Optimal Design of Grounding Systems for High
Voltage Substations
1
Amirhossein Ghods, 2Hong-hee Lee
1,2
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
University of Ulsan
Ulsan, South Korea
1
amirhossein@mail.ulsan.ac.kr
2
hhlee@mail.ulsan.ac.kr
Abstract—Designing grounding systems for high voltage
substations has been always considered a serious concern. High
losses and costs of performing conventional designs have made
researchers think of new substitute plans. The designed system
should be able to provide safety for personnel and electrical
devices under steady-state operation and transient disturbances.
In this paper, a new strategy for designing high voltage
substation grounding system is proposed, taking into account
relevant IEEE standards. It will be shown that this approach,
which is based on CymGrd software package, will have more
output parameters that makes the model more efficient, so it can
be a sufficient replacement for other conventional methods. One
high voltage substation located in northwest Iran is analyzed and
then the effectiveness of this method is compared with other
methods.
Keywords— CymGrd, grounding system, heat loading capacity,
Power substation, step voltage
I. INTRODUCTION
Passing high currents through the grounding system causes
gradients of voltage over the surface of Earth, and as a result,
various spots of the network will have differences in voltage
level. If these voltages exceed a maximum level, there is
possibility that safety of personnel and electrical devices will
be endangered by high voltage differences between the steps of
person (step voltage), or between a device and Earth.
Designing a grounding system should be such that the
maximum voltage probable to happen becomes less than the
tolerable voltage for human body.
For installing a high voltage substation, a network of
parallel conductors is implemented in a desired depth (0.3 to
1.5 m) with an electrical potential equal to surface of Earth.
Also, there are other conductors which are planted
perpendicular so that the Earth’s resistance would be
decreased.
Due to the potential unsymmetrical nature of fault current, a
zero-sequence component of current can be created. This
component causes serious issues for the network, because it
can pass through equipment and make them damaged. This
situation is exacerbated in networks which have delta
connection and no neutral phase.
978-1-4799-6415-4/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
Amirhossein Etemadi
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
George Washington University
Washington, DC, USA
etemadi@email.gwu.edu
So the worst fault is defined as the one that produces the
maximum of zero-sequence current component. If Z 0 Z1 < Z 22 ,
single-phase-to-ground faults can be the worst type of faults;
however, if Z 0 Z1 > Z 22 , then phase-to-phase fault could be the
worst-case scenario.
There are numerous research works reported in the field of
optimal design of a high voltage substation grounding system
for controlling and minimizing the zero-sequence component
of fault current. In [1], the main issue is considering
environmental situations on the design of this system.
Situations like frozen soil layer would cause considerable
increases in Earth’s resistance in a substation grounding
system. In [2], using numerical approaches required electrical
and mechanical parameters for designing a substation have
been derived. The same parameters are derived in [3], where
authors have considered environmental situations, such as
season changing, or extreme weather conditions in addition to
electrical and mechanical matters. These calculations are
typically based on IEEE Std. 80-2000.
The maximum allowable voltage level is considered
constant for all of the components of a substation, which
constitutes the main shortcoming of the aforementioned works.
In other words, assuming that probability of fault happening
differs for each network equipment based on its electrical and
mechanical characteristics, so the magnitude of fault current is
equipment-dependent. Majority of previous works fail to
consider this fact and their main assumption is that severity and
probability of fault is identical throughout the system. This
simplification results in a model that will not match real-world
power systems and may cause result to an ineffective
grounding system.
In this paper, the authors propose the application of new
software package, CymGrd. The main advantage of this
software is offering a solution to the aforementioned problem,
in which the allowable voltage level will vary depending on the
devices installed in the network, and so the conductors will be
determined based on a more complicated model. In section 2 of
this paper, the analysis of soil and conductor selection based on
standard are presented. Grounding system resistance
calculation is also taken into consideration. Consequently, a
real case-study- a high voltage substation’s grounding system
in northwest Iran, has been designed using both CygmGrd and L
a conventional method with Etap. Results would show how K 2 = 5.5 + 0.15 (8)
accurate the final model would be in terms of controlling the W
fault voltages. Conclusions and suggestions for future work are
also presented. In previous set of equations, R1 is the resistance of
horizontal conductors ( Ω ), R2 the resistance of vertical
II. SOIL ANALYSIS AND CONDUCTOR SELECTION conductors ( Ω ), Rm the mutual resistance between conductors
For most of grounding systems in transmission lines and and rods ( Ω ), Rg the total Earth’s resistance (single layer soil,
high voltage substations, the grounding system resistance Ω ), ρ the uniformly-distributed soil resistance ( Ω -m), K1,
should be less than or equal to 1 Ω . This resistance can vary K2 the soil resistance coefficients, Lc the total length of
between 1 and 5 Ω for smaller-scale substations [4]. Here, we conductors used in system (m), d the diameter of conductor
assume the grounding system as a circular metal plate with (m), hb the the depth of implemented conductor (m), A the
2
radius r. So, the resistance of this network could be represented grounding system area ( m ), nr the number of implemented
as [5]: conductors, Lr the length of each conductor, α as the radius of
conductor, L the length of substation area, and W the width of
ρ π (1) substation area.
Rg =
4 A In order to fit a curve to find soil resistance coefficients [5],
In (1), Rg is the grounding system electrical resistance, using experimental results, following equations can be derived
based on environmental conditions; in other words, depending
ρ is soil’s electrical resistance, and π is the radius of the on environmental factors, a specific depth will be chosen for
A installing the conductors; this depth will follow the forms of A,
disk. B, or C. For instance, in cold areas that the floor is usually
frozen, conductors will be found in higher depths.
⎡ ⎛ ⎞⎤
⎢1 1 ⎜ 1 ⎟⎥ (2) Curve A- if there is almost no implementation depth (h=0)
Rg = ρ ⎢ + ⎜1 + ⎟⎥
⎢L 20 A ⎜ 20 ⎟ ⎥ K1 A = −0.04 x + 1.41 (9)
⎢ ⎜ 1+ h ⎟
⎣ ⎝ A ⎠ ⎥⎦
where h represents the depth of implemented grounding 1
system. Curve B- for h=
10 area
Schwarz equation, based on IEEE Std. 80-2000, gives how
to derive resistance of grounding system, in which soil is K1B = −0.05 x + 1.20 (10)
uniformly distributed [3].

ρ ⎡ ⎛ 2 Lc ⎞ K1 Lc ⎤
R1 = ⎢ Ln ⎜ ⎟+ − K2 ⎥
π Lc ⎣⎢ ⎜⎝ dhb ⎟
⎠ A ⎦⎥ (3) (3)

ρ ⎡ ⎛ 4 Lr ⎞ 2 K1Lr 2⎤
R2 = Ln ⎜
2π Lc nr ⎢⎣ ⎝ α
⎟ −1 +
⎠ A
( )
nr − 1 ⎥
⎦
(4)

ρ ⎡ ⎛ 2 Lc ⎞ K1 Lc ⎤
Rm = ⎢ Ln ⎜ ⎟+ − K 2 + 1⎥ (5)
π Lc ⎣ ⎝ Lr ⎠ A ⎦ Figure 1. K1 Coefficient in various depths [6]

1
Curve C- for h=
R1 R2 − Rm 2 6 area
Rg = (6) (6)
R1 + R2 − 2 Rm K1c = −0.05 x + 1.13 (11)

For coefficient K2 and different depths, the equation can

L be represented as following:
K1 = 1.41 − 0.04 (7) (7)
W
 III. MODELLING AND SIMULATION
Designing of grounding system of high voltage substations
is based on IEEE Std. 80-2000.
There are four steps in this study that should be considered:
1) Soil Analysis
There are predefined modules in the software that data sets
can be entered through them.

Figure 2. K2 Coefficent in various depths [6]

Curve A- for h=0

K 2 A = 0.15 x + 5.50 (12)

1
Curve B- for h=
10 area
K 2 B = 0.10 x + 4.64 (13)

1 Figure 3. Input data window in CymGrd

Curve C- for h=
6 area According to IEEE-80, two-layer models are often a good
K 2 c = −0.05 x + 4.40 (14) approximation of many soil structures. If a large variation
occurs, the uniform soil is unlikely to yield accurate results.
These coefficients will be used as inputs to the model for According to standards, more accurate representations of the
calculations of tolerable system voltages. actual soil condition can be obtained by the use of the two-
layer model [8]. In Table III, upper layer has a thickness of
Conventionally, designers are obligated to follow Power 5.84 m and resistance of 49.87 Ω -m.
System Earthing Guide provided by Energy Network
Association; in which there are 8 steps for a standard
grounding system [7]. Following in Table I, these 8 steps are TABLE II. SUBSTATION SOIL CHARACTERISTICS
compared with new algorithm proposed by CymGrd Soil Model Two-Layer Model
Body Weight 70 Kg
Surface Layer Thickness 0.15 m
TABLE I. COMPARISON OF DESIGN STEPS BETWEEN PROPOSED AND
CONVENTIONAL METHODS Surface Layer Resistance 3000 Ω − m
Shock Time Period 0.6 s
Step Power System Earthing Guide [7] Proposed Guide by
# CymGrd TABLE III. RESULTED VALUES FROM TWO-LAYER MODEL
1 Data gathering and project integration Data gathering and project
integration Upper Layer Thickness 5.84 m
2 Initial design concept Initial design concept Upper Layer Resistance 49.87 Ω − m
3 Expected design earth potential rise Soil modeling Lower Layer Resistance 3.22 Ω − m
4 Detailed earthing layout Detailed earthing layout Allowed Touch Voltage 907.79 V
5 Safety criteria selection Design improvements Allowed Step Voltage 3023.11 V
6 Probabilistic safety criteria derivation Safety criteria analysis Error Between Measured and %7.02
7 Design improvements Additional calculations Outputs of CymGrd
8 Lightning and transient design (transient design, etc.)

2) Electrodes Sections Calculation

In this Table, the proposed method includes of 6 main steps The section of conductors in the 400 kV bay is calculated.
with an additional step for transient analysis and design
improvements. In the next section, the design is performed TABLE IV. INPUT: 400KV CONDUCTORS SURFACE SECTION AREA
using conventional method with Etap software package and
new method with CymGrd. It will be shown that using Maximum of Injected Current 50000 A
proposed method, number of output parameters is increased; to Grounding System in 400 kV
level
this results into a more precise design. Outside Temperature 40 ˚C
Fault Time Period 1s
 Surface Section Calculated 183.048 mm2 i) Entering the geometric data of conductors from input
window in the software.
So, based on the standard, the best section area can be 240 ii) Drawing the grounding system in AutoCAD and then
mm2. Next, the section of conductors for 230 kV bay is exporting it to software.
calculated.
In this paper, the second method has been used. The
following figure shows how different structures are placed in
TABLE V. INPUT: 230 KV RISERS SURFACE SECTION AREA AutoCAD.
Maximum of Injected Current 50000 A
to Grounding System in 230 kV
level
Outside Temperature 40 ˚C
Fault Time Period 1s
Surface Section Calculated 46.438 mm2

The chosen section is 50 mm2.

3) Input Parameters for Network Analysis:
Because a substation can be located in an unsymmetrical
situation; or in other words, in order that the final model would
have more consistency, here, it is recommended to consider a
high voltage substation grounding system included of several Figure 5. Drawn grounding system in AutoCAD
smaller grounding systems, where in each area, the soil is
distributed uniformly and height of that area is same. The main The main results are given in the following table:
inputs are entered as follow:
TABLE VII. MAIN OUTPUTS FROM CYMGRD
Touch Voltage (max) 907.79 V
Touch Voltage (calculated) 699.44 V
Ground Voltage 865.271 V
Parallel Impedance (Z) 0.493502 Ohm
Earth Potential Increase 865.271 V
Earth System Resistance 0.0173702 Ohm
Equivalent Impedance 0.0167796
Total Conductors Length 7795.42 m

For proving the priority of using the proposed approach,

using Etap, the same design has been performed, and the
results are as follow:
Figure 4. Inputting grid parameters in CymGrd
TABLE VIII. MAIN OUTPUTS FROM ETAP
Touch Voltage (max) 957.4 V
TABLE VI. MAIN INPUT DATA SETS Touch Voltage (calculated) 923.3 V
Nominal Frequency 50 Hz Ground Voltage 887.98 V
0.966 Equivalent Impedance 0.021 Ohm
Current Dividing
Coefficient
Injected Current to System 50000 A Analyzing and Table VII, VIII, it could be concluded that:
Upper Layer Thickness 5.84 m
Upper Layer Resistance 49.87 ohm-meter i) Parallel impedance is defined as the impedance parallel
Lower Layer Resistance 3.22 ohm-meter with the grounding system impedance.
ii) In the last column, it is mentioned that total conductor
A design of parallel and criss-cross conductors is chosen length is 7795.42 m.
for grounding system. In this design, conductors are
implemented in the direction of structures, so that the total iii) In the above tables, calculated touch voltages is lower
length of grounding system connections would be shortened. than maximum acceptable value; and so there is not any
Defining dimensions of system is optional, and the distances problem for grounding system maximum touch voltage.
between conductors are normally chosen between 4 to 10 m. It iv) As it can be seen, the number of output parameters is
is possible to draw the system in two ways: more when using the method proposed in CymGrd. This helps
in designing a more accurate grounding system.
 v) The equivalent impedance of system when designed
using the first method is lower than the second method.
Therefore, it can be concluded that first design has majority
compared to other conventional methods.
Figure 6. Step voltage distribution graph in CymGrd
As it is shown in the following figure, most of
dangerous areas are located in sections that lots of structures
are located close to each other.
Figure 7. Ground voltage distribution graph
The diagram in Figure 8 contains 6 curves with 3 different
colours. Three curves which drawn with bold lines will show
touch, step, and ground voltages; and the other curves as dotted
lines will show the maximum of these above-mentioned
voltages.
Figure 8. Step-Ground-Touch voltage profile
As a result, it can be seen from this profile, that the
design for grounding system using CymGrd software is
acceptable.
IV. CONCLUSION
A sufficient plan for a high voltage substation grounding
system is the one that besides providing technical requirements
and safety issues is reliable in terms of economic aspects.
There are different ways to do the calculations and draw a plan
for the grounding system; either hand calculations that takes
time and less accurate results compared to standards, or using
software packages like: Etap or CymGrd. CymGrd is powerful
software with exceptional capabilities. Number of input /output
parameters in CymGrd is more than other software packages,
and besides that, all IEEE standards regarding designing a high
voltage substation are included; this will provide the most
accurate output. In this paper, an optimized design for a
400/230 kV substation in Khoy, northwest Iran, is developed
using CymGrd software package. The network is divided into
several smaller grounding systems that have uniformly
distributed soil. Step, touch, and Earth potential are all under
the maximum allowable values from IEEE Std. 80. Predicting
the most probable location for happening of a fault is a good
candidate for future works. This gives us a method for
predicting behaviour of a substation in fault happening
situations.
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