Medium Voltage Cable
With a comprehensive range of Medium Voltage cables, our MV testing laboratory, and experts to provide technical and regulatory advice, Eland Cables is an MV specialist.
There's huge variations in construction, standards and the materials used - specifying the correct MV cable for a project is a matter of balancing the performance requirements, installation demands, and environmental challenges, and then ensuring cable, industry, and regulatory compliance. With the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) defining Medium Voltage cables as having a voltage rating of above 1kV up to 100kV that's a broad voltage range to consider. It's more common to think as we do in terms of 3.3kV to 69kV, before it becomes high voltage. We can support cable specifications in all voltages.
Selecting the right Medium Voltage Cable for your project
There are many options for construction, standards, and the materials used. The format can be single core, three core, or single core triplex. These are the most commonly specified.
Medium Voltage Cable Construction:
| MV Cable Layer | MV Cable Materials |
|---|---|
| Conductor | Copper or Aluminium - Class 1 solid, Class 2 stranded (circular, circular compacted, sectorial) |
| Optional: Conductor Waterblocking | Swellable powders or swellable yarns in stranded interstices |
| Conductor Screen | Semi-Conductive Layer |
| Insulation | XLPE (Cross-linked Polyethylene) or EPR (Ethylene Propylene Rubber) |
| Insulation Screen | Semi-Conductive Layer |
| Optional: Waterblocking - Longitudinal | Swellable powders |
| Metallic Screen | Copper Wires and/or Copper Tape (around individual cores) |
| Optional: Waterblocking - Longitudinal | Swellable Tape |
| Optional: Inner Sheath | Applied where Armour is also applied. PVC or LSZH compound |
| Optional: Armour | Single Core: Aluminium Wires / Tape Multi-Core: Galvanised Steel Wires / Tape (Wires can be circular or flat, tapes can be single or double layer flat or corrugated) |
| Optional: Waterblocking - Radial | Aluminium/PET Tape with the aluminium side tightly bonded to outer sheath |
| Outer Sheath | LDPE, MDPE (Low/Medium Density Polyethylene), PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen). Additives to offer resistance to UV, oils & greases, water, flames, termites, and other environmental factors can be added as required. |
Medium Voltage Cable Standards:
The standards most commonly referred to with Medium Voltage cables are:
| MV Cable Standard |
MV Standard Description |
|---|---|
| IEC 60502-2 | Cables with extruded insulation with voltage rating between 6kV and 30kV |
| BS6622 | Armoured cable with PVC outer sheathing and voltage rating from 3.3/6kV to 19/33kV |
| BS7835 | Armoured cable with LSZH outer sheathing and voltage rating from 3.3/6kV to 19/33kV |
| BS7870-4.10 | Single core cables for distribution utilities with extruded insulation up to and including 11kV and 33kV |
| HD620 | Cables with extruded insulation and voltage ratings 3.6/6 (7.2)kV to 20.8/36 (42)kV (often seen in conjunction with IEC60502-2) |
| DIN VDE 0276 Part 620 | Distribution cables of nominal voltages 3.6kV to 20.8/36kV |
There are also industry-specific standards, such as the Network Rail NR/PS/ELP/00008 standard for trackside power cables, which includes the graphite-coated MDPE sheathed 19/33kV and 25/44kV cable.
Regulatory Compliance - CPR for MV Cables:
It's important to identify early in the specification process whether regulatory requirements such as CPR compliance apply to the the cables you're selecting - it may impact the choice of construction and materials used. Is the cable being used in an internal installation or being terminated inside a building? Geographically where is the installation (is there a minimum CPR class to achieve in a cable)?
There are CPR compliant MV cables sheathed in PVC and LSZH materials, holding up to CPR Class Cca, and meeting relevant standards - including holding third-party approvals. It just speak to a member of the team and they can help guide you to a cable that meets your requirements.
MV Cable Sizes:
Our 10kV, 11kV, 20kV, 22kV, 30kV and 33kV cables are available in the following cross-sectional size ranges (depending on Copper/Aluminium conductors). Larger sizes are often available upon request.
| 10kV single core | 35mm2 to 500mm2 |
| 10kV 3-core | 35mm2 to 240mm2 |
| 11kV single core | 50mm2 to 1000mm2 |
| 11kV 3-core | 35mm2 to 400mm2 |
| 20kV single core | 50mm2 to 500mm2 |
| 20kV 3-core | 35mm2 to 630mm2 |
| 22kV single core | 50mm2 to 630mm2 |
| 22kV 3-core | 50mm2 to 500mm2 |
| 30kV single core | 50mm2 to 500mm2 |
| 33kV single core | 70mm2 to 1000mm2 |
| 33kV 3-core | 50mm2 to 400mm2 |
MV Cable Nomenclature:
MV cables can obviously be referred to by their standard and the materials used (eg: Cu for Copper, XLPE for Cross-linked Polyethylene) but they're often referred to by country-specific naming conventions.
German MV Cable Nomenclature is:
| N | MV cable according to DIN VDE 0276 |
| A | Aluminium (Al) conductor |
| [blank] | Copper (Cu) conductor |
| 2X | Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation |
| S | Screen of copper wires and copper tape, helically wound |
| SE | Screen of copper wires and copper tape over each individual core, helically wound |
| (F) | Longitudinal water tightness |
| (FL) | Longitudinal and transversal (Radial) water tightness |
| Y | Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) sheath |
| 2Y | Polyethylene (PE) sheath |
| H | Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) sheath |
So NA2XSH would be a single core Aluminium conductor cable, with XLPE insulation, metallic screen, and LSZH outer sheathing, whilst an N2XSE(FL)2Y would be a 3 core Copper, XLPE, Copper screened cable with longitudinal and radial waterblocking and a PE (normally MDPE) sheathing.
Portuguese Medium Voltage cables however use a different nomenclature which includes these abbreviations:
| X | Copper (Cu) Conductor |
| LX | Aluminium (Al) conductor |
| H | Cross-linked Polyethylene (XLPE) |
| I | Screen of copper tape |
| O | Screen of copper wires |
| 1A | Aluminium Tape Armour (for Single Core cables) |
| A | Steel Tape Armour (for Multi-Core cables) |
| 1R | Aluminium Wire Armour (for Single Core cables) |
| R | Steel Wire Armour (for Multi-Core cables |
| E | Polyethylene (PE) |
| V | Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) |
| (be) | Waterblocking yarns (over Metallic screen) |
| (cbe) | Conductor Waterblocking |
This means a cable named LXHIO1AE would be a single core Aluminium conductor cable with XLPE insulation, Copper wire and tape screen, Aluminium Wire Armour and PE sheathing and an XHIV cable would have a Copper conductor, XLPE insulation, Copper tape screen, and PVC sheath.
Support with MV Cable Specification
It's essential for the longevity and efficiency of your installation that the MV Cables you specify are closely optimised to match the requirements. For support with this, navigating the standards, construction and compliance requirements, you can contact our technical team by email on technical@elandcables.com or by telephone on +44 (0)20 7241 8500. We can discuss your specific project requirements and our international Medium Voltage cable and accessories solutions.
MV Cable Stockholding and Supply
Once you've identified the correct construction and standards, we can supply your MV cables against your project timelines - whether that's as an urgent requirement coming direct from stock, despatched same-day, or manufactured and delivered against your schedule, via our fleet - including using hiab self-offloading vehicles where needed.
Our MV cables are available in specific lengths as well as in extended long lengths to aid installation and to reduce the number of joints. Accompanying cable accessories, with the cable size calibrated to match seamlessly, can also be provided.
Custom designed Medium Voltage cables
For efficiency and longevity, every MV cable should be tailored to the installation but there are times when a truly bespoke cable is needed. Our MV cable experts can work with you to design a solution that matches your requirements. Most commonly, customisations affect the area size of the metallic screen, which can be adjusted to change the short circuit capacity and earthing provisions.
In every case, the technical data is provided to demonstrate suitability and the specification honed for manufacture. All customised solutions are subject to enhanced testing in our MV Cable Testing Facility.
Contact the team to speak to one of our specialists.
Medium Voltage cable testing facility
Given the critical nature of the infrastructure connection created with MV cables, reliability, quality and compliance are vital. To provide the necessary assurances of this to both electrical engineers and their end-user customers, we test our MV cables in our specialist testing facility.
Our MV facility is an extension of The Cable Lab where we undertake tests on cables of rated voltage 3.3/6.6kV and upwards. This includes key tests such as the cable integrity withstand test, also known as VLF testing to determine any failure in the sheathing material. It provides comprehensive quality assurance on British Standard and European/IEC standard MV cables, armoured or unarmoured, as well as industry-specific MV cables such as DNO 11kv and 33kv, and Network Rail trackside power 25/44kV.
Medium Voltage Cable
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