Incremental Voltage Uprating of Transmission Lines

Many electric utilities face the problem of expanding transmission systems where new transmission line right-of-way (ROW) is increasingly more costly and difficult to obtain. One alternative is to uprate the voltage of lines on existing ROW to obtain increased transmission capacity. This paper discusses the technical and economic considerations of incrementally uprating the voltage of existing lines. Cost comparisons are made with building new lines on new ROW. There is a broad range of ROW costs and system transmission requirements where voltage uprating of existing transmission lines may be economically attractive.