1
Costs Reduction in Attention to Transmission Lines Faults by
Using Faults Location Equipment
L. de Andrade y R. Guanipa
Abstract― This article analyzes the experience acquired by
C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) by using the faults
location system to improve the attention to failures, from a
reduction in response time stand point and the necessary
resources to perform the work.
The meaning of faults location is explained by showing some
techniques used to improve the precision of failures location in
transmission lines.
Afterwards, the results obtained by the company with the use
of faults location are shown, and how they have favored the
resources optimization, obtaining a positive impact in the
business efficiency by reducing significantly the disabling times,
and indirectly the operation and maintenance costs.
Finally, some examples are shown where the recorders and
faults location equipment have been essential to do a good
address of the resources to solve efficiently the most amount of
failures.
Index of Terms— Analog system fault diagnosis, Fault
currents, Fault diagnosis, Fault location, Oscillography, Power
system faults, Transmission lines, Power system protection.
I. NOMENCLATURE
EDC: La Electricidad de Caracas C. A.
CGRZ: Conjunto Generador Ricardo Zuloaga
OAM: Planta Oscar Augusto Machado
NIS: National Interconnected System
II. INTRODUCTION
The experiences gathered in this article were acquired by
the company C.A. La Electricidad de Caracas, branch of AES
Corp. in Caracas, Venezuela. We show the improvements by
using the faults location system to improve the attention to
failures, from a reduction in response time stand point and the
necessary resources to perform the work.
1
A. The EDC Transmission System
The EDC transmission system is made up of two rings that
encircle the city of Caracas: one is a 230 kV circuit that
connects seven substations by means of 16 lines; the other is a
69 kV circuit consisting of 15 substations, which are
interconnected by 36 lines (Fig. 1). In turn, both rings are
1
L. de Andrade is with the Department of Protection and Control of C.A. La
Electricidad de Caracas an affiliate of the AES Corp., 2299 Caracas 1010-A
Venezuela (e-mail: luis.deandrade@aes.com).
R. Guanipa is with the Department of Air Lines of C.A. La Electricidad de
Caracas an affiliate of the AES Corp., 2299 Caracas 1010-A Venezuela
(e-mail: rommy.guanipa@aes.com).
TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation
interconnected by means of transformers, which are located in
8 different points of the aforementioned system.
The EDC transmission grid has 5370 MVA in installed
capacity and meets its demand (a maximum of 2000 MW) by
means of 2 thermal generation plants: the CGRZ facility (14
units) and the OAM facility (5 units). Energy is exchanged
with the NIS through two interconnection points.
Tacoa / Arrecifes
G
Guaira
Boyacá Tarzilandia
Convento
Curupao
Cota Mil
Bambues
Magallanes
Panamericana
Boulevard
Junquito G
230 kV
Pedrera 69 kV
O.A.M.
Sta. Teresa
Papelón
O.M.Z. N.I.S.
N.I.S.
Fig. 1. Summarized scheme of the EDC transmission system.
B. Evolution of Recorders at the EDC
As a company of electrical service, the EDC has always
been interested in being able to record the electrical faults in
the system. In previous times to the 1980 decade, they used
galvanometric recorders with paper and ink strips which only
measured the residual current in the most important lines of
the system, and they could be consulted locally.
In the 1990 decade this technology was improved by taking
it to all the lines of the two rings, so the company started
experiments with British electronic equipments [1] which gave
electronic records of the current signals and tensions of each
phase, and they could be interrogated remotely via dialed
modem. But almost simultaneously the company also
experimented with another technology that ultimately
prevailed, which was of national development based on
microprocessors with voltage measurements and phase
currents, and also other digital channels were interrogated
remotely via modem on a dedicated channel. We had this kind
of recorders in all the Substations of the rings, but these
equipments did not manage to pass the Y2K tests in satellite
synchronization.

For these and other reasons , it was decided around year
2000to carry out a substitution and extension plan of the
recorders system by one more robust, so by means of a
licitation process, we ended up with a recorder equipment [2]
with other utilities like channels combination, modularity,
possibility of programming calculations algorithms, etc. This
system is used with an output communication serial RS232C
via dialed modem with plans to migrate to communication via
Ethernet. Recently, the lasts equipments have been installed;
covering the transmission rings Substations.
Aside from all the previous, these equipments are the main
tool in a plan of costs reduction for attention to faults by
means of the use of the faults location that the company has
been carrying out. With a didactic purpose and for a better
understanding of this article, next we will explain of what the
faults location consist.
III. FAULTS LOCATION
A. General Principles
At the moment, different methods for the faults location in a
transmission line exist, that differentiate by the mathematical
procedures on which they are based, and by the input signal
they use to reach a result. The simplest methods generally use
the information of tensions and currents registered in both
extreme ends of a line [3].
One of these methods was proposed by Johns and Jamali [4]
and exemplifies the principles of the faults location very well.
This method considers the distributed nature of the lines
characteristics, using functions that represent the variations of
tensions and currents throughout the line.
The fault location is determined with the calculation of the
tension dropout throughout the line from both terminals using
the parameters of positive sequence. The point where the value
of both tensions is equaled is the fault point, as it is in Fig. 2.
Voltage
d
0 RF
Line’s length
Fig. 2. Example of tension dropouts along the line, seen from each end.
The tension dropout VF from each terminal can be
calculated with the expression (1), changing only the value of
the distance d, which depends on the end that is used as
reference:
VF = cosh(γd n )Vn − Z 0 sinh(γd n ) I n (1)
Where γ is the propagation constant, and Z0 is the
characteristic impedance of the line positive sequence,
whereas Vn and In are the voltage and the current in the n and
dn distance from the n extreme to the point of study.
TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation
2
The VF obtained from each end are equal only in the fault
point, therefore distance d can be obtained equaling both
expressions and clearing what is shown in (2):
  V − V2 cosh(γL) + Z 0 I 2 sinh(γL)  1 
d = ℜe tanh −1  1  ( 2)

  Z 0 I 1 − V 2 sinh( γ L ) + Z 0 I 2 cosh( γ L ) γ 
Where L is the overall length of the line and V1, I1; V2, I2 are
the voltages and currents phasors of positive sequence of the
measurements in terminals 1 and 2 respectively.
Theoretically, the distance value to the fault point must be a
real value, but errors due to the line parameters and
measurements, cause that small imaginary components must
be ignored, thus only the real part of (2) is taken.
Although (2) can be obtained for the three sequences, the
positive sequence is only used because it is present in all kinds
of faults and by the easiness in the calculations.
B. Fault Resistance Appraisement
Once the possible place of the fault is known, the values of
zero sequence can be determined from both ends of the line
with the measurements obtained in those points. As shown in
Fig. 2, the voltage in the fault point not necessarily is equal to
zero, because sometimes it exist a resistance between ground
and the fault point. With all this information the tension of true
phase in the fault point can be determined.
With the information of the type of fault previously
identified, and a suitable choice of the fault model, the fault
resistance can be determined from the tension and current
values in the fault point, measured in each one of the ends
from the beginning to the end of this fault. A different circuit
model for each kind of fault exists; Fig. 3 shows the model for
a single-phase fault between phase C and ground.
a a
b b
c I1 I2 c
B1 IF B2
V1 V2
Fig. 3. Model example for a single-phased fault with fault tensions and
currents seen in each end.
Equations (3), (4) y (5) show how to calculate the fault
currents and the resistances seen from each end in order to
appraise the fault resistance of Fig. 3:
I F = (I 1 + I 2 ) (3)
R1 = V1 (4)
I1
R2 = V2 (5)
I2

The fault resistance could be appraised as the arithmetic
average of the resistances seen from each end:
R F = ( R1 + R2 )
(6)
2 If the time ∆t that passes between the arrival of the traveling
C. Other Methods
The method explained above shows in a clear way the
principle for faults location, but is also one of many existing
methods used for this purpose. In many cases, the necessary
information to carry out these calculations is not always
available, and for this reason other methods exist that rely on
other input data like cases where is only given the information
of tensions and currents seen from one end [5], where is
possible to work with impedance seen by the relay until the
fault point as shown in Fig. 4:
ZL=RL+j·XL
Distance to fault = d
Zeq=(dRL+RF)+j·dXL RF
Fig. 4. Singled-line diagram example for a three-phase fault.
If this impedance Zeq can be obtained seen from one end to
the fault point, this distance d can be known using the
imaginary component of Zeq because the fault resistance only
affects the real part of Zeq.
On the other hand, investigations are being conducted
regarding faults location based on traveling waves concepts,
using as information the time differences that exist in the
progressive and regressive waves’ arrival to a same point
derived from a fault. The distance measurement can be
obtained by the description of the waves shown in Fig. 5 with
relations like (7).
∆t
distance
time
Fig. 5. Two way propagation of progressive and regressive traveling waves.
f n = Z 0 ∗ I ( d ,t ) + V( d ,t )
TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation
3
Where Z0 is the characteristic impedance of the line, d is the
distance crossed by the wave and t is the time passed since the
fault occurred.
wave and the regressive one can be measured, and knowing
that the speed of propagation of a traveling wave is close to
the speed of light, the distance from which the wave left can
be determined [6][7].
One of the disadvantages of this method is that, due to the
high speed of propagation, regularly the values of ∆t turn out
to be very small (around µseg.) so measurers with a high
speed and accuracy are needed.
IV. AIR LINES OF THE EDC
A. 69kV and 230kV Transmission Air Lines
At the moment, the EDC maintains and operates 993,6 Km
of Air Lines in 69 kV and 361,7 Km in 230 kV. The regularity
of the maintenance varies according the characteristics of each
line (tension level, relevance, faults average and operation and
maintenance costs).
The maintenance activities made in the transmission lines
are preventive (they include the inspection activities of the
Air Lines Team’s Maintenance Plan, washing of insulators,
painting of the supports, tightening of conductors, change of
insulators and ironworks, revision and substitution of ties).
B. Failures in Transmission Air Lines
The EDC’s Air Lines Team is in charge of the attention to
events reported by the Central Energy Forces which caused
permanent or transitory events in the transmission air line.
The EDC’s Air Lines team classifies the failures according
their cause:
Permanents, when events disable the lines for a prolonged
time which require immediate attention. Among the most
common causes for these events are: extreme atmospheric
conditions such as tropical storm, fires, theft of the conductors,
loosening of conductors, contact with kites and earth or
vegetation sliding.
Transitory, when contact occurs momentarily by elements
with the lines, such as vegetation, atmospheric discharges or
animals. These events although do not imply disabling the line
permanently, can cause the lines to malfunction (for example,
burned insulator chains, damage in the conductors and
ironworks), for this reason an inspection must be carried out in
order to locate and develop the necessary corrective actions.
The location of the fault point has been a determining factor
in the execution of the corrective actions in Transmission
Lines since a great part of the inspections of the EDC’s
Transmission Air Lines is made through the mountains zones
in the Caracas Valley, which makes difficult the line’s
(7 )
inspection (being necessary the use of four-wheel drive
vehicles and even going by foot) and the access to the towers
in order to do the necessary repairs.
 4

The location time and attention to failures has diminished 5. The inspection is being conducted until locating the fault
with the use of new methods in the resources management and point. The used time average can be up to two days for
acquisition of new technologies, being the faults locator one of lines with difficult access.
the most recent technologies. 6. Once located the fault point, logistics are coordinated
This software has facilitated the location of permant events (equipment, tools, materials and personnel) to perform the
in 69 kV and 230 kV lines of the transmission system rings. repairs.
With this resource the faults point location time is perfected 7. The execution of the works is planned out using an
since once made the consultation to the system the personnel average time of one day.
goes to the zones near the point indicated by the locator. Table It is important to emphasize that with the use of the
I shows the total amount of events occurred, the permanent automatic locator steps two, three, four and five are optimized,
events (disabled lines), the events where the automatic faults since taking as reference (more or less one tolerance) the data
location was verified in transmission lines, circa 2005 and of the system, the work fronts are diminished, therefore
2006. Table II shows the detail of some events where the diminishing the personnel, equipment, and locating time of
locations resource was used comparing it with the actual the fault point.
places of the events.
V. SPECIFIC CASES
TABLE I
TOTAL AMOUNT OF OCURRED EVENTS AND PERMANENT EVENTS In order to show in a comprehensive way how this
technology has helped to improve the response times to
TYPE OF EVENT 2005 2006 failures, we are going to show two specific cases, where the
Permanent (Disabled Line) 14 9 faults location has contributed to a better use of the resources,
Permanent (using the Locator) 6 0 personnel and equipment.
TOTAL 14 9
A. 69kV Arrecifes-Magallanes Lines
TABLE II
COMPARISON OF LOCATIONS AND ACTUAL PLACES
The Arrecifes-Magallanes Lines belong to the 69 kV ring
and they include four circuits (Fig. 1), it has a 16 Km of
Line’s Auto Actual Relative
Line
Failure’s
Length
Reference
Loc. Loc. Error conductor over 57 supports. In order to be transferred between
Cause S/E
(Km) (Km) l (Km) (%) their ends (Substations Magallanes and Arrecifes)
Arrecife Atmospheric approximately 30 Km or road must be covered.
16 Mag. 3,26 3 9
-Mag. Discharge In order to inspect all the line’s extension by land, four-
Arrecife wheel drive vehicles must be used to go through different
Theft 16 Mag. 2,54 3 -15
-Mag.
Guaira- sectors. Table III shows the sectors, the distance to cross in
Theft 11 Cota Mil 8,58 9 -5
each one of them and the estimated time for the inspections.
Cota Mil
Guaira-
Theft 11 Guaira 1,82 2 -9
Cota Mil TABLE III
Guaira- Atmospheric SECTIONS OF THE ROUTE USED IN THE INSPECTION
11 Guaira 2,07 2,5 -17
OF THE ARRECIFES-MAGALLANES L INES
Cota Mil Discharge
Arrecife Atmospheric
21 Guaira 4,7 5 -6
-Guaira Discharge INSPECTION TIME KIND OF
Arrecife Atmospheric
SECTION
21 Guaira 4,61 5 -8 (Km) (Hours) ROAD
-Guaira Discharge Paved with
S/E Magallanes 20 1
Traffic
Next is briefly shown a general procedure for the location - Nuevo Horizonte
of a failure: - Nueva Tacagua
1. Information is received from the Central Energy Office - La Zamurera Loose Dirt
47 19
concerning the permanently disabled line. - Las Tunitas Highway
- Huerto Familiar
2. The inspection of the line is planned out taking the
- La Pollera
possible fault points as a starting point, such as lines
crossings, geography, type of access, zones with high S/E Arrecifes 3 1 Paved
occurrence of conductor thefts and vandalism. TOTAL 70 21
3. The work fronts are established according the amount of 2 groups of work
possible points considered in the previous item. 35 10,5
distribution
4. The necessary personnel is planned out and coordinated to
cover all the established work fronts. For this are required Is important to notice that each sector holds an amount of
up to three groups of hired personnel (including two supports, which need to be inspected with long range
liners, two assistants and a farm manager), and two equipment, and also some supports must be accessed by foot
contracted groups (including three liners, two assistants because they are not located at the edge of the road.
and a Farm manager). Due to the great amount of sectors, is necessary the use of
three groups, with hired personnel (including two liners, two

TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation

 5

assistants and a Farm manager), and two contracted groups TABLE V

SECTIONS OF THE ROAD USED IN THE INSPECTION
(with three liners, two assistants and a Form manager). OF THE GUAIRA-COTA MIL L INES
Considering that the total amount of time calculated in
Table III used in the inspection of the line is of approximately SECTOR
INSPECTION TIME KIND OF
12 hours, two days are required since this inspection is not (Km) (Hours) ROAD
carried out in the night time. Loose Dirt
S/E Guaira 2 1
Highway
On March the 10th 2005, the Arrecifes-Magallanes line #3
circuit trips. The information was supplied by the Central - El Ávila N.P. 6 8 Road by Foot
Energy Office at 5:54 am. That same day the records are - Galipan Rustic
2 1
analyzed with the Faults Location System and it is determined Highway
that the fault was located at 2,54 Km from the Substation S/E Cota Mil 1 2 Road by Foot
Magallanes, it was also observed that the over-current was TOTAL 11 12
predominantly in the #2 phase.
Distribution in 2
5.5 6
work groups
nd
On June 2 2005, at 9:26 pm the Guaira-Cota Mil line
trips, #1 circuit. The next day the records are analyzed using
the Faults Location System and it is determined that the fault
was located at 2,42 Km from the Substation Guaira, it was
also observed that the over-current was predominantly in the
#1 phase.
Analyzing the Oscillography record (Fig. 7 and Fig. 8) the
fault’s total current turned out to be very small: 8,96 Ampsec.
(high impedance fault) and also, as shown in Fig. 8, there is no
contribution to fault from the Substation Guaira end, so we
Fig. 6. Oscillography records of the event, at 69 kV Substation Magallanes. presumed the conductor from the #1 phase (which is
transposed in that sector) gave off and fell over El Avila
At 8:19, personnel from the Air Lines Team informed the National Park vegetation, and also due to a lack of
loosening of phase #2 between #51 and #52 supports. This contribution from one of the ends. This current was not
section is located in El Lago de Catia valley at an approximate enough to make the comparison equipment act which is set as
distance of 3 Km from the 69 kV Substation Magallanes. the main protection for this line, so the fault is cleared by a
The reviewing time of the line was approximately of two neutral directional protection in the Substation Cota Mil end
hours and twenty five minutes, and it was used hired that acted as a backup.
personnel. Table IV shows a summary.

TABLE IV
COMPARISON OF THE INVESTED TIME IN THE EVENT WITH
INSPECTIONS MADE THE TRADITIONAL WAY

Hired Contr. Savings

Location Time
Personnel Personnel. H-H H-H
Time (Hours)
(# Pers) (# Pers) (%)
General
Inspection 21 15 12 567 0
Faults
Location 2,42 15 0 36,3 93.6

B. 69 kV Guaira-Cota Mil Lines

The Guaira-Cota Mil lines also belong to the 69 kV ring and Fig. 7. Oscillography records of the event, at 69 kV Substation Magallanes.
consist of two circuits (Fig. 1), it has an 11 Km conductor over
62 supports. These lines have a big part of their trajectory
inside El Avila National Park among zones with high foliage;
the inspections must be made by foot. In order to be
transferred through its ends by car, they must use the borders
of the National Park in over 35 Km of road. Table V shows the
sections, the distance of each one of them and the estimated
time for the inspection.

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 6

TABLE VI
COMPARISON OF THE INVESTED TIME IN THE EVENT WITH
INSPECTIONS MADE THE TRADITIONAL WAY

Hired Contr. Saving

Time
ocation Kind Personnel Personnel H-H H-H
(Hours)
(# Pers) (# Pers) (%)
General
12 15 12 324 0
Inspection
Faults
Location 1.9 15 0 28.5 91.2
Fig. 8. Oscillography records of the event, at 69 kV Substation Guaira.

At the Substation Guaira extreme point did not act any
protection because the imbalance current was lower than the
Cota Mil extreme point (produced solely by the load current of
the other two phases). This current is enough to start, but the
performance of the Substation Cota Mil neutral directional
relay is faster (more imbalance current) so this one acts first
and imbalance current is not seen anymore from the
Substation Guaira, and this one never acts. The extreme point
of the circuit was open manually from the Central Energy
Office.
With all this information, we arrived to the conclusion that
the fault had occurred as shown in Fig. 9, and knowing that the
zone indicated by the faults locator is a high risk zone were
some cases of theft of the conductor took place, we came to
the conclusion that this was another case of conductor robbery
so, along with personnel from the Air Lines Team, the security
guards were informed, and we accomplished savings in
response times.
S/E Guaira S/E Cota Mil
I=0
IF
Fig. 9. Fault’s simplified scheme presumably before the inspection
At 8:54 pm on June 3th 2005, Air Lines Team personnel
informed the loosening of the #1 phase between supports #6
and #7. Besides, evidence was found indicating the conductor
was cut intentionally, so it was indeed an attempt of robbery.
This section is located at an approximated distance of 2 Km
from 69 kV Substation Guaira.
The Line’s reviewing time was approximately of one hour
and fifty-five minutes, and hired personnel were used, Table
IV shows the summary.
VI. CONCLUSION
The continuous technological advances are always offering
new tools for different applications from the industry;
combined with the permanent evolution of hardware that
offers greater robustness and speed of processing, which
facilitates the development of more and more complex
applications.
As shown in this article, the faults location technology
should be a needful tool in the attention of permanent events,
since it considerably reduces the air lines inspection times,
optimizing the resources management personnel, as well as the
necessary equipments to perform the work, which also can be
translated in lower interruption times and a greater quality of
the electrical service.
It is important to notice that like this, many other
technologies in continuous development exist that have
traditionally not been used in the operation and maintenance
of the power systems, and with their use some applications can
be looked into to aid in the improvement process and
efficiency of the company.
In short, we were able to show how with small improvements
in the attention to failures process, thanks to the advances in
faults location, a great improvement was reached in the
process that was carried out with traditional techniques,
therefore improving the quality of the service offered by the
EDC.
VII. REFERENCES
[1] Ferranti Technologies Limited, [online]
http://www.ferranti-technologi es.co.uk
[2] Asea Brown Boveri, model Indactil 650, [online]
http://www.abb.com/Product/seitp332/c1256ccb004e670d
c1256d7b0030f042.aspx?productLanguage=us&country=
US
[3] K. Zimmerman and D. Costello, “Impedance-Based Fault
location experience”, [online] http://www.selinc.com
[4] A. T. Johns and S. Jamali, “Accurate Fault Location
Technique for Power Transmission Lines”, IEEE
Proceedings Generation, Transmission and Distribution,
vol. PAS-137, no. 6, pp. 395-402, 1990.
[5] T. Takagi, Y. Yamakoshi, M. Yamaura, R. Kondou, and
T. Matsushima, “Development of a New Type Fault
Locator Using the One-Terminal Voltage and Current
Data,” IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and

TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation

 7

Systems, Vol. PAS-101, No. 8, August 1982, pp. 2892-

2898.
[6] H. Antonini. “Localización de fallas por método de onda
viajera”, [online]
http://www.bracier.org.br/eventos/02/ciertec4.asp
[7] G. Ancell and N. Pahalawaththa. “Maximun likelihood
estimation of fault location on transmission lines using
travelling waves”, Trans. on Power Delivery, vol 9, N°2,
pp. 680-689, april 1994.

VIII. BIOGRAPHIES

Luis de Andrade was born in

Caracas, Venezuela, on August 26, 1976.
He graduated from Simón Bolívar
University, Caracas, in 2001.
His experience includes positions in
La Electricidad de Caracas, an affiliate
of the AES Corp., and in Nueva Esparta
University in Caracas, Venezuela. His
main area of specialization is protection systems.
L. de Andrade is currently studying for a post-graduate
degree in Power Systems at the Simón Bolívar University, Caracas,
Venezuela.

Rommy Guanipa was born in

Barquisimeto, Venezuela, on August
10, 1974. He graduated from
Experimental Politécnica University,
Barquisimeto, in 2001.
His experience includes works in
different electrical service companies
and is currently working in the Air
Lines area in La Electricidad de Caracas, an affiliate of the
AES Corp.
His main area of specialization is maintenance of power
systems.

TD0048 - First Latin-American Congress on Operational Excellence and Innovation