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Conductor Economics for EHV Transmission

P. A. ABETTI
MEMBER AIEE

C. B. LINDH
ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

HE USE of bundle conductors for power transmis


sion was first proposed by P. H. Thomas in 1909.
The electrical characteristics of bundle conductors
were then recognized to be superior in many respects to
the characteristics of comparable single conductors.
However, it was also known at that time that bundle
conductors had higher initial costs and a more com
plex mechanical structure than single conductors.
Therefore, no significant applications of this new con
cept were made in the next 40 years, although in 1931
C. A. Boddie proposed a 500-kv line with four con
ductors in a bundle. As a result of extensive investiga
tions made in the last 10 years of the electrical and
mechanical characteristics of bundle conductors, many
transmission lines have been and are being built all
over the world utilizing this type of construction.
At present, extra-high-vol tage transmission lines (volt
ages of 275 kv and above) use one, two, three, and four
conductors per phase. It is not clear, therefore, what
the optimum configuration of future extra-high-voltage
lines will be. In fact, it will depend most probably upon
the system characteristics, cost data, and also upon the
willingness of the utility management to try out new
types of construction. For these reasons, in planning the
General Electric Extra-High-Voltage (EHV) Project it
has been decided to investigate one, two, and three con
ductors per phase at 460 kv, and three and four con
ductors per phase at 650 kv.
OPTIMUM CONFIGURATIONS

IN ORDER to determine the optimum configurations


and cross section for the various test conditions of the
Project EHV line, an economic study was initiated in
1957 by the authors, inasmuch as no criteria were avail
able in the literature at that time.
A digital computer program has been prepared for
the IBM (International Business Machines Corporation)
705 data-processing machine, with the following objec
tive:
"To determine the optimum configuration and
cross section of extra-high-voltage lines (345 kv and
above), as a function of all the parameters having
economic significance."
In order to obtain a fair comparison of the relative
economics of using one, two, three, or four conductors
Digest of paper 60-53, "Economics of Single and Bundle Conductors for
Extra-High-Voltage Transmission," recommended by the AIEE Trans
mission and Distribution Committee and approved by the AIEE Techni
cal Operations Department for presentation at the AIEE Winter General
Meeting, New York, N. Y., Jan. 31-Feb. 5, 1960. Published in AIEE
Power Apparatus and Systems, June 1960, pp. 138-53.
P. A. Abetti and C. A. Lindh are with the General Electric Company,
Pittsfield, Mass.; H. O. Simmons, Jr., is with the General Electric Com
pany, Schenectady, N. Y.

574

H. O. SIMMONS, JR.
MEMBER AIEE

per phase for a given transmission line, it is necessary


to compare alternative solutions using the same assump
tions for all cases. In the program all operating and
investment costs, evaluated at an appropriate rate, are
added up in order to determine the total annual charges
for each configuration. By varying the cross section over
an appropriate range, the optimum cross section, cor
responding to minimum cost, may be determined for
each line configuration. Then the individual optimums
are compared to establish the over-all optimum bun
dling configuration for a given circuit loading. All im
portant factors in which bundle and single conductors
differ are taken into account in the program, according
to criteria which evaluate the annual cost of each fac
tor. The range of the economic evaluation of certain
factors is quite extensive, depending upon the require
ments of the system considered, the cost structure in
volved, and other considerations. It is then necessary
to study the effect of varying these factors on the over
all results.
SYSTEMS INVESTIGATED
T H E SYSTEMS investigated consist of a generating sta
tion with step-up transformation supplying a subtrans
mission load bus through the transmission system and
receiving-end step-down transformation. Series-capacitor
compensation was assumed to be 40 and 50 per cent at
distances of 250 and 500 miles, respectively. At 100
miles, zero series capacitor compensation was assumed,
but transformer impedances and transformer costs were
varied to compensate for the differences in line re
actances for the various bundle configurations.
The following system parameters are used to present
the results of this study:

1. Distance (100, 250, and 500 miles)


2. Transmission voltage level (345, 460, and 650 kv)
3. Load factor (50 and 80 per cent)
4. Loading per circuit (depending upon distance and
voltage)
RESULTS
T H E RESULTS of this investigation are presented in
the form of annual cost differentials with respect to an
arbitrarily selected base configuration, as a function of
the total conductor cross section per phase and line con
figuration. It is concluded that these cost differentials
may be quite important, both if expressed in dollars
or in percentage of the total annual cost. Each system,
however, must be investigated on its own merits, ac
cording to the method advanced here, in order to deter
mine its optimum configuration.

Abetti, Lindkj SimmonsEHV Conductor Economics

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

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