Principles and procedures of insulation

co-ordination
K.-H. Week

Indexing terms: Insulators and insulation, Cables and overhead lines, Transmission lines, System protection

Abstract: Certain key principles of insulation coordination quoted from IEC publications are
examined and shown to be sufficient to cover all
voltage stress situations, only if all factors
involved are considered. The complexity of insulation co-ordination is illustrated by examining
cases covering different types and configurations
of insulators, different load stress amplitudes and
shapes, and considering the effects of system
layouts.
1
Introduction
The task of co-ordinating insulation is many sided and
because of this, misunderstandings arise in discussions
within international standardisation organisations such
as the IEC or those with more technical objectives such
as CIGRE. The reasons for these misunderstandings are:
(a) the term 'insulation co-ordination' is not uniformly
understood
(b) the simplifications adopted during the preparation
of standards are not reported and, therefore, often not
known
(c) during the discussion of one particular feature,
others, which may be of greater importance for insulation, are disregarded.
The latter point applies especially to the recent IEE conference entitled 'Lightning and Power Systems'. The conclusions reached from this single event may or may not
lead to consequences for insulation, dependent on
whether other events are more important or not.
Accordingly it is necessary to reconsider the principles
of insulation co-ordination and, in particular, the principles forming the existing insulation co-ordination standards. Furthermore, the importance and applicability of
existing procedures need consideration in the light of
these principles. The aim in this paper is to give an overview, emphasising the lightning stresses but including
also the stresses from other events.
2
Principles
The basic principle of insulation co-ordination is as
denned in IEC Publication 71-1 [1]:
Principle 1
'Insulation co-ordination is the adjustment of the
dielectric strength of an equipment to the voltages at
the equipment in service, so that insulation damage or
impairments are reduced to an economically and operationally acceptable probability level.'
Paper 5139C (P7, S2), received 9th September 1986
The author is with FGH, Postfach 810169, 6800 Mannheim 81, West
Germany
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

This basic principle, which is commonly accepted today,

makes clear that insulation co-ordination compares insulation strength in service and voltage stresses in service
with the insulation failure probability as a quantity to
specify this comparison. Insulation co-ordination does
not simply mean comparison of the dielectric strengths of
insulation without consideration of the voltage stresses.
Thus the test of a disconnector switch, in which it is to be
demonstrated that the phase-to-earth insulation 'protects'
the insulation of the disconnector gap, is not an 'insulation co-ordination test' as it is often called.
Principle 1 is generally valid. All further principles
arise from simplifications, which are necessary because of
the large number of possible variations in voltage stress
and insulation configuration. Fig. 1 gives an impression

lightning
overvoltage

(a)
(b)

1
transformer

2
busbar

line

temporary
-

overvoltages
switching
-

phase-phase(b)

(tfx(a))

(1.4-1.8)x(a)

system-system (c)

(AC* (a))

insulation
phase-earth (a)

Fig. 1

AC* (a)

lightning
AC* (a)

Insulation categories and overvoltages

of the variety existing in all three-phase systems irrespective of their operating voltage range. The horizontal division distinguishes the voltage stresses according to their
origin or duration:
(i) Operating voltage, continuously applied to the
equipment during its lifetime. It is not an overvoltage and
accordingly is not mentioned in the survey of Fig. 1.
(ii) Temporary overvoltages, which are low-frequency
overvoltages with durations longer than one period of
the power frequency voltage. The events which can lead
to such overvoltages are earth faults and load rejection,
but also other events such as resonance phenomena can
be of importance.
(iii) Switching overvoltages are transient overvoltages of short duration (less than 1 period of the
power frequency voltage) which arise from circuit
breaker or disconnector operations or from earth faults.
145

Temporary overvoltages between phases exist only for

load-rejection overvoltages, disregarding resonance phenomena. The same applies for the system-to-system overvoltages, when load rejection leads to a phase opposition.
Owing to this limitation, both relations are put in
brackets.
The vertical subdivision is made according to the insulaFrom this summary in Fig. 1 it must be concluded
tion categories stressed by different voltages during a parthat in an insulation co-ordination task three insulation
ticular event. The three categories will be illustrated by
categories and four different voltage stresses have to be
an example substation consisting of two busbars with
considered. Furthermore, each type of overvoltage may
open busbar connection. For transient overvoltages of
short durations the two systems, each represented by one cover a wide time range. To demonstrate the consequences, Fig. 2 shows an approximate dependence of the
transformer and one line, are more or less mutually independent. The selected stress is a lightning overvoltage
entering the substation via an overhead line conductor.
The insulation categories are:
(a) Phase-to-earth insulation. This exists between conductor and earthed parts, for example, between conductor and earthed portal or between transformer terminal
and tank. It is stressed by the lightning overvoltage
between phase and earth as it is usually determined. This
category is the easiest to understand.
(b) Phase-to-phase insulations. This category includes
all insulation between the phases of one three-phase
system. Typical examples are the insulation between
transformer windings or the phase-to-phase clearances in
the substation. The overvoltage stress is a combination
of two phase-to-earth overvoltages, simultaneously
occurring on the two phases. The difference between the
two is the phase-to-phase overvoltage, which for lightvoltage duration
ning overvoltages is approximately the same as the
phase-to-earth overvoltage.
Fig. 2
Voltage-amplitude/duration characteristic and withstand voltages (O)
(c) insulation between systems. Such insulation exist,
for example, at busbar crossings and at the busbar disconnector. Due to the latter such insulations are also
phase-to-earth voltage amplitude in p.u. of the phase-tocalled longitudinal insulations. The stress is characterised
earth operating peak on the voltage duration. The overby a lightning overvoltage at one terminal and the
voltage amplitudes here have been chosen as typically
instantaneous operating voltage value at the other. For
low probability values for directly earthed neutral
the disconnector gap it is the operating voltage of the
systems up to 300 kV highest system voltage, when threesame phase, for the busbar crossing it can be that of any
phase reclosing is used.
phase.
From the right-hand side of Fig. 2 the voltage stress
starts with the operating voltage (I) with a duration far
longer than the scale of this diagram. Its amplitude is by
The same insulation categories are stressed by switching
overvoltages. The highest amplitudes of the switching
definition 1 p.u. It is followed by the temporary overvolovervoltages phase-to-earth depend on the system contage (II), 1.4 p.u., lasting between 10 ms and 2 s. Range
figuration and the kind of switching operation, in particIII with durations between 100 us and 10 ms is characular, what reclosing procedure single-phase or
teristic of switching overvoltages. However, switching
overvoltages may also have very short duration with high
three-phase, fast or slow and what circuit breakers are
amplitudes, for example in vacuum-breaker operations in
used.
It is important to give further consideration to phasemedium-voltage systems or in disconnector operations in
to-phase switching overvoltages: for all three-phase
GIS. Range IV is valid for lightning overvoltages. They
switching operations, i.e. closing and three-phase reclosstart at the protective level of the installed protection
ing, the overvoltages are 1.4 times to 1.8 times higher
device at long durations and increase for shorter durathan the phase-to-earth overvoltages. The former applies tions due to the travelling-wave effects on the connection
to high switching overvoltage factors, the latter to low lead between the protective device and the equipment
under consideration.
ones. The switching overvoltage stress between two
The general requirement from Principle 1 is that the
phases is formed by two phase-to-earth components of
opposite polarity. On average the two components have
withstand characteristic of the insulation in service shall
equal amplitudes, but a considerable dispersion around
be so related to the stress as to assure an acceptably low
this average exists.
risk of insulation failure. Since, for practical reasons, this
Similarly in the case of lightning overvoltages, the
characteristic cannot be assured during tests, three representative test-voltage durations have been selected. This
system-to-system insulation is stressed by switching overleads to
voltages in one system and the instantaneous values of
the power frequency voltage in the other.
Temporary phase-to-earth overvoltages are in general
Principle 2
'The standard lightning impulse withstand voltage,
not of direct importance for insulation design, but they
1.2/50, is representative for the withstand characterdetermine the rated voltage of the arrester and thus via
istic of the insulation in the range of lightning overvolits protective level the amplitudes of switching and
tages and short-duration switching overvoltages; the
lightning overvoltages.
(iv) Lightning overvoltages due to lightning strokes,
generally subdivided into induced overvoltages,
shielding-failure overvoltages and back-flashover overvoltages according to their origin.

146

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

standard switching impulse withstand voltage 250/

2500 is representative for the characteristic with
switching overvoltages and the 1 min power-frequency
withstand voltage is representative for the characteristic with temporary overvoltages and operating
voltage.'

general designed according to the required lightningimpulse withstand voltage.

Type B: Insulation similar to type A in the shortduration range, but with a further decrease for longer

insulation type

It must be emphasised again that up to now all withstand

voltages mentioned refer to the service condition of the
insulation during its life. In general, these withstand voltages are not known. They have to be estimated from the
performance of the insulation during a type test or during
a routine test. An estimate is normally possible for air
insulation; it is practically impossible for internal insulation of apparatus as for transformers or GIS. For those
types of insulation the application of the so-called safety
factor is necessary.
The discussions of safety factors is confusing, especially since its definition is not completely clear and consistent within the relevant standards as for example in
IEC Publication 71-1. A suitable definition of a safety
factor could be
Principle 3

'A safety factor has to be applied to the required withstand voltage in service to obtain the required (rated)
withstand voltage during a test, if unknown deviations
between the two have to be expected.'
Reasons for such deviations can be
(i) dispersion in production
(ii) contaminations during the erection on site (GIS)
(iii) aging of liquid and solid insulation
(iv) parallel insulation etc.
Usually a safety factor of 1.15 is sufficient, but higher
factors are also discussed for GIS, for which suitable
factors largely depend on the test adopted on site.
Apart from the inaccuracies in the determination of
the overvoltages, this definition is the same as that of the
'conventional safety factor' in IEC Publication 71-1. The
'statistical safety factor' also defined in this document is
not a safety factor, but a ratio of the 90% withstand
voltage of the insulation to the 2% overvoltage giving a
specified risk of insulation failure. It is based on the
assumption that the statistical variations of both overvoltage and insulation strength are known with sufficient
accuracy.
In the application guide IEC Publication 71-2 [2] the
ratio of the 90% withstand voltage to the protective level
of the protection device is also called a safety factor. Here
the overvoltage at this device is compared with the withstand voltage of apparatus which may be located far
away. The differences between the various definitions of a
'safety factor' in these standards have to be clarified in
their future revisions.
How the rated withstand voltages standardised today
have been derived and on what background assumptions
are explained in Fig. 3. This is a repetition of Fig. 2 as far
as overvoltages and withstand voltages required in
service are concerned. Applying the safety factor to these
withstand voltages, the required withstand voltages
during the test are obtained (squares).
In their principle voltage-amplitude/duration characteristic three types of insulation exist:
Type A: Insulation having a fiat characteristic at long
durations and a more or less pronounced increase at
short duration voltages. Typical representatives are gas
insulation including short air clearances. They are in
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

lus

voltage duration
Fig. 3
Required voltages, rated withstand voltages, and safety factors
for various types of insulation
O
D

A
->

required voltages
rated withstand voltages
safety factors

durations. Representative are liquid and solid insulation

such as, for example, the oil-paper insulation of transformers. These are determined by the required lightningimpulse withstand voltage.
Type C: Insulation having a pronounced minimum in
the range of switching overvoltages. Large air clearances
are typically representative. They are determined by the
required switching-impulse withstand voltage.
It is evident that insulation of types A and B, which have
withstand characteristics steadily decreasing with voltage
duration, can be tested with lightning impulses and
power-frequency voltage only, provided the powerfrequency test voltage is raised sufficiently. This increase
must be such as to avoid lowering the characteristics
below the required switching-impulse withstand voltage
and to prevent an overdesign of the expensive type B
insulation. A suitable power-frequency test voltage is
shown as the triangle in Fig. 3. It is, furthermore, evident
that type C insulation cannot be adequately tested by an
increased power-frequency test voltage without overdesigning type B insulation.
Since in systems up to 245 kV only type A and B insulation exist, the fourth principle is obtained:
Principle 4

'In systems with highest operating voltages up to

245 kV, an insulation test with power frequency
voltage and lightning impulses is suitable and sufficient. For systems with higher operating voltage a
switching impulse test is necessary.'
Furthermore, it has been mentioned in respect of Fig. 1
that switching overvoltages between phases are higher
than those to earth. For the value of 2.6 p.u. adopted in
Fig. 3, the applicable ratio between the two is approximately 1.5, i.e. 3.9 p.u. It is evident that the powerfrequency withstand voltage alone is not sufficient to
assure a withstand of the phase-to-phase insulation. A
sufficiently high lightning-impulse withstand voltage is
necessary if a phase-to-phase test is not added. Similar
statements apply to the insulation between systems, for
147

which a part of the operating voltage has to be taken into

account. The consideration of all three insulation categories leads to:

flash per km2 every 3 month and of accumulation

e.g. 40flashesper km2 in 1 hour, but only every 10 years.
Both assumptions finally lead to the same ground-flash
density.

Principle 5
'The lightning-impulse withstand voltage has to cover
also all voltage stresses between phases and between
systems, if no special tests for these stresses are introduced.'

-12-

This principle in particular applies to the phase-to-phase

insulation in systems up to 245 kV, which are generally
simultaneously tested with the phase-to-earth insulation
and the other phases earthed [3].
All the principles in this Section have consequences
and their consideration is especially important when only
one aspect of insulation co-ordination is selected.
26

Procedures

According to Principle 1 of insulation co-ordination, suitable procedures have to guarantee an acceptably low risk
of insulation failure in service. Owing to this requirement
only a probabilistic procedure seems to be applicable.
However, every statistical value has to be considered with
confidence and uncertainties in the data used in the
determination of the risk have to be remembered when
deriving the consequences from the result.
To demonstrate the influence of the many parameters
involved, the insulation co-ordination of a GIS connected
to an overhead line is carried out below for lightning
overvoltages as an example [4]. The dimensions and
necessary data are given in Figs. 4 and 5.

tower -^
number 8

Fig. 4

GIS overhead-line example investigated

CT transformer capacitance (3 nF)

Zs GIS surge impedance (70 Q)
A metal-oxide arrester (rated voltage = 360 kV; lightning protective level =
820 kV)
RE tower footing resistance (30 fi)

The most complete procedure is the so called 'statistical procedure'. Besides the statistical variation of the
lightning-flash data its most important feature is the
travelling-wave calculation of substation and overhead
line together. The steps in this procedure and the sensitive parameters involved are given in Fig. 6.
The procedure starts with assumptions about the
lightning flash. Here, in particular, the questions where
and how frequently it occurs are not sufficiently considered: usually it is assumed that the lightning flashes
are distributed homogeneously over the area and randomly in time. The relevant quantity is the ground-flash
density; in the example this is 4/km2. These assumptions
are simplifications, the justification of which is not yet
sufficiently proved. Besides the fact that the overhead line
may be situated in an area with a lightning activity substantially deviating from the average, there is a large difference between the assumption of randomness e.g. 1
148

Fig. 5

Dimensions of overhead-line towers

Phase conductors: 2 x 30 mm diameter, spacing 0.45 m

Earth wires: 30 mm diameter

The importance of subsequent strokes is not completely investigated. Circuit-breaker failures during
thunderstorms seem to indicate that they may occur
after a shielding-failure flashover of the line insulation
has been cleared by this breaker. For insulation coordination such effects are important, since the openbreaker situation may represent a very unfavourable
condition, even if it is only temporary.
The next step in the procedure is the assumption for
the parameters of the first stroke, which determine the
location of the struck point. The most important parameters are polarity, current amplitude, charge in the lightning channel and current steepness. Since most
downward flashes have negative polarity, the stroke
parameters and the applicability of models are supported
by actual line observations only for this polarity. An
open question is how to deal with positive flashes.
The models to determine the struck point were also
widely discussed during the conference. Without going
into details a model dependent only on the line geometry
has been used as the example.
If the stroke hits the tower of the earthwire, the result
'back flashover or not' is strongly influenced by the
assumption referring to the tower footing impedance and
particularly to its current dependence. For this, generally
applicable relations have not yet been found, although
the number of back flashovers predicted may vary by
orders of magnitude with the adopted representation of
this impedance. On the other hand, another important
factor, the flashover characteristic of the overhead-line
insulation, seems to be sufficiently well known [5].
Up to this point the procedure is similar to that for
the determination of the overhead-line performance.
From here it deviates. For the insulation co-ordination
of the substation, the overvoltage at the struck point
is of primary in erest. As opposed to overhead-line performance, shielding failures, which do not cause a flashover of the line insulation, have also to be considered,
especially when the energy stress of the surge arrester in
the substation is included.
IEE PROCEEDINGS,

Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

to earth and to the neighbouring conductors (Fig. la)

and thus decreases the overvoltage steepness above the
corona inception voltage (Fig. 1b).
Fig. 1c shows the overvoltage steepness S, against the
travel distance / as it has been derived from References 6
and 7. The symbols represent the measurements of actual
lines and the curves are interpolations according to the

From the struck point the overvoltage travels to the

substation. On its way it is deformed by impulse corona.
For insulation co-ordination this deformation is of the
greatest importance. It is the only effect determining the
overhead-line section in front of the substation, in which
lightning can endanger its insulation. A corona acts like a
voltage-dependent increase of the conductor capacitance

lightning flash:
where,how frequent?
how many strokes?

J_
prospective parameters
of the first stroke

overvoltage in
the substation

v/////////////////y/y//////////////////^^^
tower footing impedance
frequency and current dependence

Fig. 6

Flow diagram for insulation co-ordination with lightning overvoltages

AOOOr

V%

1
3000

s...

2000
i

^iii)

1000

x> (II)

(i) ^ - ^

2000

2000

1000

3000

l.m
=> 1000

Fig. 7

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

Deformation of negative impulses by corona

a Corona
b Pulse shape
c Overvoltage-steepness/travel-distance characteristic
(i) single conductor: 23.6 mm diameter, U = 850 kV
(ii) single conductor: 23.6 mm diameter, U = 1700 kV
(iii) conductor bundle 4 x 22.4 mm diameter, U = 1500 kV

149

given formula. In this formula So means the voltage

steepness at the feeding point, i.e. the struck point for an
actual lightning overvoltage, and K is a factor depending
on the conductor and line geometries. Approximately, it
can be assumed that curve (ii) is applicable to overhead
lines of 123 kV to 170 kV systems and curve (iii) for those
of 420 kV or 525 kV. It can be seen that the overvoltage
steepness drastically decreases after 1000 m, from about
4000 kV//is to about 700 kV//is for the single conductor
and to about 1200 kV///s for the conductor bundle.
Such diagrams are useful for 'off-line' considerations:
for travelling-wave calculations, suitable mathematical
models have to be developed. Discussion of such models
is at present one of the main tasks of a CIGRE Working
Group (33-01: Lightning) and a recommendation is
expected in the near future. One such model is applied to
the example of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5: Fig. Sb demonstrates

obtained as given in Fig. 9, in which back-flashover rate

(full line) and substation overvoltage rate (dashed lines)
are plotted against the tower number or the distance in
front of the substation. From such a diagram important
conclusions can be drawn:
0.015r
fOWQ

a o.oi

0.005
1200kV

-1500

, UOOkV
1

1
u

1
L

-1000
D

350

-500

10

-1500 -1000 -1
3

" ^ .

^ ^ ^

-500-

10

t.HS
b

-1500 -

-1000 -500-

10

Fig. 8
Examples of overvoltage shapes
a At struck point
b After 1000 m
c In substation

the deformation of the original overvoltage at the struck

point (Fig. 8a) after travelling a distance of 1000 m. The
overvoltage at the struck point is generated by a back
flashover at a lightning current of 100 kA and 100 kA///s.
Overvoltages with fronts similar to that shown in Fig.
8fc, but with varying amplitudes and shapes in the tail
due to line-insulation flashovers, form the so called
incoming lightning overvoltage. The substation reacts to
this incoming surge with an overvoltage having a completely different shape as shown in Fig. 8c.
If now the lightning-stroke parameters mainly
current and steepness are statistically varied, a result is
150

950
X.m

1550

Fig. 9
Back-flashover and overvoltage rate in the substation against
tower number
back-flashover rate
overvoltage rate

(a) Due to good substation earthing, no back flashovers occur at the first tower and dangerous overvoltages
due to close lightning are thus avoided. The towers
further along the line then have a constant backflashover rate of 0.0125 per tower per year. This means
that a 100 km long line containing 330 towers has a
back-flashover rate of about 4 per year.
(b) Not all back flashovers cause high overvoltages in
the substation. Even for back flashovers close to the
station (towers 2 and 3) only one third cause overvoltages
higher than 1200 kV. For the further towers this portion
decreases due to the effect of corona. It is zero after
approximately 1.5 km.
The latter observation indicates that for the insulation
co-ordination of substation equipment only the lightning
activity and the line parameters close to the substation
are important, when any protection device is connected
to the line entrance. Averages such as average line performance or average ground-flash density, therefore, may
lead to incorrect results, a problem which has already
been mentioned.
The total rate at which a given voltage value is
exceeded in the substation is the sum of all individual
tower rates. The rate that a value of 1200 kV is exceeded
is
r (1200 kV) = 0.014/year
and
r (1400 kV) = 0.005/year
It is more convenient to use the mean time between
voltage return MTBV, which is the inverse of the overvoltage rates
MTBV (1200 kV) = 70 years
and
MTBV (1400 kV) = 200 years
1EE PROCEEDINGS,

Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

These values are the overvoltage rate. For GIS it has

been proved several times that the time dependence and
the dispersion of the breakdown has no influence owing
to the comparatively long overvoltage durations in substations (Fig. 8c). Thus the overvoltage rate is equal to
the failure rate. The first task, therefore, is to accept a
failure rate which, though much discussed, is not easy to
establish. Here a mean time between failures of 200 years
will be adopted, although 800 years seems to be a more
suitable value.
To have a mean time between failures of 200 years the
substation must have a withstand voltage of 1400 kV in
service and this presents a difficulty. The withstand
voltage in service is unknown if the GIS is not tested on
site with this voltage value. Usually lower test voltages
are applied with longer duration and an extrapolation to
higher withstand voltages for short durations is doubtful.
This means that, according to Principle 3, a safety factor
of 1.15 or even higher has to be applied to obtain the
required rated lightning-impulse withstand voltage to be
used during a type test.
The application of an estimated and thus inaccurate
safety factor to a result, which has been obtained from an
expensive large-scale overvoltage calculation, is, of
course, a disadvantage and a contradiction in itself.
There is consequently, wide discussion on whether the
simple conventional procedure to co-ordinate the substation insulation is sufficiently accurate. This conventional procedure consists simply of multiplying the
lightning protective level of the surge arrester by a protective ratio to obtain the necessary rated lightningimpulse withstand voltage of the equipment. This
protective ratio, which includes a distance factor to cover
a certain protection range and the safety factor, is based
on system experience. It has to be stated that most of the
substation equipment at present is co-ordinated according to this procedure. Fig. 10 gives ratios adopted in
3r

!1
200

Fig. 1 0
above

400
Um.kV

600

800

Common protective ratios for system voltages of 123 kV and

practice. It shows the protective ratios for the various

system voltages as they are applied for transformer insulation co-ordination. The values are taken from a survey
published by CIGRE SC 23 'Substations' [8]. The dispersion indicates that either the applicable distance factors
or the service experience is different.
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987

Obviously, a valid protective ratio can only be

obtained when the substation layout and the lightning
performance of the overhead lines connected to the substation are taken into account. A compromise often used
between the two extremes is to calculate overvoltages
only in the substation assuming a representative incoming lightning overvoltage surge. As shown in Fig. 11 such

line

substation

Fig. 11 Assumptions for an incoming lightning overvoltage used in

simplified procedures

a representative surge can be a ramp function with an

amplitude U and a steepness S. Apart from mutual influences between substation and line, which are neglected
here, the main problem in this simplification is the selection of appropriate values for U and S. Insulation coordination investigations for 420 kV substations reported
in the literature have used steepnesses between 1200 kV/
fis and 2000 kV/jis, stating that the higher value is more
severe. This is, for example, not correct for the substation
considered above, since both steepnesses result in the
same overvoltage value, when the same amplitude U is
used. In this steepness range, this substation is sensitive
to this amplitude. For other substations exactly the
opposite may apply. Furthermore, the statement often
found in connection with such investigations, that close
strokes and, therefore, overvoltages with high steepnesses
are very improbable is not permissible. For the insulation
co-ordination of substations only close strokes are of
interest.
In spite of all the difficulties involved in these simplified procedures, the discussions within the CIGRE SC 33
'Overvoltages and insulation co-ordination' Colloquium,
1983, in Edinburgh, have revealed that such procedures
are needed. At present, efforts are made to derive representative incoming surges from the line performance to
be applied in simplified procedures and, in addition, protective ratios dependent on line performance and substation layout, which assure a conservative selection of
withstand voltages.
For insulation co-ordination in respect of switching
overvoltages, in principle, the same procedures with
similar difficulties exist. The problems involved here lie
more in the extension of the system to be simulated in the
calculation and not, as for lightning, in the accurate
simulation of a short line section. Concerning substations, it has to be observed that the conventional
procedure is currently becoming increasingly important
owing to the increased application of metal-oxide
arresters which operate in the first line defence.
4

Conclusions

The conclusions will be drawn for an example: the traditional design of power transformers in a 132 kV system
shall be based on a rated power-frequency withstand
voltage of 275 kV and a rated lightning-impulse withstand voltage of 650 kV according to IEC Publication
151

76-3 [9]. These values are based on conventional protection devices. The development of modern metal-oxide
arresters with remarkably low protection levels suggests a
reconsideration of insulation co-ordination.
It is a common assumption that lightning overvoltages
are predominant in this voltage range. Therefore, extensive investigations are carried out with the result that for
metal-oxide arresters, with their lightning protective level
of 280 kV, lightning overvoltages of 370 kV occur at the
transformers with a sufficiently low risk. According to
Principle 3, a safety factor of 1.15 is applied, resulting in a
required lightning-impulse withstand voltage of 425 kV.
Thus the new transformers shall have a rated lightningimpulse withstand of 450 kV and a rated powerfrequency withstand voltage of 185 kV [9]. The
protective ratio of 1.6 resulting from these values is in
agreement with those for which good service experience
has been obtained.
However, Principle 1 means that not only lightning
overvoltages but all voltage stresses have to be considered and, in this case, especially switching overvoltages. From system measurements it is known that the
highest phase-to-earth switching overvoltages at the
transformer are 2.6 p.u., i.e. 305 kV. Between phases these
overvoltages were at maximum, 460 kV, i.e. 1.5 times
higher.
The new protection limits the phase-to-earth switching
overvoltages to 230 kV. It has, however, nearly no effect
on the phase-to-phase overvoltage, since these can have
equal amplitudes and opposite polarity resulting in 2
times 230 kV, i.e. 460 kV. With the safety factor of 1.15,
the required switching-impulse withstand voltages are
265 kV phase-to-earth and 530 kV between phases.
The consequences now depend on the decision on
whether single-phase or three-phase transformer units are
installed. If single-phase transformers are used, the rated
power-frequency withstand voltage of 185 kV, i.e. 262 kV
peak, indeed covers the required switching-impulse withstand voltage phase-to-earth of 265 kV.

For three-phase units, however, neither the rated

power-frequency nor the rated lightning-impulse withstand voltage assures sufficient insulation between
phases. This can be obtained only by an increase of the
rated withstand values back to the original ones. In this
case, the phase-to-phase switching overvoltage is the
determining voltage stress for the insulation.
Bearing in mind that surge arresters also have no
effect on the operating voltage it is evident that similar
effects have to be expected for the system-to-system insulation, and here, in particular, on the longitudinal insulation of disconnectors or circuit breakers.
As a final conclusion it has to be stated that insulation
co-ordination is not possible for one single kind of
voltage stress. All voltages and all insulation categories
have to be considered to arrive at a reliable result.

References
1 'Insulation co-ordination, Part 1: terms, definitions, principles and
rules'. IEC Publication 71-1, 1976, 6th edn.
2 'Insulation co-ordination, Part 2: application guide'. IEC Publication
71-2, 1976, 2nd edn.
3 'Insulation co-ordination, Part 3: phase-to-phase insulation coordination. Principles, rules and application guide'. IEC Publication
71-3, 1982, 1st edn.
4 HILEMAN, A.R., and WECK, K.-H.: 'Insulation co-ordination and
testing of GIS. Part 1: practical methods for GIS insulation coordination'. SC 33 Colloquium, Edinburgh, UK, 1983
5 BALDO, G., PIGINI, A., and WECK, K.-H.: 'Non-standard lightning impulse strength'. SC 33 Colloquium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
1981
6 WAGNER, C.F., CROSS, I.W., and LLOYD, B.L.: 'High voltage
tests on transmission lines', Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Eng., 1954,
PAS-73, pp. 196-209
7 INOUHE, A.: 'High-voltage travelling waves with corona discharge
on bundled conductors'. IEEE winter meeting, 1976, Paper A 78180-3
8 CIGRE SC 23: 'Insulation characteristics of substations with a
nominal voltage up to 765 kV, Electra, 1975, 39, pp. 31-46
9 'Power transformers, Part 3: insulation levels and dielectric tests'.
IEC Publication 76-3, 1st edn.

Erratum
MENON, S.G. and RAO, B.B.V.R.: 'Planning of distribution systems in developing countries', IEE Proc. C,
Gen. Trans. & Distrib., 1986, 133, (7), pp. 384-388
In section 9 (p. 387), in the subsection 'Consumption
levels', the units for electricity consumption should be
'kWh/month' and not 'kWh' as stated.
In the subsection 'Consumption growth' (p. 387), on the
second and third lines 'variation' should read 'elasticity'.
5231C

152

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 134, Pt. C, No. 2, MARCH 1987