International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.

1, March 2013

Integration of IEC 60287 in Power System Load

Flow for Variable Frequency and Long Cable
Applications
X. Yuan, H. P. Fleischer, G. Sande, and L. J. Solheim
GE Oil and Gas, Norway, NO1338Norway
Email: {xu.yuan, hans-peter.fleischer, gorm.sande, lars.joar.solheim}@ge.com

Abstract—AC resistance, usually paid less attention to than Due to the dominantly capacitive characteristic of long
inductance and capacitance during power system design submarine cables, coupled with varying frequency, careful
work, may cause significant deviation to true result if not consideration of current distribution in the cable and
well controlled during load flow design for variable reactive compensation strategy becomes vital when
frequency and long cable applications. In this paper, a load
designing the system in a steady state load flow domain.
flow scheme integrating cable design with power system
design is proposed, benefiting from IEC 60287. With thermal The fact that cable engineers and electrical system
consideration based on IEC 60287, AC resistances at load engineers usually work as two separate disciplines also
current taking into account the longitudinal distribution of calls for an integrated methodology when performing a
current are iterated in a power load flow. Case results power system load flow analysis.
demonstrated that the correct consideration of AC resistance In this paper, a load flow scheme directly integrating
is critical to the derivation of true result. The proposed load cable design based on IEC 60287 is proposed. Its
flow scheme naturally bridges the gap between cable implementation with power system load flow is based on
engineering and power system engineering and reduces the Matpower Version 4 [3]. Results show that a proper
uncertainty in system design work for variable frequency
consideration of cable design, current distribution along
and long cable applications. 
cable and reactive compensation strategy altogether has
Index Terms—load flow, variable frequency, submarine vital contribution to power system load flow design for
cables, subsea power, wind power, mat power, IEC 60287 variable frequency and long cable applications.

II. PROBLEM FORMULATION

I. INTRODUCTION
The motivation of the proposed load flow scheme
Nowadays, more and more offshore wind farms are comes from the previously mentioned industrial
being or going to be connected to grid with a distance of applications and more specifically described as the
over 150km. With today‟s manufacturing capability of following 3 main areas:
high voltage XLPE insulated three-core submarine cable
A. Loss Evaluation for Offshore Wind Farms
and the robustness of AC system, AC transmission
solution with long HVAC cable is still the first choice to Offshore wind power is connected to onshore grid by
be evaluated, with an emphasis on the investment cost as submarine cables and this distance can be up to 150km or
well as cost of transmission losses. Small difference in the more, shown in.
Offshore wind
transmission losses over long cables could lead to large
differences in energy output over a 20 year life time [1], Offshore
Grid Substation
which might further lead to a wrong picture when
comparing the different transmission alternatives.
Another emerging demand for long power cables comes Long submarine cable

from the development of subsea oil pumping and gas

compression, which requires MW level of power for each
subsea consumer with step-out distance ranging from tens Figure 1. Offshore wind grid connection via long AC cable.
of kilometers to a couple of hundred kilometers. In
addition to long submarine cables, the application usually Reactive power compensation is used either onshore or
requires variable speed drives (VSDs) located on the at both ends of the cable. Due to the intermittent intrinsic
offshore production platform which introduces variable of wind power generation, remarkable variations of
frequency operation (up to 200Hz for high power subsea current present in the compensated long cable. H.
compressor motors) over long cables [4], [5]. Brakelmann in [1] proposed to derive the transmission
losses of the power cable taking into account the
longitudinal distributions of current and temperature:
Manuscript received September 4, 2012; revised December 24, 2012.

©2013 Engineering and Technology Publishing 6

doi: 10.12720/ijoee.1.1.6-11
 International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.1, March 2013

𝑷𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒙 𝒍𝟎 𝑰𝟐 (𝒙) size, transmission voltage and power losses. Furthermore,

𝑷𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒔 = ∙ 𝒙=𝟎 𝑰𝟐
∙ 𝒗𝜽 (𝒙) ∙ 𝒅𝒙 (1)
𝒍𝟎 𝒏 (𝒙) variable frequency adds to the dimension of the design
Where 𝐼𝑛 is the current rating of the cable and 𝑃𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 is which affects the voltage profile on the long cable.
the nominal ohmic losses of the cable for 𝐼𝑛 . 𝑣𝜃 is the Coupled with higher frequency (than 50Hz) output from
calculated correction factor considering an ambient the VSD (up to 200Hz) and ambient situation of submarine
temperature for a specific 𝐼. cables, the AC resistance of the cable becomes puzzling
The above calculation assumes that the actual current yet vital to the correct derivation of system load flow
flowing along the cable has been determined, in other results.
words, the transmission system has been designed.
However, ideally as early as when designing the III. METHODOLOGY
transmission system, the variation of currents – in fact the As stated, a load flow scheme directly integrating cable
variations of resistances due to variations of current, shall design based on IEC 60287 is proposed. Previously, work
already be considered in the load flow design. And by on estimating cable ampacity had been discussed a lot
doing so, the calculation of power losses will then be however without looking at a power system impact [9],
straightforward – difference in MW between cable input [10]. This scheme is to bring power system design and
and output. submarine cable design together. Power system load flow
This idea indicates the need of a load flow scheme that highly depends on the RLC values of the long cable
integrates the variations of resistances along the cable due presenting in the system. Power loss in particular is
to temperature dependence so that the loss evaluation can relevant to the resistance value. While these values are
be facilitated as a standard direct output from the load flow indeed available from cable manufacturer‟sdatasheet, only
design. DC resistances are usually provided. The actual operating
B. System Design for Power Distribution with Long temperature of the cable is also not known beforehand
Cables since it depends on the power losses (currents) and the
thermal conditions of submarine cables. And the currents
More and more offshore platforms and subsea stations along the cable can vary remarkably. Therefore
are requiring power (up to 50MW) from land remotely via traditionally during power system load flow, it is not
long submarine power cables (over 100km) for the straight forward to take all these factors into consideration.
Oil&Gas industry [4]. Due to tough environment and Define Power
limited space, reactive compensation is preferred to be System Topology

done at one end onshore. Such a system is shown in Fig. 2.

Subsea Subsea Define Power
Switchgear VSD System Parameters
M

Onshore/Platform Subsea Select Cable

Cable Geometric
transformer M
Design

Long submarine cable M Proximity

STATCOM Loss Factors Skin Effect
Effect
M

AC Resistances
Figure 2. Power distribution with long cable. L, C
Temperature

The design of such a system requires close look at the Current

Environmental Newton Raphson
voltage and current along the cable as well as loss Conditions Load Flow iterations
evaluations for different AC solutions and DC solutions.
Voltage &
Current

Cable Ampacity
C. System Design for VSD Driven Motor with Long
Cables
Applications of VSDs on large induction motors are not No Cable Loading OK?

new in the power industry. However, most applications for

Yes

subsea electrification involve a step-out distance,

requiring long cables between the motor and VSD[8].
No Voltage Profile OK?
Such a system is shown in Fig. 3.

END
Topside VSD
Subsea Motor Figure 4. Flow chart of the proposed load flow scheme.
M
Variable frequency over long cable The actual AC resistances at steady state along the cable
vary and shall be calculated with skin effect, proximity
Figure 3. VSD driven large motor with long cable step-out.
effect and the actual conductor temperatures which are not
known without thermal calculation. The proposed load
This long cable turns a direct VSD driven system to a
flow scheme incorporates cable geometrics and adds
„variable frequency transmission system‟ due to the fact
additional iterations to the load flow core by updating the
that power system load flow is required to determine cable

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 International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.1, March 2013

AC resistance according to the longitudinal currents in the C. Reactive Compensation

cable. It has to run outside the Newton Raphson iteration Active reactive compensations (FACTS devices) are
since it also affects reactive power compensation for the frequently applied in the 3 industrial applications
cable. The thermal calculation is performed based on IEC mentioned. In this work, steady state STATCOM is
60287 in which an analytical method of calculating modeled with additional PV bus connected to its
thermal condition, skin effect and proximity effect is controlling bus via a coupling reactance. Due to the fact
presented [11], [12]. that industrial power supply often utilizes OLTC for
A flow chart of the proposed load flow scheme is voltage control for remote buses, reactive control mode is
presented in Fig. 4. used for STATCOM in this work to control the power
The initiation of load flow is achieved by using either factor at grid connection point. Therefore, the generating
the maximum AC resistance at 90°C which is derived voltage at the additional bus is tuned to give a unity power
from a cable ampacity calculation, or the AC resistance at factor at grid connection point with its principle given by
base load current derived from thermal calculation. The where the angular difference is neglected according to the
base load current can be derived simply by the load steady state model given in Fig. 5.
apparent power (MVA) and the defined transmission
𝑼(𝑼−𝑬)
voltage (kV). The additional iterations update the AC 𝑸= (2)
𝑿𝑺𝑻
resistances according to the line currents derived from the
load flow. This outer loop of iterations will converge U,Ɵ Controlled Bus

within 3 rounds.
For the 3 main industrial applications mentioned in this
paper, most of the cables used are three-core submarine XST

cable with separated sheath and common armouring.

E,Ɵ’ Additional Bus
Therefore for this work, the „SL‟ type in IEC 60287 is the
most relevant. However, the proposed load flow scheme
can adapt to any type of cable geometry design and VSC
formation.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION
Figure 5. Steady state modeling of STATCOM.
The implementation of the proposed load flow scheme
is in Matlab with Matpower Version 4 modified as its load Correct implementation of reactive compensation is
flow core. The major building blocks for implementing the vital in such applications since it directly affects the
proposed load flow scheme are discussed below. current drawn in the cable.
A. Matpower D. IEC 60287
Matpower is a Matlab-based tool widely used in IEC 60287 is applicable to the conditions of steady state
research and education for AC, DC and optimal power operation of cables at all alternating voltages buried
flow simulations. It consists of a set of M-files designed to directly in the ground, in ducts troughs or in steel pipes,
give the best performance while keeping the code simple both with and without partial drying-out of soil, as well as
to customize [3]. Newton-Raphson, Fast-decoupled and cables in air [11] and [12]. It provides analytical formulae
Gause-seidel method are optional for AC power flow for current rating and losses leaving certain parameters
analysis which are not discussed in this paper and can be open such as material properties, ambient conditions and
referred to [3]. burying depth. Skin effect, proximity effect, screen losses
and armouring losses are considered for different cable
B. Cable Modelling
formations. For submarine power cables, the most
Long cables are modeled with „Pi‟ sections with lump important environmental inputs to the AC resistance value
parameter for every kilometer. This is more than sufficient are the thermal resistivity of soil, the buried depth as well
for power flow analysis with frequency up to 200Hz. And as the seabed temperature.
in this way the longitudinal current distribution is directly
considered. Cable capacitances are modeled as shunt V. CASE RESULTS
susceptances 𝐵sh . Each connecting point is treated as one
„PQ‟ bus. The derivation of cable inductance and Three different case results are derived to demonstrate
capacitance comes from cable geometry and its the influence from AC resistances for the 3 applications
installation method pre-calculated in a cable database. mentioned. Each calculation is performed with three
This facilitates the integration of cable design into power different types of AC resistances:
system design. It is also noted that this cable geometry  𝑹𝟏 , which represents a constant „guessed‟ value
shall involve detailed design information of cables, i.e. the without considering cable condition and
thicknesses and material properties of all layers. AC longitudinal current distribution. In fact, a
resistances, usually paid with less attention by power maximum AC resistance is used.
system engineers, are iteratedby thermal calculation based  𝑹𝟐 , which represents a constant value considering
on IEC 60287. cable thermal condition based on IEC 60287. In fact,

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 International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.1, March 2013

an AC resistance calculated from base load current Cable loss deviates from „true value‟ correspondingly.
is used. 𝑅2 generates very close results to 𝑅3 indicating that the
 𝑹𝟑 , which represents „true‟ AC resistances longitudinal current distribution is not important for this
considering both cable thermal condition and case. This is due to the balanced cable current sized for full
longitudinal current based on IEC 60287. load condition.
A. Case Result 1 – Power Distribution with Long 0.035

Active power losses in MW/km

with R
3
Cables 0.03 with R2
with R1
The first case result is derived from the proposed load 0.025
flow scheme for the system given in Fig. 2.
0.02

TABLE I. CASE RESULTS 1 – POWER DISTRIBUTION WITH LONG

0.015
CABLES
0.01
150km, 50Hz, 20MW, 5Mvar (full load)
72.5kV rated, 3×240mm2 cable
0.005
66kV operation, OLTC 1.04 to control load end voltage 0 50 100 150
30MVA onshore transformer, 30MVA subsea transformer Cable length in kilometers
Figure 8. Power losses along the cable derived with different R – case
result 1.
AC Cable end Cable
STATCO STATCO According to Fig. 7, the voltage profile over the entire
resista voltage loss
M (Mvar) M voltage
nce (kV) (MW) length of cable based on 𝑅1 deviates significantly from
„true value‟ based on 𝑅3 , to an extent that it could result in
R1 67.40 26.87 -0.0897 p.u. 2.221
redesign. It also demonstrates the need of correct
R2 68.54 27.61 -0.0898 p.u. 1.753 consideration of resistance s in a controlled manner.
R3 68.49 27.55 -0.0898 p.u. 1.787 B. Case Result 2–Power Distribution with Long Cables,
Light Load
According to the results summarized in Table I, the The second case result is derived in the same way as in
differences in reactive compensation caused by different the first case but with half load. Results are summarized in
AC resistances are minor. However, differences in voltage Table II.
and cable loss are not negligible. Considering 𝑅3 as „true‟
value, the cable end voltage has nearly 1kV deviation with TABLE II. CASE RESULTS 2 – POWER DISTRIBUTION WITH LONG
CABLES WITH LIGHT LOAD
approximately 20% difference in resistance (𝑅1 ).
150km, 50Hz, 10MW, 2.5Mvar (half load)
0.105
72.5kV rated, 3×240mm2 cable, inner layer
66kV operation, OLTC 0.97 to control load end voltage
AC resistance in ohm/km

0.1
30MVA onshore transformer, 30MVA subsea transformer
0.095 R1 Cable
AC Cable end
STATCO STATCO loss
resistanc voltage
0.09 M (Mvar) M voltage (MW
e (kV)
)
0.085 R1 66.01 28.42 -0.0953 pu 1.537
R2 66.65 28.77 -0.0953 pu 1.194
R3
0.08 R3 66.59 28.73 -0.0953 pu 1.243
R2
0.075
0 50 100 150 As a response to reduced load, OLTC has a low position
cable length in kilometers
(0.97) to control the voltage. According to Table II, cable
Figure 6. AC resistances along the cable (R 1 , R 2 and R 3 ) – case result 1.
loss deviates more than in the full load case. This confirms
the needs to consider both longitudinal distribution of
70
with R3 current and time (load) dependence of power flow stated in
with R2 [1] for the loss evaluation of wind power. It also applies to
Voltage magnitude in kV

69.5
with R1 the other two industrial applications where the load
69 requirement changes dramatically over years.
One thing worth noting is that reactive compensation
68.5
plays an important role in the longitudinal current
68 distribution and in our case result, one-end compensation
is used. This causes larger differences in current between
67.5 the two ends of the long cable. Double-end compensation
shall give more balanced current and thus give smaller
67
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 difference in cable loss calculated with a constant
Cable length in kilometers
Figure 7. Voltage along the cable derived with different R–case result resistance (i.e. 𝑅2 ).
1.

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 International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.1, March 2013

0.1
has variable voltage output (from VSD) to operate at
different loading. Therefore, the time (load) dependence of
AC resistance in ohm/km

0.095 R1 power flow is not examined.

0.09
TABLE III. CASE RESULTS 3 – VSD DRIVEN MOTOR WITH LONG
CABLE
0.085

R3
70km, 200Hz, 10MW, 5Mvar (full load)
0.08 52kV rated, 3×240mm2 cable
30kV operation
0.075 30MVA onshore transformer, 15MVA subsea transformer
R2

0 50 100 150 Cable

Cable length in kilometers AC Cable send Cable
receive end VSD var
Figure 9. AC resistances along the cable (R 1 , R 2 and R 3 ) – case result 2. resistanc end voltage loss
voltage (Mvar)
e (kV) (MW)
(kV)
67 𝑹𝟏 30.49 27.28 5.80 1.130
with R
1
𝑹𝟐 30.75 30.24 8.33 0.908
Voltage magnitude in kV

66.5 with R
2

66
with R
3 𝑹𝟑 30.75 30.29 8.36 0.904

65.5 0.114

0.112 R1
65

AC resistance in ohm/km
0.11
64.5
0.108
64
0.106
63.5 0.104
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Cable length in kilometers 0.102
Figure 10. Voltage along the cable derived with different R – case result R3
0.1 R3
2.
0.098

0.096
0.03 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Cable length in kilometers
Active power losses in MW/km

with R
1
0.025 with R
2
Figure 12. AC resistances along the cable (R 1 , R 2 and R 3 ) – case result 3.
with R
3
0.02
33
with R1
0.015
Voltage magnitude in kV

32 with R
2
with R
3
0.01
31

0.005
30

0
0 50 100 150 29
Cable length in kilometers
Figure 11. Power loss along the cable derived with different R – case 28
result 2.
27
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Cable length in kilometers
C. Case Result 3– VSD Driven Motor with Long Cable Figure 13. Voltage along the cable derived with different R – case result
The third case result is derived for application of VSD 3.
driven motor with long cable illustrated in Fig. 3. Results
are summarized in Table III. 0.022
Active power losses in MW/km

Based on the results summarized in TABEL 3, a „wrong‟ with R

1
0.02
resistance value 𝑅1 (15% deviation from „true value‟ with R
2
with R
according to Fig. 12.) may lead to very large differences in 0.018 3

voltage profile across the cable (10% deviation). Similarly, 0.016

the value of reactive power through the VSD is also
subjected to a large „error‟ due to large deviation of 0.014

voltage profile shown in Fig. 13. This provides more 0.012

evidence that the AC resistance value needs to be taken
0.01
care of in a well-controlled manner from the beginning of
engineering design, for this specific type of application. 0.008
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Due to the fact that no reactive compensation is used in Cable length in kilometers
such systems, current along the cable is quite balanced and Figure 14. Power loss along the cable derived with different R – case
hence the longitudinal distribution of current is not critical result 3.
(difference between 𝑅2 and 𝑅3 ). This type of application

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 International Journal of Electrical Energy, Vol.1, No.1, March 2013

VI. FURTHER WORK [1] H. Brakelmann, “Efficiency of HVAC power transmission from
offshore windmills to the grid,” in Proc. IEEE Bologna Power
The practice for designing power system starts with Tech Conference, 2003.
load flow sizing cable and reactive compensation strategy [2] N. B. Negra, J. Todorovic, and T. Ackermann, “Loss evaluation of
HVAC and HVDC transmission solutions for large offshore wind
(voltage regulations). Following this, fault calculation and farms,” Elsevier Electric Power Systems Research, vol. 76, iss.11,
time domain simulations (EMTP type) are done to specify pp. 916–927, Jul. 2006.
protection and transient related parameters. The proposed [3] R. D. Zimmerman, C. E. Murillo-Sánchez, and R. J. Thomas,
load flow scheme in this paper gives realistic pictures of "MATPOWER steady-state operations, planning and analysis
tools for power systems research and education," IEEE
„pre-fault‟ states of the long cable transmission system and Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 12-19, Feb.
the line resistances can be directly used in other 2011.
calculations following the load flow calculation. [4] H. Gedde, B. Slåtten, E. Virtanen, and E. Olsen, “Ormen lange
Applications could also be extended to power system long step-out power supply,” in Proc. Offshore Technology
Conference, 2009, paper OTC 20042.
operations. [5] E. Baggerud, V. S. Halvorsen, and R. Fantoft, “Technical status
Some other research work on submarine power cables and development needs for subsea compression,” in Proc.
[10] raised questions about the loss calculation defined by Offshore Technology Conference, 2007, paper OTC 18952.
IEC 60287 based on measurements and finite element [6] G. E. Balog, N. Christl, G. Evenset, and F. Rudolfsen, “Power
transmission over long distances with cables,” in Proc. CIGRE
methods. However, it is more product-oriented and an Session 2004, paper B1-306.
analytical method facilitates the interface towards power [7] T. Hezel, H. Baerd, J. J. Bremnes, and J. Legeay, “Subsea high
system engineering and it can be modified to meet voltage power distribution,” in Proc. IEEE PCIC, 2011.
accuracy requirement. [8] G. Scheuer, B. Monsen, K. Rongve, T. E. Moen, E. Virtanen, and
S. Ashmore, “Subsea compact gas compression with high speed
Last but not least, the 3 types of industrial applications VSDs and very long step-out cables,” in Proc. IEEE PCIC Europe,
discussed in the paper often involve large harmonic 2009.
contents due to the presence of power electronics. Current [9] D. G. A. K. Wijeratna, J. R. Lucas, H. J. C. Peiris, and H. Y. R.
harmonics in the cable results in additional conductor Perera, “Development of a software package for calculating
current rating of medium voltage power cables,” in Proc. Trans.
heating hence higher conductor temperature [13]. This IEE Sri Lanka, 2003
factor is not considered in IEC 60287 but it can be taken [10] R. Stølan, “Losses and inductive parameters in subsea power
into account by superposition of temperature rise for the cables,” M. Sc. thesis, Norwegian university of science and
specific harmonic orders, once derived from a harmonic technology, Trondheim, Norway, Jul. 2009.
[11] Electrical Cables – Calculation of the Current Rating – Current
analysis. Rating Equations and Calculation of Losses, IEC60287-1-1,
2006-12.
VII. CONCLUSION [12] Electrical Cables – Calculation of the Current Rating – Thermal
Resistance, IEC 60287-2-1, 2006-05.
It is proposed that the IEC 60287 standard be directly [13] A. Hiranandani, “Calculation of Cable Ampacities including the
integrated into power system load flow in order to achieve Effects of Harmonics,” IEEE Industry Applications Magazine,
1998.
well-controlled results for the 3 industrial applications
with presence of long cables and/or variable frequency.
Case results have demonstrated the importance of AC
resistances. Wrong resistance value could lead to very X. Yuan was born in Jiangsu, China in 1983. He
holds a BSc. and a MSc. degree (2005 and 2011) in
different voltage profiles (system design) and the electric power engineering from Hohai University
longitudinal distribution of currents along cable need to be in China and the Royal Institute of Technology in
taken into account when the system is compensated at one Sweden respectively. He started his professional
end and in particular for light load operation with long career with FMC Technologies in Norway in 2008
working on subsea power system projects. He
cables. joined GE Oil&Gas Norway in 2010 and is now a
The proposed load flow scheme integrates cable design Lead Electrical Engineer in the Subsea Power Systems and Products
based on well-established standard with power system department where he has been highly involved in the power system
design so that they are no longer decoupled processes by design for subsea applications. His interest is in power system
engineering and power electronics. He has been a member of IEEE
themselves which reduces uncertainty and increases since 2011.
observability of industrial power system design work.
Further work, such as the harmonic current superposition G. Sande was born in Norway in 1964. He received
can also be included in the thermal calculation. his MSc degree in 1987 and his PhD degree in
1993, both from Department of Electrical Power
Engineering, Norwegian University Science and
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Technology. In 1993 he took a position as
Researcher at ABB Corporate Research in Norway
The author would like to acknowledge the creators of where he stayed until 2006. From 2006 to 2010 he
„MATPOWER‟, who facilitate research work in the area worked with development of electrostatic coalescer
of power system steady state operation, planning and equipment (oil-water separation) in Aibel Technology and Products. In
analysis work through open source programs. 2010 he took a position as Senior Engineer in GE Oil & Gas, Subsea
Power Systems and Products where he has been leading several power
system studies, contributing to power product development and
REFERENCES responsible for electrical testing technologies for GE Oil & Gas
Norway

©2013 Engineering and Technology Publishing 11