11kV Powerlines

[Blackbeard]

This is just out of curiosity, not really relevant in professional terms:

I often see rural 11kV Powerlines in the UK with 2 rather than 3 lines, so I'm wondering if that would be 2 phases or a line and a neutral - and if it's a neutral where would that go to ?

 

[brianmoooore]

2 wires = 1 phase. 11kV between the wires, but 5.5kV each relative to earth. The 'neutral' is formed after the consumer's step down transformer by earthing one side of the 230V output to a rod or bare copper radials, or, in my case to the centre of the 230-0-230 volt output.

 

[Julie.]

2 wires = 1 phase. 11kV between the wires, but 5.5kV each relative to earth. The 'neutral' is formed after the consumer's step down transformer by earthing one side of the 230V output to a rod or bare copper radials, or, in my case to the centre of the 230-0-230 volt output.

6.35kV to earth.

Not 5.5kV

It's a single phase supply formed from two phases of the 11kV three phase system, not a single phase supply centre tapped for the earth.

The earth is formed from the star point of a 33kV/11kV transformer secondary (usually - there are actually other ways of forming the star point for the earth, but at 11kV using a star secondary is most common)

Just the same as in an industrial setting, a single phase 400V load across two of the three phases from the three-phase supply - each phase is still 230V to earth not 200V