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INCA – Increased Capacity in New and Existing Power Grids

The INCA project (Increased Capacity in New and Existing Power Grids) will develop software and new technology to increase utilization of the existing cable grid and increase transmission capacity by 20 to 70%. By modeling time-varying current, available capacity in the grid will be identified and made available. This will provide more flexibility to operate the grid efficiently.

INCA will develop and integrate REN’s software for calculating transmission capacity, Grøft Design®, with real-time monitoring of cable installations from SafeBase. This enables utility companies to utilize the true transmission capacity of the cable grid.

Today, capacity calculations are performed using table lookups in national standards, software based on established IEC standards, or general-purpose simulation software based on numerical methods. The first two offer limited flexibility, while the last requires expert competence, is computationally intensive, and is specific to each individual cable installation.

SINTEF Energi will research strategies and methods to make such numerical models both flexible and computationally efficient so they can be used in Grøft Design®. To verify the electrothermal models, SINTEF Energi will conduct scaled laboratory experiments and compare models with data collected from cables in service.

Better utilization of the existing cable grid will provide significant socio-economic and environmental benefits:

  • By reducing the use of resource-intensive raw materials like aluminum and copper
  • Reducing land degradation by offsetting development of new infrastructure
  • Increasing capacity for connecting renewable power generation, especially wind and solar
  • Making more transmission capacity available to customers faster than through new grid investments
  • Increasing the capacity of charging infrastructure, leading to lower CO₂ emissions from industry and transport

INCA runs over three years from 2024–2027 and has a budget of 32 million NOK. The project is developed by REN, SafeBase and SINTEF Energi in cooperation with grid and power companies Tensio, Mellom, Glitre Nett, Arva, BKK, Statkraft and, as of April 2026, Elvia.

A core deliverable of the project is time-varying dynamic load modeling in Grøft Design®, see Dynamic Simulations, which lets users move beyond static and cyclic IEC ratings to arbitrary, measured, or statistically represented load profiles.

Pilot projects

Nine grid companies are running pilots to verify the models and technology developed in INCA, covering both regional and distribution networks:

  1. Statkraft – A 2000 mm² conductor 132 kV cable with integrated fiber, laid both in tunnel and culvert. The cable is heavily loaded. Focus is on temperature measurement..
  2. Tensio – A water-cooled cable installation in the Trondheim regional grid (66 kV), with sections in direct burial as well as concrete ducts banks. DTS measurements, temperature logging, and comparison against Grøft Design® are underway; the installation also has natural ventilation.
  3. Mellom – Point measurement on a cable connecting to a wind farm, using NSO for data collection.
  4. Arva – Measurement of sheath/screen currents on a cross-bonded installation.
  5. Glitre Nett – Two cases in Kristiansand, on hard-loaded regional-grid cables laid direct and in culverts, focused on dynamic capacity for cables in air. No cable with integrated fiber is available, so testing will use a separate fiber.
  6. BKK Nett – Evaluating several candidate cases; BKK already monitors around 300 substations with SafeMon and will test DKO integration with SCADA.
  7. Lede – Measurements underway on a medium-voltage cable with integrated fiber; some fiber splices have shown excessive loss.
  8. Lnett – Measurements along a roughly 2 km route with two parallel cables and fiber
  9. Elvia – Joined the project in April 2026. Pilot on a cable to a wind farm with existing DTS; the new DTS installed in INCA will be verified against it. The cable has a crossing with district heating infrastructure that is of particular interest.

Two DTS systems — one multi-mode, one single-mode — have been procured for the pilots under AP7.

Functionality being developed and implemented in Grøft Design® through INCA connects to several existing feature areas:

  • Dynamic Simulations — cyclic, 24‑hour cyclic, and variable/time-series load modeling, extended in INCA with arbitrary, repeating, and statistically represented dynamic loads.
  • Magnetic Field Shielding — FEM-based modeling of magnetic field mitigation around cable installations, relevant to the 3D and complex-geometry modeling work in AP2/AP5.

Publications

Results from the project are being published in peer-reviewed journals and at international conferences (CIGRE, CIRED, Jicable). Recent CIGRE Session 2026 papers arising from the project’s cable-in-air and trough work include: