Composite Technology Corporation (fka CPTQE)

[bogeyschen]

Test line in Georgia? Has this been posted yet?

https://crn.cooperative.com/News/newsitems/2006/20061106RE02.htm

November 2006 Vol. 65, No. 2
SITING LINES, ROUTING POWER
Siting new lines and upgrading old ones is easier today with technology pioneered at co-op G&Ts
By Bill Koch
Siting a new transmission line these days is one of the most demanding and controversial projects a G&T can take on, with scrutiny from regulators and citizen groups often making it a long and arduous process. But a new, field-proven approach offers a way to bring balance and consistency to the task of choosing line corridors that minimize impacts while keeping costs under control.
The Electric Power Research Institute (epri.com) and Georgia Transmission Corporation have developed a comprehensive, consistent and defensible approach to routing new transmission lines. The EPRI-GTC Overhead Transmission Line Siting Methodology, winner of the Innovators Award from NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network in 2006, is a planning tool that includes informed, constructive input from concerned citizens in the transmission-line siting process.
The method was developed during a two-year period using input from more than 200 representatives of regulatory agencies, local governments, homeowner associations and other electric utilities. A project team of GIS experts from four U.S. universities and legal advisers specializing in the National Environmental Policy Act joined staff from EPRI, GTC’s environmental, engineering and land acquisition professionals and Photo Science Geospatial Solutions (photoscience.com) to evaluate how siting decisions are made and examine the underlying assumptions and values that drive those decisions.
Using Photo Science's Corridor Analyst software, team members assigned values for each man-made and natural condition in a corridor study area, weighting and ranking each value according to potential impacts. Evaluation criteria and rankings are adjustable to reflect site-specific situations, but the analytical procedures and methods of calculation remain consistent, making the decision-making process easier to understand.
Most important, the process creates a paper trail that clearly traces how decisions are made. GTC has used the approach to plan more than $100 million worth of new transmission construction scheduled for the next several years.
"The process does not replace professional judgment," says Christy Johnson, GTC's environmental and regulatory coordinator and one of the project managers during the research phase, "but it creates a powerful analytical tool to assist the professional in making qualitative and quantitative decisions."
The GIS-driven software organizes and weights geospatial data as a way to evaluate and balance comments and concerns from regulators, citizen groups and other stakeholders. GTC used the methodology on real projects as part of the development process. "It does give experts a framework that helps them sift through a tremendous amount of information," Johnson says.
Chris Smith, a senior GIS analyst for Photo Science who works on-site at GTC, notes that not every project is sited using the methodology. “The longer the line, the more applicable” the process, he says. Smith points to a recently completed 40-mile, 500-kV GTC line as a real-life application of the process.
Stakeholders and GTC developed evaluation criteria, and weights were assigned early in the process. Working with GTC Project Manager Greg Starks, Smith applied the Corridor Analyst software, stakeholder inputs and GIS features to further refine corridor choices. The process resulted in several alternative corridors.
GTC was able to pick a corridor that balanced legal requirements and cost-effectiveness criteria against impacts on communities affected by the 150-foot easement all along the 40-mile route. The software also produced reports that document the evaluation criteria and process used to make the final decision. The project has been approved, public meetings have been held and negotiations with property owners are under way. Construction is slated to begin in 2010.
Smith says G&Ts and other utilities can use Corridor Analyst to determine areas most suitable for transmission lines while also evaluating areas outside the selected corridors. "Typically," he says, “the final transmission line route is within the corridors generated following the methodology."
East Kentucky Power Cooperative has also adopted the new siting approach, adapting it to characteristics unique to its state. The G&T now has several projects in the works using Corridor Analyst.
GTC and Photo Science are available to consult with utilities interested in considering the approach.
Same route, new wire
Because new lines can be hard to site and costly to build, replacing overloaded lines with higher-capacity wire may be a better option. That option is no longer available, though, when lines have already been upgraded as far as possible with conventional conductors on existing structures.
Emerging conductor technology and a willingness to try something new, however, can reopen the possibility. Planning engineers at KAMO Power, an Oklahoma-based G&T, did just that when they started an upgrade on a 2.5-mile, 161-kV line originally built in 1950. The line had been rebuilt about a decade ago. But as Tom Hayes, the G&T’s construction director, learned when he began planning the upgrade, suitable alternate routes were full of housing developments.
Rather than put a new right-of-way through a residential area, Hayes suggested that KAMO Power investigate alternative conductors to determine if replacing the existing ACSR conductor on existing structures could handle the needed voltage.
Ted Hilmes, KAMO Power’s chief operating officer, agreed and assembled a team including himself, Hayes and Randy Bundy, KAMO Power’s planning engineer, to do the initial investigation. The team narrowed its review to two promising alternative conductors. The team also turned to Steve McNabb of Allgeier, Martin and Associates (amce.com) to analyze existing structures and generate a design for each of the two alternative conductors.
While McNabb looked at cable, Hayes found that the alternative conductors could be installed using recommendations from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (ieee.org) for pulling special conductors. KAMO Power’s construction contractors were also familiar with installation methods for the new lines.
McNabb’s study showed that either of the two alternative cables studied could be used for the project. The G&T chose aluminum conductor composite core, or ACCC, line from Composite Technology Corporation (compositetechcorp.com).
The 2.5-mile line is supported on three double-circuit towers owned by Southwestern Power Association (swpa.gov). The balance of the distance, including a state highway crossing, is on KAMO Power single-circuit H-frame structures. Replacing the existing conductor with ACCC would yield about a 1,000-amp increase in current.
Hayes points out that ACCC does not sag, which means the new line can run at very high temperatures carrying approximately 2,000 amps, according to the manufacturer. Because the trapezoidal ACCC conductors have an equivalent diameter and weigh slightly less than conventional cable, structural integrity is not a problem. Hayes says only minor adjustment of installation equipment is required, including a larger dolly, bull wheel and tensioner, along with bigger takeoff and puller-drum diameters. High-temperature mounting hardware is required, but installation is similar to that for hardware used for conventional conductors.
The design for KAMO’s project is complete, and RUS has given its technical approval. Material is on order. The project, considered a pilot for composite core cable, is scheduled for installation during the first quarter of 2007. KAMO Power expects the composite core cable will provide a substantial increase in ampere rating over the existing line-not to mention considerable cost savings from not having to site and build a new line