Fully water blocked 11 kV cable

The ingress of moisture into 11 kV distribution cables, resulting from third party damage is a major practical concern to utilities. To address this problem a fully radially and longitudinally water blocked 3 core 11 kV cable with XLPE insulation and corrugated aluminium sheath has been developed. The design philosophy for the water blocked cable was to retain many of the features of an existing utility design whilst modifying the latter to offer both longitudinal and radial water blocking in all elements of the construction. The authors describe the development and testing of the new design.<>