Underground High Voltage Cabling for All
Mr. Bassil, I agree with you, no underground high voltage cables for Mansourieh unless we install underground high voltage cables everywhere in Lebanon. Don’t we all deserve peace of mind?
It will be a challenge to uproot all the high tension pylons in Lebanon, granted, but since our government's 2012 budget reveals an intention to spend like crazy, why not add one more item to the budget, something really useful.
I am sure you can find the time to visit a few websites during the day that will show you that underground high voltage cables can be safer, surprisingly affordable, and quicker to install than overhead cables. They also present lower energy loss and improved transmission reliability not to mention they look nicer (i.e. invisible), an important consideration in a country where tourism is our bread and butter.
Please forgive my ignorance. I really don’t understand how decisions are made in government in Lebanon, or who decides to remove a pylon here, and build a pylon there, but I know what I see with my own eyes. One pylon in Mansourieh was physically moved from one particular plot of land several meters away to the left to allow the land owner to build. It now rests several meters away, half of it in the middle of a small side street. So, we have at least established that the holy pylons can be moved, now all that is left is the political will.
But before we go crazy and start budgeting how much it will cost to remove all high tension pylons in Lebanon that have been up for years if not decades, let’s start with those areas were cables have not yet been passed overhead yet. Before Mansourieh’s high tension overhead cables become a fait-a-accompli, make the area a test case for underground high tension cables. In that you would at least have the support of the people.
In a few minutes of googling I managed to find one article. Attached below is a part of that article on the efficacy of underground cabling:
“In a world of rapidly rising demand, electric power distributors are being challenged to develop high voltage (HV) networks faster and more economically, while at the same time improving supply quality.
“Traditionally, overhead lines have been preferred as the lower cost choice to meet these needs. Today, however, advances in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation mean that HV underground cable networks achieve a lower total-system cost to be a fully competitive alternative. Moreover, they bring additional advantages in both performance and environmental acceptance.
For the power distributor, HV underground cable networks deliver:
• faster installation;
• environmental invisibility;
• low energy losses;
• improved transmission reliability;
• reduced risk of network failure.
And, from Wikipedia on Undergrounding:
Overview and Comparison
The aerial cables that carry high-voltage electricity (e.g., 400 kV) and are supported by large pylons are generally considered the least attractive feature of the countryside but are some of the most expensive to lay underground.
Underground cables can assist the transmission of power across:
• Densely populated urban areas
• Areas where land is unavailable or planning consent is difficult
• Rivers and other natural obstacles
• Land with outstanding natural or environmental heritage
• Areas of significant or prestigious infrastructural development
• Land whose value must be maintained for future urban expansion and rural development
Other advantages include:
• Less subject to damage from severe weather conditions (mainly lightning, wind and freezing)
• Greatly reduced emission, into the surrounding area, of electromagnetic fields (EMF). All electric currents generate EMF, but the shielding provided by the earth surrounding underground cables restricts their range and power.
• Underground cables need a narrower surrounding strip of about 1–10 meters to install, whereas an overhead line requires a surrounding strip of about 20–200 meters wide to be kept permanently clear for safety, maintenance and repair.
• Underground cables pose no hazard to low flying aircraft or to wildlife, and are significantly safer as they pose no shock hazard (except to the unwary digger).
• Much less subject to conductor theft, illegal connections, sabotage, and damage from armed conflict.
Disadvantages include:
• Undergrounding is more expensive, since the cost of burying cables at transmission voltages is several times greater than overhead power lines, and the life-cycle cost of an underground power cable is two to four times the cost of an overhead power line. Above ground lines cost around $10 per foot and underground lines cost in the range of $20 to $40 per foot.
• Whereas finding and repairing overhead wire breaks can be accomplished in hours, underground repairs can take days or weeks, and for this reason redundant lines are run.
• Underground power cables, due to their proximity to earth, cannot be maintained live, whereas overhead power cables can be.
• Operations are more difficult since the high reactive power of underground cables produces large charging currents and so makes voltage control more difficult.
The advantages can in some cases outweigh the disadvantages of the higher investment cost, and more expensive maintenance and management.
It will be a challenge to uproot all the high tension pylons in Lebanon, granted, but since our government's 2012 budget reveals an intention to spend like crazy, why not add one more item to the budget, something really useful.
I am sure you can find the time to visit a few websites during the day that will show you that underground high voltage cables can be safer, surprisingly affordable, and quicker to install than overhead cables. They also present lower energy loss and improved transmission reliability not to mention they look nicer (i.e. invisible), an important consideration in a country where tourism is our bread and butter.
Please forgive my ignorance. I really don’t understand how decisions are made in government in Lebanon, or who decides to remove a pylon here, and build a pylon there, but I know what I see with my own eyes. One pylon in Mansourieh was physically moved from one particular plot of land several meters away to the left to allow the land owner to build. It now rests several meters away, half of it in the middle of a small side street. So, we have at least established that the holy pylons can be moved, now all that is left is the political will.
But before we go crazy and start budgeting how much it will cost to remove all high tension pylons in Lebanon that have been up for years if not decades, let’s start with those areas were cables have not yet been passed overhead yet. Before Mansourieh’s high tension overhead cables become a fait-a-accompli, make the area a test case for underground high tension cables. In that you would at least have the support of the people.
In a few minutes of googling I managed to find one article. Attached below is a part of that article on the efficacy of underground cabling:
“In a world of rapidly rising demand, electric power distributors are being challenged to develop high voltage (HV) networks faster and more economically, while at the same time improving supply quality.
“Traditionally, overhead lines have been preferred as the lower cost choice to meet these needs. Today, however, advances in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation mean that HV underground cable networks achieve a lower total-system cost to be a fully competitive alternative. Moreover, they bring additional advantages in both performance and environmental acceptance.
For the power distributor, HV underground cable networks deliver:
• faster installation;
• environmental invisibility;
• low energy losses;
• improved transmission reliability;
• reduced risk of network failure.
And, from Wikipedia on Undergrounding:
Overview and Comparison
The aerial cables that carry high-voltage electricity (e.g., 400 kV) and are supported by large pylons are generally considered the least attractive feature of the countryside but are some of the most expensive to lay underground.
Underground cables can assist the transmission of power across:
• Densely populated urban areas
• Areas where land is unavailable or planning consent is difficult
• Rivers and other natural obstacles
• Land with outstanding natural or environmental heritage
• Areas of significant or prestigious infrastructural development
• Land whose value must be maintained for future urban expansion and rural development
Other advantages include:
• Less subject to damage from severe weather conditions (mainly lightning, wind and freezing)
• Greatly reduced emission, into the surrounding area, of electromagnetic fields (EMF). All electric currents generate EMF, but the shielding provided by the earth surrounding underground cables restricts their range and power.
• Underground cables need a narrower surrounding strip of about 1–10 meters to install, whereas an overhead line requires a surrounding strip of about 20–200 meters wide to be kept permanently clear for safety, maintenance and repair.
• Underground cables pose no hazard to low flying aircraft or to wildlife, and are significantly safer as they pose no shock hazard (except to the unwary digger).
• Much less subject to conductor theft, illegal connections, sabotage, and damage from armed conflict.
Disadvantages include:
• Undergrounding is more expensive, since the cost of burying cables at transmission voltages is several times greater than overhead power lines, and the life-cycle cost of an underground power cable is two to four times the cost of an overhead power line. Above ground lines cost around $10 per foot and underground lines cost in the range of $20 to $40 per foot.
• Whereas finding and repairing overhead wire breaks can be accomplished in hours, underground repairs can take days or weeks, and for this reason redundant lines are run.
• Underground power cables, due to their proximity to earth, cannot be maintained live, whereas overhead power cables can be.
• Operations are more difficult since the high reactive power of underground cables produces large charging currents and so makes voltage control more difficult.
The advantages can in some cases outweigh the disadvantages of the higher investment cost, and more expensive maintenance and management.
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