Effect of Earth on the Calculation of Capacitance

Earth affects the calculation of capacitance of three-phase lines as its presence alters the electric field lines. Usually the height of the conductors placed on transmission towers is much larger than the spacing between the conductors. Therefore the effect of earth can be neglected for capacitance calculations, especially when balanced steady state operation of the power system is considered. However for unbalanced operation when the sum of the three line currents is not zero, the effect of earth needs to be considered.