Resiliency

CTC Global’s ACCC ® Conductor has a proven track record of resisting damage

Following Super Storms Katrina, Sandy, Haiyan and many others it has become readily apparent that climate change is causing the frequency and severity of weather related events to take increasingly heavier tolls on our power grids. A substantial effort has begun not only to harden the grid to make it more resistant to damage, but also to leverage modern technologies to make inevitable damage easier and faster to repair. Climate change has also increased fire hazards in certain areas. CTC Global’s ACCC® Conductor has a proven track record of not only resisting damage from severe weather conditions, but also surviving when wood and metal structures were burned down or knocked to the ground.

While CTC Global’s ACCC Conductor’s composite core is twice as strong as steel (up to 375 ksi) which can prevent or minimize damage to both the conductor and adjacent structures (broken power lines can create unbalanced mechanical loads on structures causing failures), CTC Global’s ACCC Conductor has demonstrated itself time and time again to resist damage and improve grid resiliency.

For example, when an EF4/EF5 tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma flying debris hit a 125 foot tall steel monopole supporting CTC Global’s ACCC Conductor. The pole was knocked over by 45 degrees and didn’t hit the ground. Though the shock wave snapped the ACCC Conductor’s aluminum strands, CTC Global’s composite core did not break. Linemen in two bucket trucks were able to simply splice in 20 feet of new ACCC Conductor to repair the damage. If the conductor had snapped completely it would have taken much longer to make the repair and get the line back in service.

The year before, in Nevada, wood H-frame structures supporting CTC Global’s ACCC Conductor were burned to the ground during a wild fire. Remarkably the ACCC Conductor was not damaged. After the wood structures were replaced, the ACCC Conductor was lifted back into position and put back in to service.