Assessment and mitigation of the environmental impact of EHV power lines is
a subject of current research due to the possible associated health hazards. The electric
field beneath the line and the field on the conductor surface are known to be main
sources of concern from an environmental standpoint. The present approach serves as
means of reducing the electric field under EHVAC lines using ground shield wires. The
aim is to determine the optimal ground shield wire heights and clearances to satisfy a set
of field limitations on the conductors as well as on the ground. Genetic Algorithms, GAs,
are employed to arrive at the required optimal clearances through an appropriate fitness
function. The merits of the proposed approach are demonstrated for 3-phase horizontallyarranged
500kV single circuit transmission line. Results show the effectiveness and
accuracy of the proposed approach.