Underground Transmission 2018

Underground transmission lines are a very small percentage of the transmission grid across the country, yet they are more complicated and time consuming in design, construction, repair, and maintenance. Utilities and transmission owners are dealing with municipalities and a public that does not want to see new transmission lines and are suggesting moving them underground, but this move is a daunting task full of risks and challenges that the utilities must make all stakeholders aware of. With transmission lines that are already underground, operations and maintenance of those lines comes with its own challenges while emergency or planned repair work can be exponentially more complicated with longer outage times.

This conference will provide utilities, transmission owners, and all parties involved, detailed information from lessons learned and the experience of others whom have taken on these challenges before. Some of the topics that will be discussed will explain the risks involved with going underground and the challenges of new construction as well as existing underground lines being repaired, replaced and approaches to maintenance plans for underground projects.

Learning Outcomes

Review LADWP’s replacement projects and the future of their underground system
Listen to the challenges facing Seattle City Light with their Central Waterfront Transmission Line Relocation Project
Address the design and construction challenges associated with PSE&G’s drilling of two 6500 foot HDD crossings of Newark Bay
Expand on the lessons learned repairing HPFF cable systems within ComEd’s underground system
Discuss how to certify that new cable system so it meets the cable and accessory manufacturers requirements
Engage in a panel discussion on line testing, repair, replacement and more
List the lessons learned from the first year of Duke Energy’s cable maintenance program
Discuss a design approach for transition joints between oil-filled or gas-pressure cable systems and XLPE cable systems
Review the advantages and disadvantages of having fiber optic cables in your underground power cables
Discuss guidance on how to specify an effective cable commissioning assessment

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 1.0 CEUs for this event.

Requirements for Successful Completion of Program

Participants must sign in/out each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the conference to be eligible for continuing education credit.

Instructional Methods

This conference will use case studies and PowerPoint presentations.

Agenda

Thursday, February 22, 2018

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. :: Registration and Continental Breakfast Sponsored by Dewberry

8:30 – 8:40 a.m. :: Welcome and Opening Comments

8:40 – 9:40 a.m. :: Splice design in the age of Polymer Insulators

This Presentation will demonstrate the steps in designing a splice in general. We will also discuss the process of designing an underwater splice that uses sea water as the shield or zero potential medium for the joint and the cable.

Mohammad Khajavi, Underground Transmission Design Engineer, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

9:40 – 10:30 a.m. :: Undergrounding Overhead 69kV Transmission Lines

This presentation will focus on design considerations and construction of new 69kV underground transmission facilities as part of an Underground Conversion Project.

Jeremy Greaney, PE, Senior Electric Systems Designer, Anaheim Public Utilities

10:30 – 11:00 a.m. :: Networking Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. :: Long HDD Crossings of Newark Bay

This presentation will address the design and construction challenges associated with drilling two 6500 foot HDD crossings of Newark Bay for two new 345 kV XLPE cable circuits.

PSEG (invited)

Dennis E. Johnson, Senior Project Engineer, Power Engineers, Inc.

Josh Ugrich, Project Manager, Southeast Directional Drilling

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. :: Group Luncheon

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. :: Repairing High Pressure Fluid Filled (HPFF) Cable Systems

For years, HPFF pipe-type cables were the most predominantly used type of transmission cable in the United States as well as in ComEd’s system. This presentation will cover lessons learned repairing HPFF cable systems within ComEd’s underground system.

Frank Frentzas, Transmission Design Manager, ComEd

2:00 – 2:50 p.m. :: Ensuring the Implementation of Effective Commissioning Tests

A decade ago transmission cable owners rarely specified anything more than a 24 hour ‘soak test’. As reliability requirements and the need to reduce in-service failures have increased, the industry started to recommend and specify AC over voltage withstand and finally “partial discharge” (PD) tests. The idea to add a more sophisticated test is to further ‘filter out’ issues which may cause pre-mature future failures. However, even with PD testing, there still have been some unexpected in-service failures (false negatives) and cases of false positive measurements precipitating unnecessary repairs. In some cases in-service failures are due to external forces damaging the cable system but other cases point to defects that existed at the time of commissioning. This presentation and short panel discussion will use the knowledge and experience with standardized factory tests and various field testing methods to discuss field limitations and provide cable owners with concepts and techniques to address concerns and help ensure the implementation of a more effective commissioning test.

Sherif Kamel, Ph. D., Technical Director, Southwire – Underground Transmission

David Lindsay, Marketing Manager, Borealis

Ben Lanz, Director, Applications Engineering IMCORP

2:50 – 3:20 p.m. :: Networking Break

3:20 – 4:45 p.m. :: Challenges in Underground Operation & Maintenance

With transmission lines that are already underground, operations and maintenance of those lines comes with its own challenges while emergency or planned repair work can be exponentially more complicated with longer outage times. This panel discussion will discuss lines being tested, repaired, replaced or expanded, use of temporary site cables, and the challenges these projects face.

Moderator:

Vincent Curci, Sr Project Manager, HDR Engineering

Panelists:

Boguslaw Bochenski, Senior Engineer, Underground Cable Testing, Kinectrics

Dennis E. Johnson, Senior Project Engineer, Power Engineers, Inc.

Emmanuel Martin-Lauzer, Director of Business Development, Nexans

Matthew Spalding, President, IMCORP

Friday, February 23, 2018

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. :: Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. :: Undergrounding Transmission: It’s a Team Sport!

Seattle City Light (City Light), a department of the city of Seattle, is one of the nation’s largest publicly owned utilities. One of the largest projects currently being undertaken in Seattle is the transformation of the Seattle waterfront. The old and aging Alaskan Way Viaduct is currently being replaced by a deepbore tunnel under downtown Seattle. As part of this work, City Light plays a significant role. Transmission lines that power Seattle have historically been attached to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Since 2008, City Light has been working to complete the full relocation of these transmission lines along Seattle’s waterfront in preparation for this work. This presentation will review the project’s background, scope, risk management, project coordination and the team it takes to accomplish it. The Central Waterfront Transmission Line Relocation Project must be completed before Alaskan Way Viaduct removal. In 2012, SCL completed the relocation of a section of these transmission lines along the Seattle waterfront, moving them to a permanent location underground. City Light is in the process of permanently relocating the final section of 115 kV transmission lines. The project involves installing underground vaults, electrical duct banks, and gas insulated switchgear. The project is expected to be complete in end of year 2018 including close-out.

Tamara Jenkins, Program Manager, Seattle City Light

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. :: Transition Joint and Pipe Type Cable Solutions

One of the major challenges for high voltage (HV) and extra high voltage (EHV) system operators is their ageing cable system infrastructure, since in the near future many of the old oil-filled and gas-pressure cable systems need to be replaced. As nowadays extruded (XLPE) cable systems have become standard for new cable system installations, jointing technologies between paper insulated and extruded cable systems were developed by cable manufacturers. In addition, in order to reuse the existing pipe infrastructure pipe type cable systems with XLPE insulation have been developed.

This presentation will focus on a design approach for transition joints between oil-filled or gas-pressure cable systems and XLPE cable systems. Further, the type test procedure and the range of type test approval according to CIGRE TB 415 will be discussed. Examples for qualifications and installations of transition joints will be given. Another focus of the presentation will be the pipe type system solution implemented in many commercial projects in Europe.

Dr. Mark Stemmle, Technical Director, Nexans

10:15 – 10:45 a.m. :: Networking Break

10:45 – 11:45 a.m. :: Fiber Optic in Power Cables – Pros and Cons

Fiber optic (F/O) cables have been used in power cables for many years and they prove to be useful in two ways. Firstly, the F/O is used for telecommunication and secondly for distributed temperature sensing (DTS). Both cases have their pros and cons and some solutions tend to be used more in certain applications than the others. While talking about the pros and cons, the author would like to present how to maximize the value of the DTS F/O in the cables with regards to thermal rating and maintain compliance with some FERC/NERC recommendations.

Boguslaw Bochenski, Ph.D, P.Eng, Engineer/Project Manager, Kinectrics, Inc.

11:45 a.m. :: Conference Adjourns

Workshops

Pre Conference Workshop

Post Conference Workshop

Underground Transmission 101

Wednesday February 21, 2018

12:30 – 1:00 p.m. :: Registration and Continental Breakfast

1:00 – 5:00 p.m. :: Workshop Timing

Overview

Underground transmission is a costly and complicated option for transmission projects. This workshop will provide an in-depth overview of underground systems, technology, construction, and installation. This is the ideal workshop for engineers new to underground transmission projects, regulatory staff that needs an overview to evaluate project options and vendors and contractors that support utilities as they build new transmission.

Learning Outcomes

Review underground transmission technology and systems
Examine the basics of underground design and construction

Agenda

Underground Transmission: An Overview
- Technology
- Drivers

Basic Underground Design and Construction Considerations
- Preliminary Design Issues
- Route Selection
- Detail Design Issues
- Other Design Considerations
- Installation Methods
- Cathodic Protection
- Hydraulic System Design
- Structure Designs

Workshop Instructors

Dennis Johnson, Senior Project Engineer, POWER Engineers

Dennis Johnson has more than 20 years of experience in the design and construction of underground transmission and distribution systems. He served as a design and project engineer on numerous underground transmission projects at voltages ranging from 69 kV to 345 kV. Mr. Johnson is an active voting member of the IEEE Insulated Conductors Committee (ICC). He is a member of various ICC subcommittees that are developing guides and standards for high voltage underground cable systems.

Todd Goyette, Senior Project Engineer, POWER Engineers

Todd Goyette joined POWER Engineers in November of 2012 and is a senior project engineer in their underground transmission group. He has extensive experience in all aspects of high voltage and extra high voltage underground transmission projects including design, permitting & licensing, construction and operation & maintenance. He has experience with self-contained fluid filled, high pressure fluid filled, high pressure gas filled and extruded dielectric cable systems. Prior to joining POWER, Todd worked for National Grid, a large investor based utility, for 18 years performing similar functions. He is a skilled presenter on the topic of underground cables and serves on several working group committees for the IEEE Insulated Conductors Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is a registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts.

Maintenance of HV Power Cables

Friday, February 23, 2018

12:30 – 12:45 p.m. :: Registration and Continental Breakfast

12:45 – 4:00 p.m. :: Workshop Timing

Overview

Power cables are designed to last many decades. Although this is the case for many cables, premature failures occur in the most unexpected circumstances posing risk to the workers and the public. Some of the early failures could be prevented by proper commissioning while some of the later failures could be prevented by maintenance but not all of them. Hence the questions: Is it worth doing maintenance? What maintenance activities could be done on the land cables and what on submarine cables? Since new cable systems have no mechanical parts that would require continuous maintenance and parts replacement, there is perception that they are maintenance-free. Is this true? This workshop will you through the available documents and some interesting and useful procedures that some utilities around the world have implemented.

Learning Outcomes

Review HV underground cables commissioning and early failures
Discuss publications on cable maintenance practices
Engage in a review of challenges with extruded insulation cables
Discuss the unique properties and challenges with fluid filled cables
Review practices and their differences for submarine and land cables
List the lessons learned from case studies

Agenda

HV underground cables commissioning and early failures
Current and future publications on cable maintenance practices
Cables with extruded insulation
Fluid filled cables
Submarine
Land cables
Case studies

Workshop Instructor

Boguslaw Bochenski, Ph.D, P.Eng, Senior Engineer, Underground Cable Testing, Kinectrics

Boguslaw received his Master’s Degrees (Power Systems, Computer Science) and Ph.D. in Electrical engineering in 2002 and 2005 respectively, both from the Technical University of Lodz, Poland where he worked as an assistant professor before joining Kinectrics. Boguslaw has vast experience in thermal rating of various critical power system components including underground and submarine cables and power transformers. He has also used his mathematical skills to model electric and magnetic field, perform transient analysis in distribution and transmission grids and apply statistics and probabilistic methods in electrical engineering. However, his main activity is high voltage testing of power cables and he currently holds a position of service line leader for HV cable field testing. Boguslaw is an active member of the IEEE and CIGRE working groups related to cable testing and maintenance

Speakers

Boguslaw Bochenski, Ph.D, P.Eng, Engineer/Project Manager, Kinectrics, Inc.

Dan Chapoton, PE, Lead Engineer Equipment Engineering Transmission Asset Management, Duke Energy

Vincent Curci, Sr Project Manager, HDR Engineering

Frank Frentzas, Transmission Design Manager, ComEd

Tamara Jenkins, Program Manager, Seattle City Light

Dennis E. Johnson, Senior Project Engineer, Power Engineers, Inc.

Sherif Kamel, Ph. D., Technical Director, Southwire – Underground Transmission

Mohammad Khajavi, Underground Transmission Design Engineer, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Ben Lanz Director, Applications Engineering, IMCORP

Emmanuel Martin-Lauzer, Director of Business Development, Nexans

Dr. Mark Stemmle, Technical Director, Nexans

Josh Ugrich, Project Manager, Southeast Directional Drilling

Location

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
4030 Crenshaw Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90008

Nearby Hotels:

Luxe City Center Hotel
1020 S Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone: 213-748-1291
6.5 miles

Courtyard by Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE
901 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone: 213-443-9222
6.6 miles

Hotel Figueroa
939 S Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone: 877-724-1973
6.5 miles

Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown
899 Francisco Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: 213-232-8800
6.1 miles

O Hotel
819 S Flower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: 213-623-9904
6.6 miles

Register

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