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Undergrounding of cables

 

It is becoming increasingly easy to place cables underground. The cost is presently reckoned to be around three to five times that of utilising overhead cables. Against this one must factor in

• The environmental cost of delay (see Stern on dangers of delay)
• The actual cost of delay - import of fossil fuels for longer than needed
• Loss of arbitrage on electricity over delay (see the income form Nor Ned link)
• benefits of ensuring local populace comfortable with aesthetics ( public acceptance of principles)

Problems with HVDC underground are presently lack of capacity as this is confined to VSC related technology which has lower transmission capacity than tradional HVDC.

 

VSC Controlled Direct Current Transmission

Known as HVDC Light (ABB) or HVDV plus (Siemens), VSC based systems have several advantages - including the ability to be laid underground withing a very small footprint.

see Advanced Transmission Technologies paper for pictures of HVDC Light Construction and Murraylink construction