Investigation of capacitive effect on XLPE type medium voltage cables

Electrical energy is the most widely used form of energy due to its technical superiority in the areas of production, transmission, distribution, and using, although its a very costly energy source. Therefore, it should be produced with minimum cost and maximum savings, and losses should be minimized. Further, rapid population growth and technological advances increase the amount of power demanded. To meet this increasing energy demand, besides increasing production, it should be used with the highest efficiency in the existing energy produced. For this reason, this valuable energy source is conveyed in a lossless manner from its production to its end-user. In the transmission and distribution of the electrical energy generated, its current and voltage must be delivered to the final receiver in the form of a full sine curve, which is one of the main factors that indicate the quality of electrical energy. - In this thesis, the capacitive (reactive) effect of XLPE type power cables used in medium voltage distribution systems has been investigated. XLPE type cables used in electrical transmission and distribution systems cause a reactive effect because the structure of these cables is similar to capacitors that consist of an insulating material placed between two conductive plates. If this reactive effect is not eliminated, it considerably causes increment on losses and costs, and decrement on the capacity. The most useful way to eliminate this negative effect is to utilize the compensation technique. For this reason, the structure of shunt reactors, which is one of the methods developed depending on technological improvements, is examined. Moreover, compensation applications used in medium voltage distribution and low voltage systems are examined. In the last part of the thesis, the medium voltage distribution network, which is approximately 5500 m long, was analyzed with the measurements. The simulation was performed by modeling XLPE cable by using data from the distribution network and the PSCAD / EMTDC program. The results of the simulation and the distribution network were compared to verify the validity of the analysis.