Low Voltage Aerial Bundled Conductors Advantages 731l15

Low voltage Aerial Bundled Conductors (ABC) instead of PVC insulated conductors Advantages of ABC: • Shorter poles: 9 metres length pole instead of 10 or 11m is enough for a ABC/ground clearance of 5.2 meters = saving on poles cost. • Only one fixing accessory on each pole : one hook bolt and one simple suspension clamp on ing poles or one simple anchor clamp on terminal poles. When using separated bare or PVC insulated conductors four insulators and four brackets are required so this equipment need to drill four holes in the pole when only one is required for the ABC accessory. The accessories are very easy to install on the ABC and no tools are required. All this means cost saving on insulators and in man power. • Easier to install : only one cable is stringed, sagged and attached on the poles when it is necessary to string, sag and attach 4 conductors. 5 linemen can very easily install more than 1 km of ABC, including connections of spurs in two working days when the same length of separated conductors installation requires at least 12 workers. This means again cost saving on manpower. • Insensible to the climate and the environment. • Trees clearing not necessary, the pruning is reduced to the strict necessary in forested areas. Only the branches that touch the ABC must be cut. So, once again investment cost saving during network implementation but also drastic reduction of operating costs. With ABC network it is not necessary to visit the network and cut trees or branches once a year. • Safety : fully insulated. Cables and all accessories are insulated. No live parts are accessible to the population and the linemen. Reduction of roof or wall clearance: The ABC can be fixed against the walls. • Working on live line is very easy : All components of the ABC network are fully insulated even when connecting a new spur or a new service connection. This means operation costs saving because with ABC it is not necessary to shut down the power for any work or connection on the network. • Very long lifespan: The insulation is made of XLPE insensible to the UV rays and the climate. The lifespan of the insulation is more than 30 years when the lifespan of PVC insulation exposed to UV rays is less than 10 years. • XLPE s higher temperature than PVC: If a PVC insulated conductor is overloaded, its insulation will be damaged very quickly. In fact, PVC s difficultly 90°C when XLPE s easily more than 200°C. • Drastic reduction of vandalism. It is very difficult even quite impossible to cut and steal a span of ABC. • Reduction of energy stealing : No live parts are accessible for connections. • Today, not any utility install bare or PVC insulated conductors on LV networks. Most of them install LV ABC even in developing country. This technology is obsolete. In other hand, because of the very bad lifespan of PVC insulation when exposed to UV rays, it is better to skip this step and go directly to ABC. Installing PVC insulated conductors is waste money because the cost is higher than bare conductors so the investment cost to, and after few years the conductors become bare.