Installation of Power Cables

Pre Installation Planning

Cable Route
The length of route, actual route, diversion and cable terminations and jointing must all be foreseen before starting actual installation. While planning the route of installation bending radius of the cables should also be taken into account.

Minimum bending radii for cables

PILC Cables PVC & XLPE Cables Single Core Multi Core Single Core Multi Core Up to 1.1 kV 20 D 15 D 15 D 12 D 1.1 kV 11 kV 20 D 15 D 15 D 15 D Above 11 kV 25 D 20 D 20 D 15 D At joints and terminations make sure that the bending radius is more than 12 D. The actual length at site must be as close as possible to design consideration to ensure that the voltage drop specifications Voltage Rating

Cable Installation
Transportation of Cable Drum
The cables usually arrive at site in drums. The drums have to be transported inside the site to the place where it is has to be laid. While doing so, it is necessary to check the soil conditions, whether it is loose, marshy or water logged. Places where the drums have to be turned, the width of the turns has to be checked for safe turning of the drum. This is the very critical in solar power plants where structural works are distributed throughout the land that is available.

Cable Laying
The choice of any of the type of installation depends on the actual installation conditions, initial cost of laying, maintenance cost and ease of replacement of cables.

Laying Directly on Ground

The following is the procedure to be adopted for installing cables on ground. Trenching The following are the methods of trenching Manual excavation Excavating with mechanical force Thrust bore Trench ploughing 1) Prepare a trench by adopting any of the above mentioned methods. Make sure that the width of the trench is minimum 35 cm. However, if more than one cable is laid in same trench in horizontal formation, the width of the trench shall be increased that inter axial spacing between two cables are 20 cm. Clearance of the terminal cable from side of the trench should be 15 cm. 2) Prepare bedding with riddled soil (75 mm thick) 3) Pull the cables through the trench. Leave about 3m of cable spare in a loop formation near poles and joints so that in case of joint failures the additional cable can be for rescue. 4) Cover the cables with riddled soil (75 mm thick)

5) Cover the soil bedding with tiles, bricks or slabs. If bricks are used they should be of second class type having size not less than 20cmx10cmx10cm and laid breadthwise for the entire length.

The minimum depth of laying the cable from the top of the surface is as follows Minimum Clearance for different types of cables 3.3 kV 11 kV 22 kV 33 kV Low Voltage Control Cables Cables at road crossing

0.9 m 1.05 0.75 m 1m

Minimum clearances as specified below must be maintained while laying cables Power cables to control cables Power to communication cables 0.2 m 0.3 m

If different types of cables are to be laid in the same trench at different layers, make sure that telecommunication lines are to be laid on the top.

Cable Pulling
The following are the way for pulling cables inside a cable trench Cables pulled with stocking Cable Type PVC and XLPE cable armored power cables PVC and XLPE cable unarmored power cables Paper Insulated armor cables (Belted & H type) Paper Insulated armor cables (HSL type) Cables pulled by pulling eye The maximum permissible pulling tension depends on the type of conductor used. 2 Aluminum Conductors - 30 N/mm 2 Copper Conductors 50 N/mm Pulling force in Newton 2 9D 2 5D 3D 1D
2

Cables pulled by winch Pulling force in Newton as percentage of cable weight 15% 20% 20% - 40% 50% - 60% 100%

In trenches without larger bends In trenches with 1 or 2 bends of 90 each In trenches with 3 bends of 90 each In ducts with bends totaling 360

The type of pulling has to be decided based on the installation conditions, available man power and the type of cable used. Each type of pulling puts certain limitation on the pulling force exerted on the cables depending upon the type of cable used. The correct procedure for pulling the cable inside the cable trench either open or inside a duct is shown in the figure. If the cable is going to be pulled over a long run, it is desirable to apply lubricants such as petroleum jelly or graphite power to ease the pulling tension by about 40%. The paying out of the cables could be done by any one of the following ways Paying out from a trailer The cable drum should be mounted on trailer which should be placed near the trench. Trailer should move slowly and the cable drum should be rotated or broken by hand slowly in order to avoid excessive tensile strength on the insulation.

Figure 1 Cable Rails

Figure 2 Pulling cable inside a trench

Route Markers
Once cables are laid and the trenches are back-filled with sand, then concrete route markers must be placed along the trench with distance between two route markers not exceeding 200 m. Apart from this additional route markers must be provided at joints and turns.

Post Installation
Route indicators must be provided at distances separated by not greater than 200 m. The material used for route indicators must be of non-combustible material. The markers must be at least 800 mm above the ground.