The purpose of this paper is to present an application which historically, did not make use of computing methodology in the solution of design problems. The design of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) ground electrodes involves the careful selection of several parameters in order to meet strict operating constraints. In particular, the operation of HVDC ground electrodes, results in a rise of the surrounding soil temperature which must be reasonably computed so as to permit safe operation of the grounding network.

Ongoing research for an online diagnosis tool for power network control centers is described. The tool is designed to help operator in his decision process and departs from the usual approach in that it makes use of fuzzy sets theory. Following a brief description of the problem, application of fuzzy concepts is described through illustrative examples.>