Power Industry Attempts to Untangle Cable Issue with New Technology

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources( Sugar Land, Texas)--Environmental groups across the country are filing lawsuits against utility companies and the Energy Department concerning electric-transmission corridors that will impact large swaths of land and animals, including protected or rare species. The land that will be designated transmission corridors are needed for power-line transmission towers in order to move electricity from power plants, which are typically built away from urban areas, to the end users.

The Southwest corridor includes millions of acres of protected federal and state land from southern California through Nevada and into Arizona. The Mid-Atlantic corridor, which spans several states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia, would use 116,000 square miles of land. That's the bad news, but technology could very well save the day. New high-voltage cable technology, which is being tested, could be implemented just in time to prevent more electrical towers from being built in these corridors.

American Electric Power Company Incorporated (NYSE:AEP) has allowed Southwire and nkt cables, a European cable company, to install a new high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power-cable system at its Bixby substation in Groveport, Ohio. The state-of-the-art cable, called Triax HTS, operating at extremely low temperatures, will virtually eliminate all resistance to the flow of electrical current. HTS cables can deliver up to 10 times more electricity than traditional copper or aluminum cables using the existing high-voltage towers over longer distances and at lower voltages. Because of the lower voltages involved, large power transformers, which step up or step down existing currents, could be located farther away from densely populated areas, freeing up valuable real estate. The new HTS cables, although called high-temperature, operate at temperatures just below the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (minus 321 degrees Fahrenheit). A cross-sectional view of the cable includes a copper core surrounded by an HTS tape shield, copper shield wire and liquid nitrogen coolant then thermal super insulation and an outer protective coating. Partners involved in perfecting this technology are American Superconductor, Praxair and the Energy Department's Oak Ridge Laboratory.

Xcel Energy has installed 3M's new aluminum conductor composite reinforced (ACCR) overhead conductor cable on a 10-mile stretch of transmission line it calls the Black Dog-Blue Lake line in Minnesota from Xcel's Blue Lake plant, which it is in the process of expanding. Without the new technology cable, Xcel Energy would have to replace the existing towers to accommodate larger traditional conductors. This new technology more than doubles the transmission capacity of the span. ACCR contains a multi-strand core of heat-resistant aluminum matrix composite wires, which retain their strength at high temperatures and are not adversely affected by environmental conditions, such as moisture or UV exposure. Because of its light weight and reduced thermal expansion properties, the conductor can be installed on existing towers. These new cable technologies are coming along just in time to meet our growing demand for energy and are also one answer to how the Power Industry looks for new ways to protect the environment.

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