Abstract: In high voltage power cable, partial discharge (PD) phenomenon may occur within defects that can exist in its insulation system. Repetition of PD activity inside the defect may cause insulation breakdown when the defect grows until it bridges the electrodes between the insulation. Micro-cracks can be formed during cable installation or during passing heavy mechanical load above the underground power cable. This crack defect is one of the most common PD sources when cable insulation is stressed under high electric field. In this paper, electric field distribution within 132kV cross linked polyethylene cable was calculated and discussed using Finite Element Method. The effect of micro-crack size and location on the electric field distribution was presented.