The electricity transmission unit of MOESK Co. (Moscow United Electric Grid Co.) has installed the 3M ACCR overhead conductor to upgrade a line serving a densely populated southern district of Moscow, Russia, to avoid the need for larger towers or an expanded right-of-way. The installation is the second application of 3M ACCR by MOESK in Moscow, and the eighth across the country to date by a Russian utility, with three more soon to be completed.
MOESK is Russia's largest interregional distribution grid company, serving a 47,000-sq km (18,147-sq mile) area with a population of about 17 million. The utility chose 3M ACCR to achieve up to 1,200 A of current on a 3.3-km (2.05-mile) 110-kV double-circuit overhead segment of its Cheremushki-Yughnaya line, serving the Nagatino-Sadovniki portion of Moscow's Southern Administrative District. The alternative solution would have been to enlarge the towers to support a 220-kV or 330-kV upgrade, causing difficult logistical problems in the densely packed community. Among other impediments, the line crosses six-lane and eight-lane highways, as well as railroad tracks.
3M ACCR is a lightweight, low-sag, high-capacity conductor that can carry twice the current or more of conventional steel-core conductors of the same diameter, on existing towers, thereby helping utilities avoid a wide range of problems in environmentally sensitive areas and in crowded urban settings. Its low-sag characteristic also provides a solution for clearance issues.
For more information, visit www.3M.com.
