Insulated Cables

Bouncing back to “normality”

Being hostage to virus a has been one of the most challenging situations for the world. Although the Power Industry is in what is viewed as a conservative business, the CIGRE members quickly adapted and have been able to continue almost all the work without losing pace. I salute you all in the great adaptability. This will certainly change our way of collaborating without the need for only physical participation. That being said, it was heart-warming seeing so many in Paris in September 2022.

Although the world seems to change at neck breaking pace it is even more important to remember the history. CIGRE having celebrated last year 100 years in 2021 the fundament is still unchanged. Namely start of “Insulating cables” in 1927 with focus of “underground and submarine lines”.

More than 150 scientific documents on all aspects of how to design, operate, test, maintenance of Insulated cables, has been published throughout the years, there is therefore an overwhelming concentration of knowledge that are at our disposal.

Covering AC and DC cable systems for both land and submarine power cables. The main focus has been on high voltage (HV) and extra high voltage (EHV) transmission applications, however in line with shifting conditions areas medium voltage (MV) cable systems and integration of distributed energy resources (DER) by use of smart grids are now a growing part of the SC B1 activities.

The life cycle of cables can still be viewed through this simple diagram.

As there are several new stake holders to Study Committee B1, so the structure has been strengthened by a new Reliability Advisory Group (RAG).

SC B1 has therefore a Chairman (Geir Clasen, NO), a Secretary (Matthieu Cabau, FR) and – at the end of 2022 – a composition of 24 Regular Members, 14 Observer Members and 5 Additional Members that are bringing additional competences to the traditional “power transmission” background of most of Members.

Advisory Groups are set up to support the activity of the SC by making recommendations in various fields.

The National members and the Conveners of Advisory Groups (AG), Working Groups (WG) and Task Forces (TF), take part in the SC meetings.

The organization of the Study Committee is represented as follow:

The technical work is done through Working Groups. Each year, new Working Groups are launched to address the needs coming from stakeholders.

The new work items are normally decided during the Annual Study Committee Meeting. Following decision of the Study Committee the Terms of Reference (ToR) are most often prepared by Task Forces.

The proposals of New Work Items submitted to the Study Committee are prepared by the Customer Advisory Group (CAG) and formally established by the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) of the Study Committee. Each Region of the world is represented in the CAG to gather the needs of the Regional Target Groups. Also, the contribution of individuals is important to identify the needs of the Target Groups of the Study Committee, this can be done by sending ideas for new works to the SC through the national representative or via CAG at cigre.scb1.cag@gmail.com.

The work of Study Committee SC B1 is also kept tuned with IEC, IEEE, and other interest groups, as well as with Local and Regional CIGRE organizations.

The dissemination of outcome of SC B1 works is mostly done through a Tutorial and Publication Advisory Group (TAG) that was installed in SC B1 with the scope to implement CIGRE TC's suggestion, that "Study Committees have to deal with education, continuous training, tutorials and publications". The B1 TAG is the working body within SC B1 to coordinate all activities in this field.

What happened in 2022

Again, Study Committee B1 has lost one of its most cherished personalities. SC B1 Past Chair and Green Book editor Pierre Argaut passed away on May 7^th 2022. His work in CIGRE has been monumental, covering from WG member, Convener, National Committee member, Special Reporter, Study Committee Chair and Green Book editor. His passion for educational in the Science field has educated many of us. His wisdom and inclusive personality will be greatly missed, and he will be with us in our thoughts and prayers.

Finally, we were allowed to do a full Paris Session with all normal activities, such as Group Discussion Meeting, Workshop, Tutorial session and Poster Session.

Many of the activities were broadcast on CIGRE TV and available for a remote audience. Full two-way activity was not possible.

The week started with a workshop about “Extra-long transnational transmission lines” jointly organized by Study Committees B1, B2, B4, C1. The Workshop focused on the technical and power system challenges, solutions, and problems as well as on future developments. Another aspect is to get an overview on progress initiatives related to global networks.

In the Group Discussion Meeting, several hundreds of delegates could discuss most topical issues in the power cable world. Many topics coming from discussion will be considered as input for future activities of Study Committee B1 “Insulated Cables”.

There was a lively discussion by the audience with the presenters. Total turnout was almost 400.

The prepared contributions and the subsequent discussions were based on the 53 papers prepared for this session and the 15 questions of the 2022 Special Report. This resulted in 40 prepared contributions. In addition, two guest presentations:

• Cable Related Challenges in Relation to Future Energy Islands -  by Poul-Jacob Vilhelmsen – Denmark
• Experiences and Insights Rehabilitating a 69 kV SCFF Cable System after Pressure Losses – by Jake Gelhard - NGN - Canada

For the tutorial session “A new era of submarine cables” attracted a full house of 300 and covering 5 different Working Groups. (B1.61- Offshore generation cable connections, B1.63 – Mechanical testing of Dynamic cables, B1.64 – Losses of armoured three core cables, B1.65 – Installation of offshore power cables, B1.67 Loading pattern of cables connected to windfarms).

The Annual Study Committee B1 Meeting was a refreshing experience with large commitment.

We managed, by the invaluable help from André Cuppen /NZ National Member), to connect the few remote attendees with both sound and video by use of multiple mobile phones.

The SC meeting was action packed with 1 ½ days of discussions and presentation. Future works agreed in the SC meeting and to be approved by Technical Council Chair are very much aligned with the E2E vision of CIGRE, with the attention to sustainability, with the cooperation with IEC, with the support committed for a more reliable and modern transmission network.

At the end of the meeting the Chair thanked the Secretary, the Special Reporters, all people who supported the GDM (panellists, NGN rep, interaction managers, invited speakers), all SC Members, conveners, experts, ex-officers, and the Central Office for the preparation and the organization of these successful events.

Before closing the SC Meeting there was change of Chair from Marco Marelli (IT) to Geir Clasen (NO). A large majority of the B1 community had made a combined fare-well and thank you speech, presented by Marc Jeroense (SE) and Alain Gille (BE).

Celebrating people

The most significant award specific for each Study Committee is the “Technical Council Award”.

In all these positions Carla Damasceno has shown high level of expertise, competence, and willingness to take on tasks. Her involvement in the Virtual Centennial Session in 2021 was very broad and essential for the flow of the VCS with heavy involvement in reviewing presentations, organising Polls and Q&A session.

In addition, she has been active in promoting the SC B1 Technical Brochures in Brazil.

Technical activities

The following WG’s were discussed and launched during the SC meeting in September, all the WG’s has been approved by TC Chair:

B1.88 – Recommendations regarding the use of non SF6 gases in cable systems

There is a large drive to reduce the environmental impact and replacement gases for SF6 are needed. This will impact the cable accessories. The WG to provide guidelines for transition of GIS accessories to non-SF6 gases. With focus on alternative gas types, additional testing and will cover both AC and DC cable systems.

B1.89 – Guidance for conducting cable system failure analysis

MV/HV cable systems are usually designed for a long lifespan and are generally used where high network reliability is required.
Methods for failure analysis will vary as there is no guide on how to perform them. Valuable information might be lost that could have led to increased lifetime.
A proposed WG aims to provide guidelines for a standardized, systematic, accurate and comprehensive approach for performing cable system fault analysis.

B1.90 – Cable System Electrical Characteristics – Update TB 531

The existing Cigre TB 531 “Cable Systems Electrical Characteristics” provides guidance for calculating sequence impedances of a wide range of power cables.  Since the brochure was produced, the volume of submarine cables being installed has increased dramatically due to the growth of renewable power generation, primarily from offshore wind.
The WG will review calculations, proposals for new methods and inclusion of magnetic armour of submarine cables, also covering a large range of harmonic frequencies as often are present from various renewable energy sources.

B1.91 – Transient Thermal Modelling of Power Cables (update to IEC 60853)

This work is a follow up on the wg B1.84 that concluded that combining Finite Element Modelling (FEM) of Cables and Cyclic Load would not be desirable due to the size and scope. B1.87 with FEM of cables started in 2021 and the B1.91 was postponed to 2022. Traditionally this is covered by IEC 60853, however the change to renewably energy sources is not covered in the current issue of IEC. The WG will give guidance on how to calculate the transient behaviour and new methods for calculating losses or armoured three core cables (B1.64).

Other WG’s that has been proposed by other SC’s with B1 as active participants:

• B4.B1.B3.D1.95 - Harmonization of voltages for DC equipment
• D1.77 – Methods and common data file format for Time-domain reflectometry
• C4.74 - Accurate Line and Cable Models for Steady-State and transient Studies

In addition to the described new Working Groups, during the web-meeting, Study Committee B1 decided to launchtwo  preparatory Task Forces to evaluate the need for future Working Groups on the following subjects:

• TF B1.92: “Update to TB 722 - Qualification of Lead-free Submarine Cables at 72.5kV<Um<170 kV”
• TF B1.93: “Robotic Supervision of tunnels”

These Task Forces will give their outcomes to the Study Committee Meeting in 2023 and – in case they will recommend launching working groups – they will propose respective Terms of Reference.

With the decisions taken during the SC B1 meeting and the subsequent approval from CIGRE Technical Council, by the end of 2022 SC B1 can count on 4 Advisory Groups, 18 Working Groups, 9 Joint Working Groups and 2 Task Forces. Also, B1 participates in several WGs led by other SCs.

This massive work is possible thanks to the many people being involved. At end of 2022; 441 different experts are working in SC B1 leading to 546 contributions in the various working bodies including SC membership. Among them, 99 are young WG Members (under 35, Next Generation Network), covering a total of 112 positions and marking a +26% compared to past year.

Spreading the knowledge

Year 2022 continued the drive on the dissemination of work done within the Study Committee. Three Technical Brochures were published in 2022 and a fourth was published in January 2023.

SC B1 was also active with tutorials and webinars:

• Webinar - April: TB 797 Sheath Bonding systems AC cable systems
• Tutorial-August-Paris Session: A new era of submarine power cables

 

Looking forward

The next main event for SC B1 would be during the Jicable’23 in Lyon, France. Where a large majority of the cable industry will be present in June 2023.

Next in line will be the Symposium in Cairns, Australia (4-7^th September) where the SC meeting will be conducted including tutorial session and paper presentations. This is a collaboration between Study Committees: A3, B1, B3, B5, C1, C2, C4, C5, C6, D1, D2.

As the electricity system is subjected to large changes, the Strategic Plan is undergoing revision, with great focus on inclusion of renewable energy resources and Distributed Energy Resources.

A very important new addition to the B1 activities and already mentioned previously, is the regular publication of statistics/reliability of cable systems by Advisory Group: RAG. Every 2^nd year a survey will be done with statistics and conclusions published in the subsequent year. This will enable asset owners and other stakeholders with updated information of the reliability of the cable systems. The response to the 2022 survey was rather low so we urge you, when contacted, to provide your inputs. We have a very competent team ready to process your input. ALL information will be treated with high confidentiality.

Contact

• Contact of the Chair and/or the Secretary of the Study Committee