peat JUNE 2016 US RCL i Ue Ce UU Cla S direnreann COU Ue eRe ae aPerformance Transmission Conductors Are Improving Grid Efficiency And why it matters.1 the power delivery business most of us associate the word efficiency with improvements in genera- tion equipment, transformers and demand side appliances, While new more efficient components in many cases are more expensive than the less efficient units they replace, their higher prices have generally been easy to justify due to their reduced operating and lifecycle costs. In 1992 the Energy Star" program was established to promote improved efficiency for appliances and building materials. This helped consumers better understand what they were buying and helped manufacturers market their improved products, Subsidies were often provided in many instances to inspire consumer investment and reduce the need to build new generation at presumably higher costs ‘More recently our smart grid strategy was developed to help decrease peak load demand by shifting certain tasks to off peak hours, Recharging electic vehicles, being one example. ‘What's surprising is how little any of us actually think about the efficiency of the grid itself that connects our appli- ances, homes and electri cars to generation. Most of the wire used for this currencly consists of aluminum strands wrapped around a steel core. ‘This wie is called Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced, ACSR, and the technology is more than a hundred years old In the seventies, sv conductor design was created. Iewas nductor Stcel Supported, ACSS. Is very similar to ACSR, but the amin stands wer named Aluminum re-annealed in the factory. This allowed ACSS to operate at higher temperatures tw accommodate increased loads ‘The problem with ACSS is that, at higher operating tem- peracures, line loses climb exponentially. The other problem is that, as the wire heas up duc to electrical resistance ts high coeficient of chermal expansion causes it to sag which can lead to sag-trip outages. ‘The major east coast blackout of 2003, for instance, was caused by excessive conductor sag “To mitigate conductor sag~ in the wake ofthe major east coast blackout — a number of companies introduced High-Capacty, Low-Sag conductors, HCLS. These designs used composite cores that allowed chem to catty very high levels of curs ‘without exhibiting excessive conductor sag or suffering from, excessive line loses ‘One company’s product, Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced, ACCR, wses a metal matrix composite that replaces the conventional steel core wires. The ACCR core is actually a fiber reinforced aluminum, so its clecerical resistance and efficiency is greatly improved over conventional steel core that offers very poor conductivity. ‘Another company’s product, Aluminum Conductor Com- posite Core, ACC, uses a non-conductive carbon and glass fiber core, Because ths core isso much stronger and lighter than Dave Bryantis director for technology at CTC Global Corporation in irvine, California, Dave was one ofthe inventors of the ACCC conductor, and primary author of “Engineering Transmission Lines with High-Capacity, Low-Sag ACCC Conductor.” He has supported cover four hundred ACCC installations in mare than forty countries sel, che design incorporates an Leveraging high additional twenty-cight percent performance ‘more aluminum without a weight conductors or diameter penalty. The added improve shui eaten atl improved quality serves to lower electrical efficiency and reliability, allow resistance, and cherefore effectively reduces line losses by twenty-five increased +0 forty percent or more compared i to steal reinforced akernatves. capac ity of Leveraging high performance existing lin@s. — conduccors has become particu — larly important today. They noc only serve o improve efficiency and reliability, they als allow us to increase the capacity of existing transmission lines so we can access cleaner sources of generation. The climate change discussion, Clean Power Plan (pending court review), State initiatives and ulkimately carbon taxes and carbon credits are pushing this need now more than evr “To fully appreciate how high perlormance conductors work, consider a project recently completed by one ofthe larger utilities in the U.S. The goal was to upgrade two 345 kiloVole circuits, fora hundred and twenty miles, ro accommodate substantial increas in local demand The utility replaced existing ACSR with ACCC wichout having to replace or reinforce existing structures. Ths effectively increased line capacity by seventy-five percent, while maintaining an additional six hundred amps of emergency reserve. ‘The project achieved exactly what it sec out co. And did so while ¢ line remained energized. It was actually the largest liveline reconductor project ever undertaken, Plus, the project was completed months ahead of schedule ‘What the utility also realized, but probably didn’ think Ne 7016 Ponue Ura Fostwemy 5300 much about initially, was a thirty percent reduction in line losses. While project details are generally not shated publi- cally, using a few reasonable assumptions, we can put this into farther perspective Assume a load factor of thirty-four percent, and the States average carbon dioxide emission rate forall combined sources of generation at 1,279 pounds per megawatchour. The wily should realize a reduction in line losses of ver one hundred and forty thousand megawatt-houts, and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of wel over eighty thousand mestc tons per year per circuit. The combined savings of one hundred and sixty thousand metric tons per year is noc insignificant Ta ths case, the line loss reductions should save this uly over sixteen million dollars per year assuming a wholesale electricity cost, of sinty dollars per megawatchour. Referring back to efficient appliance subsidies, it seems delivering more power more efficiently may be a better business ‘model than paying customers to useless ‘The generation capacity savings of over thirty-cight megawatts should offer further incentive to leverage high-performance conductor technology. Ieis often stated that its cheaper to save a negawatt than it is to produce a megawatt In the case of delivering power, this isalso very cue To put this in even greater perspective, a carbon dioxide «mission reduction of one-hundred and sixty thousand metric consis the equivalent of removing over thirty-five thousand cats fiom the road. In this case, every mile of wansmission conductor upgrade reduces carbon dioxide emissions by six hundred and sinty-seven metic tons per year. That's like removing a hundred and fory cars per circuit mile 66 Every mile of transmission upgrade reduces emissions si ‘Assuming an installed conductor upgrade cose of three hun- ded thousand dollars per circuit mile, this would equate to a ‘one-time emission reduction cost of four hundred and fifty dollars pee metre con. Or four dollars and change per metre con over its anticipated forty year service lif. ‘Though things ate changing quickly, the federal government currently offer a seventy-five hundred dollar rebate for purchas- cers of electric cars. That equates to a government investment of $1,579 per metric ton of emission reduction, not including the cost of the car. The use of high performance transmission ‘conductors offers a far better solution with many additional benefits at a fraction of the cost [Not considering gid effciency —and not taking action ~isa highly wasted opportunity. When and if there is che opportunity to consider transmission lines, the importance of leveraging high performance conductors should be considered, ‘Ac the end of day, the carbon dioxide emission savings will cost nothing, Because the lin loss reductions, generation capacity savings, and higher sales volume will have already paid for the project cost several times over in a matter of months. 1938 Speech by President Franklin Roosevelt on Electrification “Fourtean years ago a democratic Yankee, ‘ comparatively young man, came to 2 nsighboring county inthe State of Georgia, in soarch ofa pool of warm water wherein he might swim his way back to heath; and he found it. The place ~ Warm Springs — ‘was at hat time a ratho altanidated small summer resort. His new neighbors there etended to him the hand of genuine hos- pital, weleomed him to thet resides and made him feel so much at home that he 54 Pose Uris Fortis sine 2016 bul himself a house ‘There was only one discordant note in that frst stay of mine at Warm Springs \When the fist of the month bill came in for electric light for my litle cottage, 1 found thatthe charge was eighteen cents jor kilowatt hour — about four timos as ‘much as | was paying in another com munity, Hyde Park, New York. That light bill started my long study of proper public uility charges for electric current, started in my mind the whole subject of getting flectricty inte farm homes throughout the United States So, my friends, i can be said with a ood deal of truth that a litle cottage at ‘Warm Springs, Georgia, vas te bhplace ofthe Rural Electrification Administration . Electric is a modern necessity fle, not ‘luxury. That nacessty ought to be found in every vag, in every home andl on every farm in every part ofthe United Stats.”