CURRENT POWER
TRANSMISSION LINES (±500 KV DC GIL)

The new DC GIL for ±500 kV nominal voltage and for up to

Figure 6: Visualization of the mobile factory principle, side view [2]
±550 kV maximum continuous operating voltage and up to
5000 A maximum operational nominal current will be
designed to transmit up to 5 GW of electrical energy with only
one bipolar system [2].
The DC GIL design is system independent transmission
system (suitable for LCC and for VSC HVDC converter
technology). In Figure 5, the very small right of way for a
directly buried ±500 kV DC GIL bipolar system is visualized.

An automated GIL warehouse decreases waiting times of

the welding machines by storing all tubes needed for one shift
of continuous welding. The loading of GIL tubes in the
automated GIL warehouse can be done parallel to the
welding. Thus the project duration and project costs will be
significantly reduced.
Another aspect of the installation process is the welding
technology. A new automated welding process is under
development. It is presumed that the number of welded GIL
connections in a working shift can be multiplied by a factor
of 3, compared to the previous automated welding process. Figure 8: Right of way of a directly buried ±500 kV DC GIL bipolar
system [4]
By this, the laying speed of GIL will be significantly
increased and long installations are possible. Naturally, the
The challenge for the DC GIL is posed by the special design
costs for the laying of GIL will be significantly reduced by
of the components taking into account their specific
the new process [2].
properties at high direct voltage. Several basic physical
The welding process is a key competence for gas-insulated
phenomena, which are negligible in conventional AC
transmission lines. The assembly process on site with a large
insulation systems, have to be taken into account.
number of aluminum pipes of typical 10 to 15 m length

978-1-5090-2157-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE


Figure 9: Exemplary depiction of the electric field strength and field lines of
a conical insulator with AC voltage (top), DC voltage (middle) and DC
voltage with a temperature gradient between conductor and enclosure
(bottom, ΔT > 0) [5]
Particularly, new insulators suitable for DC field stress have
to be developed.
Directly after application of a high DC voltage, a capacitive
field distribution along the insulator is formed depending on
the capacitances, analogous to AC voltage stress (Figure 9).
After a particular time, depending on the material properties
and the geometry, the field distribution transits into a
stationary resistive field distribution. This capacitive-resistive
field transition [6] is accompanied by the accumulation of
charges along the surface and within the bulk of the insulator
[7]. Contrary to the capacitive field distribution, which is
dominated by the permittivity of the material, the resistive
field distribution is determined by the conductance of the
materials used. Further, the material’s conductance is strongly
non-linear and dependent on e.g. temperature as well as
humidity [8]. An example is given in Figure 9. [2]
The new insulator material and the geometry of the insulators
are suitable for AC and DC voltage applications. The
dielectric performance of the new insulator design is verified
by different high voltage tests including long-term tests
(material ageing), superimposed impulse voltage tests,
polarity reversal tests and thermo-electric tests. The latter are
performed by simultaneous application of direct voltage,
impulse voltage and heating of the conductor [2]. Newly
designed support insulators (gas-tight and non-gas-tight) for
GIL provide faster installation and high reliability.
978-1-5090-2157-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
CONCLUSION
Since five decades, the technology of gas-insulated
transmission lines is in service successfully. The benefit of
GIL is a high power transmission capability with low
transmission losses, highest safety with negligible magnetic
fields and a maintenance-free design which is not affected by
ageing phenomena.
In order to extend the applicability of GIL, the directly buried
installation has been introduced additionally to tunnel
installation. The process of installation is being optimized by
new joining technology and by the introduction of the mobile
factory principle. Customers benefit is a fast installation
procedure with significant cost reductions.
In consequence to the world-wide trend to HVDC power
transmission, a new DC Compact Transmission Lines
(DC GIL) for ±500 kV is under development. The design of
compact DC insulation requires the consideration of several
physical effects. New modules with new insulators suitable
for AC and DC voltage are developed. The system-
independent DC GIL design is suitable for LCC and VSC
converter technology. A test installation of the new DC GIL
for a long term prequalification test is planned. However,
testing requirements for compact gas-insulated DC systems
are not standardized today and part of ongoing research
activities.
As an outcome of the optimized joining and installation
processes, AC and DC GIL is offering a cost effective high
power transmission system for long distances.
REFERENCES
[1] H. Koch: “Gas-Insulated Transmission Lines”. Wiley/IEEE, 2012.
ISBN 978-0-470-66533-6.
[2] D. Imamovic, M. Tenzer, H. Koch and B. Lutz: „High Power
Underground Transmission Lines“. Jicable ‘15 Conference, Paris-
Versailles, France, 2015.
[3] C. Neumann, I. Jürgens, J. Alter and S. Pöhler: “Pilot Installation of a
380 kV directly buried Gas Insulated Line (GIL)”, Cigré Paris Session
2010, Paper B3_104.
[4] M. Tenzer, H. Koch and D. Imamovic: “Compact Systems for High
Voltage Direct Current Transmission”, unpublished, presented at the
International ETG Congress 2015, Bonn, Germany, November 2015.
[5] M. Tenzer, M. Behne, K. Juhre and D. Imamovic: „Realization and
testing of gas-insulated DC systems”. Highvolt Kolloquium, Dresden-
Radebeul, Germany, 7. + 8. Mai 2015.
[6] F. Messerer: „Gas-insulated substation (GIS) for HVDC“, Ph.D Thesis,
TU Munich, Germany, 2002.
[7] M. Tenzer, V. Hinrichsen, A. Winter, J. Kindersberger and
D. Imamovic: „Compact Gas-Solid Insulating Systems for High-Field-
Stress in HVDC applications“, Cigré SC B3&D1 Colloquium,
Brisbane, Australia 2013.
[8] Cigré WG D1.12, technical brochure 520: “Material properties of solid
HVDC insulation systems”, 2012.