Nexans, a global leading expert in the cable
industry, has been awarded a €20-million
contract by the IE Madeira consortium to deliver
overhead lines for the world's longest power
transmission link, Brazil's Madeira River Power
Interconnection.
This new HVDC (high voltage direct current) link,
the first of two, will transmit 3,150 mw of power
produced by the Rondônia hydroelectric plant in
northwest Brazil to São Paulo, Brazil's main economic
centre, over a distance of 2,375 km. The HVDC link
will be between the new Rondônia hydroelectric plant
and the city of São Paulo, across five Brazilian states
and 86 towns and cities.
HVDC transmission
at 600kV is being
used to minimize
transmission losses
over the long distance
and the link will
eventually comprise
two parallel overhead
lines. Nexans has been
selected to provide the conductors for the first circuit by
IE Madeira, a consortium comprising the utilities Furnas,
Chesf and CTEEP.
Advanced aluminium conductors: The Madeira
River Power Interconnection is a bipole circuit, with each
pole comprising four overhead conductors. Overall,
Nexans is supplying some 6,700 km—equivalent to
21,120 tonnes—of its special all aluminium conductor
(AAC) for the project. Each conductor features 91 bare
wires, with a diameter of 44.4 mm.
AAC conductors are well established as part of the
Nexans overhead line portfolio. However, a bespoke
cross-section has been developed specifically for the
Madeira River Interconnection project to provide the
desired electrical and mechanical properties (breaking
stress, elongation, linear thermal expansion
coefficient for example) by taking into account the
line's construction conditions, such as topography and
climate. The typical span between the towers will be
500 metres.
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World's longest transmission links |
The Madeira River Interconnection will set a new record as the
world's longest power transmission link, with a route length of
2,375 km across five states, 86 towns and cities, in Brazil. The
current record for an operational HVDC project is also in Brazilthe
900 km line from Itaipu Dam to Ibiuna in São Paulo State. The
overall world record is for the 1,700 km AC line between Inga and
Shaba in Zaire. |