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Abstract—The following paper presents an overview of the This paper presents the actual grounding grid design
current state of art on the subject of Gas Insulated procedures for GIS used in practical cases including a new
Substation (GIS) technology in order to understand the approach from electromagnetic compatibility point of view.
necessity of the grounding grid design models. From a constructive point of view GIS grounding grid design
Furthermore, different studies regarding existing applied procedures can be classified in three categories: i) grounding
technologies are considered in order to create an accurate grid for urban indoor Gas Insulated Substation (usually
review on GIS grounding models. For a better incorporated into a building with several floors); ii) grounding
understanding of current GIS modeling methods an grid for Gas Insulated Substation situated outside of urban
areas; iii) adapting GIS grounding grid to an existent grounding
evaluation of the procedures regarding GIS grounding
system.
system design is conducted. The focus was to identify a
suitable model technique for the GIS assemble and to The models adopted for electromagnetic simulations,
obtain a proper grounding grid design procedure. including the earth effects, are based on following different
approaches: 1) EMF theory; 2) Transmission line theory; 3)
Keywords—Gas Insulated Substation;grounding Hybrid methods; 4) Circuit theory. This classification is not
grids;modelling methods. rigorous but is generally adopted in the literature. Three basic
analytical concepts are used to model the behavior of
grounding systems under transients conditions: circuit
I. INTRODUCTION approach, transmission line approach, and EMF approach. The
electromagnetic field approach define the problem in frequency
Gas Insulated Substations have found a gradually wide domain by rigorously applying the full set of Maxwell's
range of applications in energy industry over the last three equations, with minimal assumptions and can be used in both
decades, as a result of their high reliability, easy maintenance grounding grid design procedure and VTFO analysis.
and reduced ground space requirements [1]. Moreover, recent
studies confirm that the GIS substation has a lower II. FAST AND VERY FAST TRANSIENTS OVERVOLTAGE
environmental impact than the Air Insulated Substation INFLUENCING THE GROUNDING GRID PERFORMANCE
[2].Beside the overvoltage applicable to conventional
substation, GIS are exposed to different overvoltage and Very Fast Transient Overvoltage is generated during the
enforce additional mechanism of protection due to non-self- switching operation and lightning stroke, as well as other
restoring characteristic of the insulating environment - SF6 gas. events like operation of a circuit breaker, closing of grounding
switch or phase to ground fault. The result is high-frequency
Despite of the advancement of electrical measurement interferences induced in GIS enclosure as travelling waves.
techniques and equipment, quantifying the very fast transient Surge arresters cannot control these VTFO’s due to their
overvoltage (VFTO) remains a challenging subject. Digital extreme rise time [8]. An important amount of overvoltage
simulations of overall substation behavior during these fast enters in grounding network and causes transient ground
transients may be very helpful to investigate the problem and potential rise (TGPR) and rise of transient enclosure potential
develop designing grounding systems procedures. Several (TEV) [3].
digital models are adopted by different studies, mentioned in
this paper. [1-7] The standards IEEE 80-2000, IEEE Guide for Safety in AC
Substation Grounding, briefly presents very fast transient and
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III. OVERVIEW OF GROUNDING GRID NETWORKS FOR DIFFERENT B. Grounding grid design model for GIS indoor substation
PRACTICAL SITUATIONS using Electromagnetic Field Method
A. Grounding grid for Gas Insulated Substation situated in The Electromagnetic Field Method applied to grounding
suburban areasusing conventional method grid design, is an extension to low frequencies of the method of
(IEEE 80-2000) moment used in antenna theory, and is the most accurate
approach. The conventional procedures had adopted several
In the case of conventional substations situated outside the assumptions which leads to inaccuracies in computations
urban area just qualified personnel can aces the equipments which can be avoided thorough taking into account the
therefore the area is closed to the civilians. The grounding circulating currents .with T he metal enclosing gas-insulated
network is acceptable as long as it respects the national switchgear and the inner high-voltage conductors are fully
standard or guidelines [11]. comprised within the outer pipe enclosures. Under fault
The analysis is focused on a 33/11kV indoor GIS substation conditions, particularly when the fault is inside the GIS shell,
with a fault level of 40kA [15]. Fault current at substation is inductive coupling between faulted inner buses and correlated
determined from system modeling and simulation, but in enclosures can result in induced currents that may produce
general practice there are different levels of fault current considerable voltage drops [1], [3], [10],[16].
adopted for design purposes [14]. Note that the computations Through the EMF approach the computations outcomes
have been made in frequency domain at 50 Hz and harmonic includes the combined effect of capacitive coupling, inductive
current. The soil characteristics taking into account are coupling and conductive coupling.
desert conditions and hence with low resistivity. Soil resistivity
measurement is conducted using Wenner 4 point method As an example study [16] is discussed. The substation
[15].The obtained values are analyzed using the soil analysis operates as both a medium voltage distribution GIS and a high
module of CYMGRD software. The conductor spacing and the voltage substation. Nominal voltages are 13.8 kV, 34.5 kV,
ground rod quantity is calculated based on various simulations. 99kV, 115 kV and 230 kV. With the purpose of acquire the
Though manual calculation is still an accepted method by the factual fault current influencing the grounding grid a circuit
literature, software tools ensure an optimal model of the model of 115kV and 230kV existing OHTL and their related
grounding system[15]. remote terminal was implemented. The shell is connected to
the ground at its two extremities outside the substation
For an urban GIS substation, in most cases, the equipment construction and also grounded in several points at certain
is placed in a multi-story building. Recent studies [12] present locations along their length. The fault situations that involve
a new approach regarding the grounding grid design procedure special attention and analysis are inside the enclosure because
which states that a grounding system should be composed by implies the inductive couplings between faulted inner bus and
three elements: main grounding grid (associated with fault correlated shell.
current), equipotential grid (associated with VTFO) and
lightning protection system (associated with lightning fault The method is based on field approach, therefore it was
current). In this particular case the substation is embedded in a possible to include the entire assemble of the substations:
building with one floor situated in dessert area thus the method underground cables, above ground bus bars and a part of the
mentioned before is not applicable. Nevertheless, the worst energy transmission and distribution network in the geometry,
case scenario should also include the influence of very fast Fig. 1.
transient overvoltage produced by common switching
operations. Being a desert area the lightning stroke is unlike to
happen. The authors in [12] have designed only the main
grounding system accounting the designing procedure for
conventional substations.
The grounding grid from this study is designed with 7m
horizontal conductor spacing resulting in 12 conductors each,
along X and Y axes [15]. The grid is buried at a depth of 1 m
below the ground and the ground rods being driven to a
maximum depth of 12m.This is adjusted based on contour plots
from different simulations of potential contour which shows
the distribution of surface potential. Rods along the grid
periphery are encased with bentonite of 150mm diameter.
The design grid confirms the IEEE 80-2000 standard but
without special criteria analysis. Although the touch and step
voltages are within the limits and the grounding grid meets the Fig. 1 Overall substation network
standard recommendations, additional analyzes are required
regarding very fast transient overvoltage and its effects on GIS Comparing the maximal touch voltage values obtained it
operation. It is important to mention that no induction between can be observed that the touch voltage is lower than in the case
grid conductors and between grid and GIS enclosure is taken when the fault is outside the substation assemble but close to
into account. the Gas Insulated Substation middle part. An interesting fact is
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that under fault conditions is inside the GIS, the inductive
coupling between faulted inner buses and associated enclosures
evenly discharges the fault current among the enclosure in the
soil and actually reduces the maximum touch voltage [16].
An advanced method is developed and used to analyze
complex grounding systems. Although the IEEE 80-2000
recommendations are satisfied the study was carried out only
for a 50 Hz fault current. In practice, the very fast transient
overvoltage can create dangerous situations for personnel and
harmful effects on the GIS secondary equipment. Therefore the
grounding grid design procedure should include the presence of
this type of overvoltage.
C. Grounding grid connected to metallic infrastructures of
commercial buildings. Design model for GIS indoor
substation using Electromagnetic Field Method
Generally, in an metropolitan zone, the low voltage
distribution network and the city metallic structure, for instance Fig. 2 GIS indoor grounding system
the municipal water pipe network, are inevitably directly or
indirectly connected to the GIS grid, Fig. 2.
To be noted that the computations have been made in
Recent studies have revealed that connecting an frequency domain at 50 [Hz] harmonic current only. According
metropolitan substation grounding grid to the urban city to [1], GIS substations imply special safety requirements and
underground metallic structures, generally, increase the safety analysis, due to many reasons but especially because of
requirements inside the substation. It is essentially to ensure electromagnetic coupling between substation elements which
that the induced voltages in the metallic structures will not can cause very fast transients overvoltage. It is important to
threaten the safety of people in the area of interest. The mention that when frequency increases the mutual coupling,
deficiencies in the computer designing procedures can cause soil parameters frequency dependence and propagation delay,
major inaccuracies in the computed grounding grid cannot be neglected. Therefore the grounding grid is not
performance depending on the topology of the power line [11]. analyzed from very fast transient overvoltage and lightning
The substation under study is situated upon approximately stroke fault current point of view.
3267 m2 area and the highest operating voltage is 110kV. The To ensure that the response of grounding grid is effective in
substation is situated inside a residential building with metallic all possible worst scenarios, including combined effects, the
steel structure of an indoor large parking lot and the rest of the designing procedure should take into consideration three types
building interconnected to the substation grounding grid. The of analysis: fault events, very fast transient overvoltage and
computation takes into consideration a single-phase –to ground lightning stroke discharge. The electromagnetic field approach
fault current of 60kA at a 50 Hz frequency domain. The GIS is can be used also for high frequency domain analysis using the
connected to two remote stations through underground uniform same procedures.
soil and above ground cables .The soil structure do not affect
considerably the GIS grounding system due to the city D. EMC Philosophy applied to Design the
underground metallic infrastructure and commercial building GroundingSystems for Gas Insulation Switchgear (GIS)
rebar, which are connected to the grounding system providing a Indoor Substation
considerable damper on the impact of soil parameters In addition to IEEE 80-2000 recommendations, regarding
changes..[11]. special requirements for GIS grounding system and safety
The conventional methodology presented in IEEE 80-2000 measures, recent studies have been developed using new
standard cannot encompass such complex grounding grid approaches based on electromagnetic field philosophy applied
system geometry. It is clear that an analytical approach is to design procedure of gas insulated substation grounding
limited even for line-to-ground-fault current analysis due to system. In general, GIS urban indoor substation are situated in
assumption that the grounding grid is an equipotential surface a several floors building and it is composed by: cable room
and no mutual induction between grid elements it is taken into (ground floor), GIS and power transformer room (first floor),
consideration as well as very fast transient overvoltage. HV cubicle room, protection and control equipments room
(second floor), from Fig. 3.
The computation method takes into account both the
underground and aboveground metallic elements of the system
which could be bare or coated conductors. Digital simulations
have been conducted using both Right-Of-Way software, based
on a circuit approach, and Multi-Fields software, based on a
EMF approach.
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E. Gas Insulated Substation connected to an existent Air
Insulated Substation grounding grid, using conventional
grounding design method
Due to increase in power demand and non-availability of
space, GIS extension provides a feasible solution to meet the
necessity of additional power request. The design of grounding
grid for air insulated substation is a different task comparing to
the actual designing of GIS grounding system. According to
[14] it is feasible to use the main grounding system of AIS as
grounding system for a new GIS if the safety criteria
recommended by IEEE 80-2000 is satisfied. The study states
that if the concrete is used as the surface layer for GIS, the
maximum permissible touch and step voltages are increased at
high value and very small variation in touch voltage due to
special criteria and no change in step voltage as compared to
AIS [14], in some particular cases.
Fig.3 GIS indoor substation grounding system approach The study has been done with conventional assumptions
(equipotential network as grounding grid and no inductive
According to [12] the grounding systems are classified by coupling between the grid elements is taking into account) and
three main components: main grounding grid (50/60Hz only for a worst case scenario of 40kA harmonic fault current
grounding grids), equipotential grounding grid (high frequency at 50 Hz [14]. It is well known that there are different
grounding grid) and lightning grounding system. The electrical switching operations taking place in the gas insulated
circuits are inside the building, considering that entire building substations (GIS). These switching operations generate the
has steel structure, there is an intrinsic connection between the very fast transient overvoltages (VFTOs) which are dangerous
different grounding systems. to the substation equipment [1], [3], [4], [5], [6].Some of the
Main grounding grid is responsible for power frequency problems are of more attention and require special analysis.
short circuit currents, is made of cooper to avoid corrosion, and Furthermore, because the two substations are connected to the
is buried into soil. The elements of the main grounding grid are same grounding system and essentially are part of the same
installed in the concrete through the building floor. Besides the circuit, it is possible that very fast transient overvoltage
protection role, the main grounding system is a reference to the propagates through grid elements and affects the equipment of
potentials which arise between various elements of the AIS. In the particular case mentioned above, the computation
building. To be noted that after designing the main grid, it is method respects the IEEE 80-2000 indications. The following
necessary to evaluate the impulse impedance [12], [13]. primary parameters which influence the design of grounding
grid are: magnitude of fault current, duration of fault current,
Equipotential grounding grid is related to the occurrence of grounding grid depth, soil resistivity, surface layer resistivity,
VTFO caused due to the switching operation in Gas Insulated grid geometry, system parameters [1], [14].The GIS had been
Substation, implying frequencies of several MHz. As safety placed in the area of AIS relying on the obtained results from
measure the design procedure requires a low-inductance of [14].
grounding system for GIS equipment as well as a minimization
of the grid impedance. The main role of equipotential IV. DISCUSSIONS
grounding system is to reduce the impact of VTFO and to The gas insulated substations represents a relatively new
control the touch and step voltages. In an ideal case, the solution for the energy distribution and transmission networks.
equipotential grid would be a flat metal plate, but obviously is Due to their high reliability, easy maintenance and reduced
not a cost effective approach. According to [13] it is to ground space requirements main conclusions, regarding the
compare the performance of a plate grid and metal grid made design procedures for grounding systems of GIS, to be drawn
of thinner wires and small meshes. from this review paper are as follows:
Lightning protection system is responsible for dissipating • Beside the overvoltages applicable to conventional
the high frequency lightning currents. It is recommended to substation, GIS are exposed to different overvoltages
model the response of grounding grid under lightning discharge and enforce additional mechanism of protection due to
for an optimum design procedure. A very well-known method non-self-restoring characteristic of the insulating
is to determine the impulse impedance of the grid through environment, SF6 gas.
effective area concept [13].
• Calculation models for electromagnetic simulations
Each grounding grid is directly connected to the Main including the earth effects may be based on following
Grounding grid situated into the soil in certain points. The different approaches: EMF theory, transmission line
expected voltage difference between main grid and the other theory, circuit theory and hybrid methods.
systems is insignificant, providing safety inside the building.
• The overvoltages affecting the grounding grid
The safety criteria are established by GIS manufacturer in performance and contributing at worst cases scenarios
accordance with IEEE 80-2000 standard.
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faults are: very fast transient overvoltage produced by
switching operations, internal and external GIS faults, [7]. S. Shahabi, B. Kordi “Lightning overvoltage studies of Siahbishe 400 kV
Gas Insulated Substation," 2014 IEEE PES General Meeting | Conference &
lightning overvoltage; Exposition, National Harbor, MD, pp. 1-7, 2014.
• A grounding system is constituted by three components:
[8]. A. Chabrol and N. McDonagh, "Calculation of lightning overvoltage
power frequency faults grid (50Hz grounding system), failure rates for a gas insulated substation" 22nd International Conference and
equipotential grounding grid (very high frequency Exhibition on Electricity Distribution (CIRED 2013), pp. 1-4, 2013.
grounding grid ) and lightning grounding system;
[9].***IEC TR 60071-4:2004.
• Beside IEEE 80-2000 standard recommendations
regarding special requirements for GIS grounding grid [10]. Z. Zhongyuan, L. Guishu, C. Xiang “The Setting up of Conductive
system, additional analysis should be done; Coupling Model In Gas Insulated Substation” Power System Technology, pp
2627-2629, 2002.
• Connecting a metropolitan substation grounding system
to the urban city underground metallic facilities, [11]. M.Heimbach , L.Grcev,"Grounding system analysis intransients
programs applying electromagnetic approach", IEEE Trans. Power
generally, provide the safety requirements inside the Delivery,vol. 12, pp. 186-193,1997.
substation while assuring that the induced voltages into
metallic structures will not threaten the safety of people [12]. Z. Jinsong, Q. Feng, G. Bing, Y. Li, F. Dawalibi “Grounding of Urban
in the area of interest. GIS Substation Connected to Commercial Buildings and Metallic
Infrastructures“,International Journal of Materials, Mechanics and
Manufacturing”, pp 191-196, 2015.
It can be conclude based on the studies mentioned in this
paper that gas insulated substations grounding grid design [13]. M. Tello, G. A. D. Dias, D. S. Gazzana, A. S. Bretas “ EMCPhilosophy
applied to Design the GroundingSystems for Gas Insulation Switchgear (GIS)
procedures is not a mature research field yet and the subject is Indoor Substation“, Environment and Electrical Engineering (EEEIC) 15th
open to future research. International Conference, pp 427-431, 2016.
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