CIRED 18th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
THE THREE VOLTAGE LEVEL DISTRIBUTION USING THE 1000 V LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM
Juha Lohjala. Suur-Savon Sähkö Ltd. Finland. juha.lohjala@sssoy.fi
Tero Kaipia, Jukka Lassila, Jarmo Partanen. Lappeenranta University of technology. Finland
tero.kaipia@lut.fi , jukka.lassila@lut.fi , jarmo.partanen@lut.fi
INTRODUCTION
The need to improve the quality and economy of the
electricity distribution process has increased year by year.
An interesting new innovation in the distribution network
development has been the use of 1000 V (1 kV) low
voltage lines together with 20 kV and 0.4 kV systems. The
1000 V low voltage distribution system gives an
opportunity to answer to the demand of ever-growing need
to improve the economy and quality of electricity
distribution business. It is based on old principles that
today are possible to be taken into use both economically
and technically. The EU-legislation enables the use of
1000 V low voltage level as a third distribution voltage
level between the current medium voltage network and the
low voltage network. Adding the third voltage level
shortens the length of the medium voltage network and
diminishes the number of short branches and affects the
interruption costs of the entire distribution network.
In this paper the basic structure of new 20/1/0.4 kV system
is illustrated. Paper presents the basics of operating and
protecting the 1000 V low voltage network in boundaries
given by the European standardising. Techno-economic
analyses of the usability of the three voltage level
distribution system are introduced as well as some case
examples of the three voltage level distribution system
already used in Suur-Savon Sähkö distribution company
located in the Eastern Finland. The three voltage level
distribution system has been in use at lake district for
several years. The experiences are very promising.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 1000 V
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
The boundaries of low voltage are defined in the first
article of the EU low voltage directive LVD 73/23/EEC.
For alternating voltage the range of voltage level is from
50 to 1000 V and for direct voltage from 75 to 1500 V.
According to the directive, instruments that are classified
for these voltage ranges are low voltage instruments [1].
The 1000 V low voltage is used between the 20 kV
medium voltage network and 0.4 kV low voltage network
as shown in Fig. 1.
CIRED2005
Session No 5
Turin, 6-9 June 2005
0 ,4
kV
Z
Z
0,4 kV
20
kV
20
1 kV
kV
0,4 kV
1
kV
Z
0,4 kV
Z
0,4 kV
a) b)
Fig. 1 Example network topologies for feeding customers with a)
traditional and b) three voltage level distribution systems.
As presented in Fig. 1, using the 1000 V voltage level
makes it possible to reduce the length and number of
branches in medium voltage network. This, especially in
the overhead line network, diminishes the possibility of
blackouts for the entire medium voltage line and so affects
to interruption costs and the quality of distribution.
Based to theoretical examinations and measurement results
from the experimental installations of Suur-Savon Sähkö
Ltd (later SSS Ltd) the 1000 V part of the distribution
network is operated as non-grounded. Usually the low
voltage network is operated as grounded. The safety
regulations define that the voltage between the ground
level and the zero wire of the system cannot exceed 75 V
in any part of the low voltage network during any possible
fault situation [2]. In common Finnish grounding
circumstances this rule is almost impossible to fulfil with
the 1000 V system if neutral is grounded. The 0.4 kV low
voltage network starting from 1/0.4 kV distribution
transformers is operated as grounded [3].
When the 1000 V network is operated as non-grounded,
protection is executed with relays and circuit breakers.
Then the only limit for the length of the 1000 V line comes
from voltage drop of the used cables. The overcurrent and
short circuit protection is carried out with current breakers
very similar to ones normally used in today’s low voltage
networks. For earth fault protection in the 1000 V network,
the direction of the fault current does not have to be
known. The earth fault can then be detected by measuring
the potential between the star point and ground of the
system.
In SSS Ltd. potential between the star point of the 20/1 kV
transformers and ground is measured. The measurement
technique of the neutral potential is simple. Only one
voltage transformer between star point and ground
potential is needed. The principle of earth fault protection
is presented in Fig. 2.
CIRED 18th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Turin, 6-9 June 2005

L1 determine the range of use of the 1000 V line as a function

L2 of distributed power, and the length of the line.
M K1 K2
L3
U1 U2

The second target is to determine the economical

Fig. 2 Earth fault protection arrangements of the 1000 V distribution
system. M = voltage transformer, K1 = time lock, K2 = trip relay.
The protection system is more expensive compared to
normal fuse protection. However, the advantage of the
system is that it does not restrict the length of the 1000 V
line like fuse protection. In practise the used protection
system is integrated in one package and can be installed
for example to a pole like pole-fuse-switches. The price of
the protection system is round 600 € [3][4].
The 1000 V distribution system requires new distribution
transformers. Standard 20/0.4 kV distribution transformers
have been good base for developing 20/1 kV distribution
transformers. 1000 V system requires also 1/0.4 kV
transformers to change the voltage level suitable for
customers. In 1000 V installations of SSS Ltd 1/0.4 kV
transformers are customized from similar 10/0.4 kV
transformers, which provides a good starting point for
design.
New series of 1/0.4 kV transformers has been designed.
Main specifications for the new 1/0.4 kV transformers
were
• low price
• small physical dimensions
• outdoor and indoor installable
• relatively small losses and maintenance costs
• dry-core construction
• suitability for unbalanced load
• for example Dyn-vector group
Nominal powers of the designed transformers were 10 to
50 kVA. Parameters of transformers are presented in table
1.
TABLE 1 Parameters for 1/0.4 kV distribution transformers.
10 kVA 16 kVA 25 kVA
P0 [%] 0.60 0.55 0.50
Pk [%] 3.5 3.0 2.5
Zk [%] 4.5 4.2 3.7
Price [€/pc.] 705 780 920
Prognoses of the future mass production prices were
calculated on the basis of the prices submitted by the
manufacturer. The average unit price reduction was
predicted to be at least 30 % in the mass production [4].
TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSES
The theoretical efficiency analysis consists of two phases.
The first phase is to analyse the economical efficiency of
the 1000 V distribution system compared to the 20 kV
medium voltage line. One of the main targets is to
efficiency of the 1000 V system as a part of the low
voltage network, and especially to determine in which
cases it is economical to use the 1000 V system and in
which not. The research was done through theoretical
network designs. The lined-up customer array was selected
as the main topology for the theoretical designs.
An overall guideline to find the most economical structure
of the distribution network and to answer the question of
what are the cases where the use of the 1000 V distribution
system is most economical can be found by combining the
introduced analysis. In the calculations the unit costs
presented in national cost list of network components (KA
2:2003) [5] are used as the costs of the network
components. The costs of the 1/0.4 kV transformers are
given in table 1. The costs of the needed distribution
substation for 1/0.4 kV pole transformer are approximately
700 € and for cabin substation 1250 €. Other used
calculation parameters are presented in table 2. Unit costs
for interruptions are presented in [6].
TABLE 2 Used calculation parameters.
Parameter Value
Lifetime [a] 40
Time of load growth [a] 40
Peak operating time of losses [h] 1000
Interest rate [%/a] 5
Power factor 0.95
Annual growth of consumption [%/a] 1
Price of power losses [€/kW] 30
Price of energy losses [€/kWh] 0.03
Comparison of 20 kV and 1 kV lines
The considered cost factors of the 1000 V distribution
system are the costs of conductors, transformers,
substations, maintenance, interruptions and fault repairing.
With the 1000 V voltage level the power transmission rate
is 6.25 times greater compared to same size of cable at 400
V.
50 kVA
0.40 The total discounted lifetime maintenance costs for the
2.2
medium voltage network are approximately 1630 €/km and
3.7
1715 for low voltage network 824 €/km. The fault repair costs
are correspondingly 1393 €/km and 549 €/km. The savings
of the line path between the overhead line and overhead
cable are included in the investment costs of conductors
presented in KA 2:2003. Interruption costs are defined for
the medium voltage as the average interruption costs for an
average rural medium voltage feeders and average urban
medium voltage feeders for a one hour of interruption. The
average discounted lifetime interruption costs are for rural
feeder 10500 €/km and for urban feeder 22300 €/km. The
interruption costs in the medium voltage network are
assumed to be constant regardless the transferred power in
the calculated branch. However, for the low voltage
network the interruption costs are considered to be a

CIRED2005

Session No 5
CIRED 18th International Conference on Electricity Distribution Turin, 6-9 June 2005

function of transferred power and type of customers. For there is no remarkable difference in economical areas
the low voltage side all customers are supposed to be compared to medium voltage overhead line.
residential customers. The interruption time is one hour.
The economical efficiency of 1000 V line compared to 20
The investment costs of 1000 V line are lower compared kV medium voltage line depends on interruption costs. If
to regular overhead medium voltage line. However, the interruption costs are smaller than presented, for example
1000 V system includes some extra costs, especially the the interruption time shortens, the economical range of
investment costs of the 1/0.4 kV transformers are 1000 V line reduces. In practise there are lot of potential
remarkable. Costs of losses in 1000 V line are higher installation targets for 1000 V system. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4
compared to typical medium voltage overhead line. Costs there are presented 20/0.4 kV distribution substations of
of outages and costs of maintenance and fault repair are SSS Ltd that could be replaced with 1000 V system.
lower for 1000 V line. Based on different cost components
it is possible to calculate the minimum economical line
length for the 1000 V line. The voltage drop restricts the Comparison of traditional and three voltage level
maximum length of the 1000 V line. In following figures distribution
examples of economical usage areas of the 1000 V system
for an aerial brunched and an underground cable are To find out a situation where the 1000 V system is
presented. economical, the traditional and three-voltage-level system
have to be compared as a one. The comparison is done for
6
Maximum length different sizes of distribution substations in certain
Minimum length for rural areas
5
Minimum length for town areas
situations. The use of the 1000 V distribution system is
profitable when the costs of the traditional system are
Length of line [km]

4 Targets from a MV -feeder

higher or equal to the costs of the 20/1/0.4 kV system.
3
Economical area
2
In the Fig. 5 cost diagrams of 20/1/0.4 kV system and
20/0.4 kV system are presented when the customers are
1 located at end of a 4 km branch line. The customer density
0 is 10 customers/km. 50 % peak power of a customer is 5
5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 105 115 125 135 kW.
Power [kW]
100
Fig. 3 Economical range of use of a 1000 V aerial brunched cable 90
(AMKA 70) compared to a 20 kV medium voltage overhead 80
Total costs [k€/customer]

line. 70 20/1/0.4 kV system

60 20/0.4 kV system
50
6
Maximum length 40

5 Minimum length for rural areas 30

a b
Minimum length for town areas 20
Length of line [km]

4 Targets from a MV -feeder 10

0
3 Economical area 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Customers in distribution substation
2
Fig. 5 Costs of a 20/0.4 kV system and a 20/1/0.4 kV system when the
1 customers are in the end of a 4 km branch line.

0
5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95
Power [kW]
Fig. 4 Economical range of use of a 1000 V underground cable
(AXMK 70) compared to a 20 kV medium voltage overhead
line.
In the Fig 3 and Fig. 4 combined maximum allowed
voltage drop in the 1000 V cable and 1/0.4 kV transformer
is 8 %. Medium voltage conductor is AF 40. It can be seen
that the 1000 V line is more economic compared to
medium voltage line in rural areas where power is less
than 80 kW and line length is few kilometres. In populated
areas the economical minimum length of line is smaller
than in rural areas because of higher interruption costs in
medium voltage network. Then the 1000 V line is
economical when power of line is less than 110 kW.
Between aerial brunched cable and underground cable
105 115 125 135
In Fig. 5 the 1000 V line replaces the medium voltage
branch line needed in the traditional system when there is
less than 7 customers. Between 8 to 26 customers (between
a-b) 20/1/0.4 kV system is not economical compared to
traditional system because of the costs of the 1/0.4 kV
transformers. After 27 customers the traditional
distribution system needs to be divided in to two 20/0.4 kV
distribution substations. With 20/1/0.4 kV system over 50
customers can be fed with single 20/1 kV transformer
because of smaller losses of 1000 V lines compared to 400
V lines.
If there is no need for any medium voltage branch lines,
for example in situation where customers are located near
by the medium voltage mainline, the traditional system is
the most economical solution. The theoretical network
designs have shown that the three-voltage-level system is

CIRED2005

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CIRED 18th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
an economical solution compared to the traditional system
when it makes it possible to replace medium voltage lines
with 1000 V line. As a part of actual low voltage
distribution the 1000 V system is economical when it
enables feeding more customers with smaller amount of
medium voltage to low voltage distribution substations
compared to traditional system. The greatest advantage is
then the better reliability of the 20/1/0.4 kV system
compared to the 20/0.4 kV system. An interruption in the
medium voltage network often affects hundreds of
customers, but in the 1000 V system it only affects the
customers under the 20/1/0.4 kV distribution substation.
However, the total amount of distribution transformers is
higher than in traditional system because of the needed
1/0.4 kV transformers.
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES
The 1000 V distribution system has been a part of the
distribution network of SSS Ltd for few years. The official
introduction was in autumn 2001. All the installations
made by SSS Ltd have been done to avoid medium voltage
branches. Since 2001 the 1000 V system has become a part
of the normal network design in SSS Ltd. The 1000 V
system is today used in about 30 targets and the number of
application areas is increasing rapidly when the company
replaces over 40-year-old medium voltage lines in a
sparsely populated area with the three-voltage-level
system [3].
The introduction of the system was originally complicated
by the lack of 1000 V voltage classification for some low
voltage components. The authorities were also cautious in
trusting the calculations made by SSS Ltd because there
were no precedents of building such a system in Finland.
However, the component suppliers have been able to meet
the demand of components fairly fast. Another challenge
was renewing the network databases to support the 1000 V
for accurate calculations [3].
The 1000 V system makes the network topology more
complex than before. It also increases the amount of
network components. Constructing these kinds of complex
networks is in contradiction with the traditional principles
of network design. However, the technical development
has given many new possibilities to construct more
reliable networks even if they are complex.
The 1000 V system offers many new possibilities to
develop the distribution. With the 1000 V system the
branches of the main lines can be separated to independent
protection areas and so faults on the branches do not
interrupt the whole distribution. However, this increases
the need of operation control in the distribution. The
savings and technical advantages achieved with 1000 V
system can be used to improve the medium voltage
network. For example by increasing the amount of
underground cables in main lines.
CIRED2005
Session No 5
Turin, 6-9 June 2005
The experiences of the 20/1/0.4 kV system are positive and
it has fulfilled most of its expectations. All the targets
where the 1000 V system has been used have worked
properly and reliably. Especially the customers in the lake
district of central Finland have been very satisfied.
Because of the unnoticeable structure of the 1000 V lines
they fit better to the environment than typical medium
voltage lines. The following map (Fig. 7) presents a 1000
V line installed in the distribution network in SSS Ltd.
0,4 kV 1/0,4 kV
1 kV
0,4 kV
1/0,4 kV
1 kV
20/1 kV
1 km
20 kV
Fig. 6 1000 V line at Kongonsaari, Finland [3].
The first 1000 V line was built in area of Kongonsaari. It
was the test installation for the protection components and
1/0.4 kV transformers. Kongonsaari is located south of
Savonlinna, and the main advantage of the 1000 V system
is protecting the lake environment. The 1000 V system
also diminished faults in the area because the medium
voltage overhead line would have been built in the forest.
CONCLUSIONS
The 1000 V distribution system is economical as a
replacement of a 20 kV medium voltage line in the power
range of 0 – 100 kW and in line lengths starting from 150
m with the introduced calculation parameters. The
economical range of the 1000 V line length is a function of
used components, costs and power and is restricted by
technical boundaries. Another application area of the 1000
V system is as a part of a low voltage network as a
replacement of a long 0.4 kV line for example in a lake
district. The benefits of the 1000 V system in these targets
are lower investment costs than with a medium voltage line
and a higher transmission rate than with a 0.4 kV low
voltage line.
CIRED 18th International Conference on Electricity Distribution
REFERENCES
[1] European Comission, 1973, LVD Low voltage
directive 73/23/EEC 19.02.1973.
[2] Lakervi, E., Holmes, E.J., 1995, Electricity
Distribution Network Design, 2nd edition. Peter
Peregrinus Ltd., Reprinted 1998. Short Run Press
Ltd., Exeter England. ISBN 0 86341 309 9. 192 -
208
[3] Lohjala, J., Suur-Savon Sähkö Ltd. Kaipia, T.,
Lassila, J., Partanen, J., Lappeenranta University
of Technology, 2004, Overview to economical
efficiency of 1000 V low voltage distribution
systems. Proceedings of the NORDAC 2004
Conference, Espoo, Finland, Augustn 2004. 18 p.
CIRED2005
Session No 5
Turin, 6-9 June 2005
[4] Kaipia, T., 2004, Economic efficiency of 1000 V
electricity distribution system. Master thesis.
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
Lappeenranta, Finland 2004.
[5] Finnish Electricity Association, SENER ry, 2004,
KA 2:2003 National cost list of network
components. Adato Energia Ltd., Helsinki,
Finland 2004.
[6] Kivikko K., Mäkinen A., Verho P., Järventausta
P., Tampere University of Technology. Lassila J.,
Viljainen S., Honkapuro S., Partanen J, 2004.
Outage Cost Modeling for Reliability Based
Network Planning and Regulation of Distribution
companies. Proceedings of the DPSP 2004
Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, April 2004.
4 p.