3M™ Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced Customer Installations - Permitting in Environmentally Sensitive Areas

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy installed 795-T16 (418 mm²) 3M ACCR on a 10 mile (16 km) transmission line in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Xcel Energy used the conductor as part of an expansion project at the utility’s Blue Lake peaking plant in Shakopee. The line crosses an interstate and two major highways at multiple points and several residential and industrial areas. The line also crosses protected wetlands and a National Wildlife Refuge. Using either ACSR or ACSS would have meant rebuilding the line and months of permitting delays. Reconductoring with 3M ACCR required only a 30 day notice to a single agency.

CTEEP installed 300-T16 (150 mm²) 3M ACCR to upgrade a 138 kV transmission line crossing an environmentally sensitive river bed to boost capacity for power transmission for the Jupiá Electrical System. CTEEP, which is principally owned by Grupo Empresarial ISA (ISA Group), one of South America's largest electricity and telecommunications providers, supplies almost all of the electricity consumed in the State of Sao Paulo and 30 percent of the electrical power consumed nationwide. The line crosses the nearly mile-wide Paraná River and is subject to strong winds and extremely high temperatures. The installation was completed in just 6 days.