TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC POWER

If the power plant and the load centers are close to

each other, the costs of electric power transmission
and maintenance are minimum.
A design criterion of transmission lines considers:
• The maximum allowable voltage variation from no
load to full load
• The maximum economic power loss
• Protection from lightning and other damages
• Structural stability in high winds (or, in temperate
areas, in ice and snow)
• Safety for people living and working near the lines
Insulation can be cheap and simple. In most developing
countries, un insulated cable is more readily available
than underground.
Un insulated cables are exposed to lightning and to falling
trees.
Underground lines have to be insulated, and protected
against ground movement, ploughing, new buildings, etc.
 Transmission and Distribution (T&D) system
planning
Planning of T&D in principle should satisfy the socio-
economic premises, technical requirements depending on
the availability of investment, cost level and other political
measures.
The planning process may have the following phases:
i .Establishing the database
• Electrical system data, i.e. description of existing system and
suggested extensions
• Load data, i.e. historic and present energy consumption, description of
heavy/light load situations as well as prognoses for energy and
power
ii Determine the main principles for system layout/renovation strategy
• Decision whether to follow earlier practice
iii. Technical analysis of different system alternatives
• Load flow analysis, short circuit calculations, reliability analysis,
contingency analysis and stability analysis
iv. Establishing investment costs and operation costs
• The investment costs (including interest) and operation costs for
qualified system solutions are evaluated.
v. Cost minimization
• When all the fixed and operation costs for all qualified are
calculated for the period of analysis, the task in this phase is to
determine the system plan that contributes to minimizing total
costs.
vi. Decision of investment plan
• This is an evaluation phase where a selection is made among the
economically most favorable plan.
 Design philosophy of overhead lines
The main parts of a power line are:
1) conductors
2) the supports (towers or poles) which hold the bare
conductors
3) insulators needed between the conductors and the
support and shield
4) wires attached to tower extensions.
 planning
In the process of planning it is very important that the
planners do not choose their own favorite alternative
before all relevant information is brought forward.
Aim at avoiding:
• Pristine areas and areas of high protection value
• Large continues tracts of nature and out door activity areas
• Land cape gems
Evaluate Border zones:
• Between forest and cultivated fields
• Between residential areas and other areas
• Along roads (but carefully)
Landscape The main rule should be that wherever possible
and where solutions are otherwise acceptable, the aim
should be to find right of ways adapted to, and
subordinated to the landscape.
• avoid barrier effects
• follow existing curves in the landscape, e.g. border zones
in topography and vegetation
• Crossing rivers, roads and traffic routes should, as a main
rule be perpendicular to them.
 Tower spotting
Tower During pegging of the route centre line all
necessary information including measurement of
crossing lines, communication lines, houses,
buildings, roads, river spotting is done with the
help of land surveying.
Side terrain is measured to both sides of the centre
line where the side terrain is at a higher elevation
than the centre line.
 Conditions influencing the Tower spotting
Tower Spotting is used for determining the location and
height of towers on the route profile. Several factors can
be listed.
• Conductor type
• Tower type
• Terrain type
• Climatic loads
• Crossings
• Clearances to adjacent objects
• Building conditions, etc.
The conductor type used will influence span lengths as
well as heights of towers.
Conductor type: ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel
Core Reinforced) a steel and aluminum strands outside.
Tower type: When building wood towers, the height of
the towers is limited and so as the span length since the
lengths of wood poles is a limiting factor.
Terrain type and climatic loads will influence both span
lengths and towers locations, for instance in high
mountainous areas where there often is heavy wind
load.
 Tower Design:
 Towers and foundations should be designed to resist the
forces transmitted to the towers from the conductors
through their suspension points in the tower.
 The Most commonly used wood tower for high power
line is the H-frame with two legs of round timber.
 Wood towers are usually built of timber, pressure
impregnated by creosote or salt.
 Design of foundations
 The foundations of the towers may be a separate construction
upon which the tower is placed in the case of a conventional
wood pole the poles themselves are dug down in to the ground.
 With regard to foundations as separate parts of the tower they
are usually built on steel reinforced concrete.
 This type of foundation may be divided in to:
i Foundation designed to resist compression only
ii Foundation designed to resist uplift
iii Foundation designed to resist both compression and uplift
iv Foundation designed to resist toppling overturning moment
An example of type i and ii is foundations of guyed steel tower
 Conductors
These carry the electrical power from one end to other for
transmission and distribution. Requirements of good conductor:
• Good conductivity or low specific resistance
• High tensile strength to withstand mechanical stresses
• Not brittle
• Not too expensive
• Low specific gravity for low weight
Materials may be:
i. Copper
ii. aluminum
iii. ACSR ( Aluminum conductor steel core reinforced
iv. Galvanized steel
v. Phosphor bronze
vi. Cadmium copper
 Insulators
These are provided so that there is no leakage of current to
the earth through the support poles. Porcelain, glass and
steatite are used as insulators. Porcelain is (excessively
widely) used as insulator.
Steatite insulators are used in tension towers and transmission
lines with sharp turn. The types of insulators are:
• Pin type
• Suspension type
• Strain type
• Shackle type
• Stay or Egg type