July 27, 2015 – IEEE says it has enhanced IEEE 80 “Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding”. The guide now presents “more detailed information on the methods used to determine the current value to be used in the Guide design equations and presents new equations to determine the current capabilities of bi-metallic materials that can be used in ground grids”, the association says.

“IEEE 80 is the world’s primary source for guidance on AC substation grounding. Surveys have shown that as many as 80% of the utility engineers doing ground-grid design around the world either directly or indirectly rely on IEEE 80,” said Richard Keil, chair of the IEEE 80 Grounding Working Group. “The newest changes to the guide are intended to enhance the users’ overall knowledge of ground grid design and provide more detailed information to design a ground grid that applies anywhere in the world.”

IEEE 80, initially issued in 1961, proposes safe grounding practices for the design of primarily outdoor AC substations—either conventional or gas-insulated—for electric distribution or transmission and generating plants. In some instances, IEEE 80 methods can also be applied to grounding of indoor AC substations.

Also in the enhancements, a new annex presents benchmarks that compare the IEEE equations with commercially available software. The changes defined in IEEE 80-2013/Cor 1-2015, IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation Grounding – Corrigendum 1 have been incorporated into IEEE 80-2013.

IEEE 80 is available for purchase at the IEEE Standards Store.