Influence of vertical grounding electrodes on electrical characteristics of grounding systems

The safety of grounding systems for substations or power generating stations in high resistivity areas is very important in the power system, since the grounding systems need to be buried very deeply as a very important countermeasure to improve the safety of substations or power generating stations. The influences of vertical grounding electrodes on grounding resistance, step and touch voltages were analyzed numerically. The results show that the vertical grounding electrodes can effectively decrease grounding resistance, step and touch voltages of the grounding system and reduce the influence of seasonal factors on the grounding system. However, the grounding system becomes saturated as more vertical grounding electrodes are arranged in a substation with a fixed size. The analysis results provide a very useful reference for electrical engineers.