Notes

Voltage Levels to IEC 60038 

By on

The standard aims to consolidate AC and traction voltages within the industry and defines the following bands:

  • band 1 - A.C. systems 100 V to 1000 V
  • band 2 - A.C and D.C traction systems
  • band 3 - A.C. systems above 1 kV to 35 kV
  • band 4 - A.C. systems above 35 kV to 230 kV
  • band 5 - A.C. systems above 245 kV

A.C. systems 100 V to 1000 V

Nominal Voltage, V
Three-phase four-wire or three-wire systems Single-phase three-wire systems
50 Hz 60 Hz 60 Hz
- 208/120 240/120
- 240 -
400/230 4808/277 -
690/400 480 -
- 600/347 -
1000 600 -

Supply voltage range ±10 % at the supply terminals
Supply terminal to final equipment maximum 4% voltage drop

A.C and D.C traction systems

Voltage, V
Lowest Nominal Highest Frequency
D.C. Systems
(400) (600) (720)
500 750 900
1000 1500 1600
2000 3000 3600
A.C. Single Phase Systems
(4750) (6250) (6900) 50 or 60
12000 15000 17250 16 2/3
19000 25000 27500 50 or 60

Bracketed are non preferred and should not be used if possible

A.C. systems above 1 kV to 35 kV

Voltage, kV
Series I Series 2
Highest Nominal Highest Nominal
3.6 3.3 3 4.40 4.16
7.2 6.6 6
12 11 10
13.2 12.47
13.97 13.2
14.52 13.8
(17.5) (15)
24 22 20
26.47 24.94
36 33
36.5 34.5
40.5 35

 It is recommended that only one series be used.

A.C. systems above 35 kV to 230 kV

Voltage, kV
Highest Nominal Voltage, V
(52) (45)
7.25 66 69
123 110 115
145 132 138
(170) (150)
245 220 230

Only one series should be used in each country

A.C. systems above 245 kV

Recommended in each geographical group only one of the following be used:

  • 245 kV - 300 kV - 262 kV
  • 362 kV - 420 kV
  • 420 kV 550 kV

 

Highest Voltage, kV
(300)
362
420
550
800
1050
1200
, , , , ,

More interesting Notes:
Steven McFadyen's avatar Steven McFadyen

Steven has over twenty five years experience working on some of the largest construction projects. He has a deep technical understanding of electrical engineering and is keen to share this knowledge. About the author

myElectrical Engineering

comments powered by Disqus

Hazardous Areas – IEC and NEC/CEC Comparison

Depending where in the world you work, you are likely following one of two standards International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) National...

How to Calculate Motor Starting Time

Request to look at induction motor starting time have come up a few times on the site. Hopefully in this post, I give you guys some idea on how to calculate...

IEC 60287 Current Capacity of Cables - Rated Current

In the previous note we looked at the approach taken by the standard to the sizing of cables and illustrated this with an example.  We then looked at one...

Post Authorship

In 2011, with the introduction of it’s Panda search ranking algorithms, Google introduced tools for determining the original author of posts.  The intention...

Why is electricity so hard to understand?

It's been a busy few months on different projects or busy couple of decades depending on how I look at it. I can say that on the odd (frequent) occasion...

Switchboard - Forms of Internal Separation

IEC 61439 'Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear assemblies', specifies standard arrangements of switchboard (call forms of internal separation). The...

What happened to the cable notes?

If you are wondering what happened to our cable notes, the short answer is that we have moved them to myCableEngineering.com.  The "Knowledge Base" at...

IEEE Winds of Change

IEEE TV has a part series of videos on wind power and it's implication. For a really good overview to the technologies and issues around wind power, these...

Cable Sheath and Armour Loss

When sizing cables, the heat generated  by losses within any sheath or armour need to be evaluated. When significant, it becomes a factor to be considered...

Paternoster Lifts

These lifts were first built in 1884 by J. E. Hall and called a paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) due to its...

Have some knowledge to share

If you have some expert knowledge or experience, why not consider sharing this with our community.  

By writing an electrical note, you will be educating our users and at the same time promoting your expertise within the engineering community.

To get started and understand our policy, you can read our How to Write an Electrical Note. 

Footer
(click here to extend)
Copyright (c) 2025 myElectrical