International Initiatives: Shanghai Saves Power

Shanghai is the eighth largest metropolis in the world and China’s largest city. So how does a power company in bustling Shanghai meet increasing demand on its utility lines without incurring staggering costs or disrupting day-to-day life? It incorporates 3M’s aluminum conductor composite reinforced (ACCR) high-capacity transmission conductor.

Cities traditionally meet power demand by building new towers, which transmit electricity through hundreds of feet of steel. But that isn't cost-effective or energy efficient.

The ACCR is a bundle of wires made of aluminum oxide fibers in an aluminum matrix, and it's installed on existing towers so there's no need to build new ones. It allows utility companies to reduce costs and the inconveniences to consumers that come with new transmission construction projects. And it doesn't pose additional risks to the existing system.

Needing More Power…

In October 2007, publicly owned Shanghai Electric Power Company Ltd. became the first utility outside the United States to install 3M’s technology.

While peak demand for electricity in Shanghai grew, the city won the bid for the 2010 World Expo, which would begin in May 2010. Shanghai Electric took stock of the additional utility demands that the fair would require and determined that the Yangxing power line, which serves the Expo area, needed to double its electricity transmission capacity. 

Expanding transmission, however, would be expensive and time consuming. And because the line was in the heart of Shanghai, building it would force residents and businesses in nearby neighborhoods out of the area for construction, posing a logistical nightmare.

…Getting Power and More

Shanghai Electric decided to use ACCR on its existing tower in Yangxing, which serves the Shanghai metropolitan area with more than 2,800 megawatts of generating capacity. By doing so, the utility company was able to substantially increase transmission capacity along a key 10-mile power line without building new towers.

Because the ACCR was installed on an existing structure, Shanghai Electric was able to reduce the high costs and logistical risks associated with major tower construction projects, and the company didn't have to disturb the population-dense communities it serves.

As World Expo events come to a close at the end of October, Shanghai Electric's decision to go with ACCR will continue to reap benefits beyond avoided construction. For instance, ACCR's aluminum makeup means it will withstand harsh environmental conditions like moisture and UV exposure without decreasing its efficiency.

Gaining Global Demand in ACCR

Incorporating 3M’s ACCR into existing technology was a logical solution for Shanghai, said Tim Koenig, director of the 3M High Capacity Program. He noted that interest in the ACCR is gaining momentum from utilities around the world, including the United States.

“Decision makers are realizing that we have a proven and ready solution to common problems that limit the capacity of conventional transmission lines [which] cause contstraints and bottlenecks,” Koenig said. “3M’s state-of-the-art manufacturing infrastructure [allows us] to meet the growing demand for alternative solutions to problems afflicting the power grid.”

In addition to China, rapidly industrializing countries such as India and Brazil — which are experiencing huge growth in city size and density, energy demand, and national economies — have employed ACCR in the last three years. 

Today, ACCR is used in six nations and by more than 24 American utilities; 3M expects those numbers to rise as global demand for electricity continues to increase.