Underground Electrical Cable Vs Overhead Lines

1 providing sufficient insulation so that cables can be within inches of grounded material.

Underground electrical cable vs overhead lines.

Safety less chance for public contact. According to the may 2011 paper underground electric transmission lines published by the public service commission of wisconsin the estimated cost for constructing underground transmission lines ranges from 4 to 14 times more expensive than overhead lines of the same voltage and same distance. Significantly less cost especially initial cost. In overhead line inductor plays major roles and in underground cable the capacitor plays major role.

Safety factors of underground vs. Overhead line is a source of electrical and magnetic field where underground cables have the magnetic fields screened so only electrical fields might be an issue in this case. To minimize a large charging current produced in high voltage cables the length of the cable should be minimized. With underground feeders you have to watch out when you are digging.

The electric field of the cable lines is fully limited by the metallic screen. And 2 dissipating the heat produced during the operation of the electrical. It is difficult to find and repair the wire breaks in case of failure of system. Cost of underground cables e g.

Cost overhead s number one advantage. Voltage drop there is more voltage drop in the overheads due to the fact that their cables are of much smaller diameter than underground cables for the same power delivery. Longer life 30 to 50 years vs. With overhead lines you have to watch that tall trucks farm implements augers and other tall pieces of equipment don t get tangled in them.

Reliability shorter outage durations because of faster fault finding and faster. Overhead lines are nothing but a conductor laid on the top of earth by installing transmission tower. Following are the disadvantages of underground transmission. Aesthetics underground s number one advantage.

Much less visual clutter. Digging around underground feeders is a disaster waiting to happen. Overhead lines interfere with communication lines that are in close proximity have corona discharge radio and tv interference which does not happen with the underground lines. Hvdc are three times higher compare to overhead lines e g.

The design and construction of underground transmission lines differ from overhead lines because of two significant technical challenges that need to be overcome.