Most of America’s lines are wired with a technology that’s been around since the early 1900s — a core steel wire surrounded by strands of aluminum. When those old wires heat up — whether from power passing through them or warm outdoor temperatures — they sag. Too much sag in a transmission line can be dangerous, causing fires or outages. As a result, grid operators have to be careful not to allow too much power through the lines.
But a couple of decades ago, engineers designed a new type of wire: a core made of carbon fiber, surrounded by trapezoidal pieces of aluminum. Those new, carbon-fiber wires don’t sag as much in the heat. That means that they can take up to double the amount of power as the old lines.
According to the recent study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and GridLab, replacing these older, steel wires could allow for up to 80 percent of the new transmission needed on the electricity grid — without building anything new. It could also cost half as much as building an entirely new line and avoid the headaches of trying to get every state, city and even landowner along the route to agree to a new project.
…
Duncan Callaway, a professor of energy and resources at the University of California at Berkeley and one of the authors of the recent study, said that many transmission engineers aren’t used to thinking of rewiring as one of their tools. “But it’s a much faster way,” he said.
Some changes are already underway to encourage this approach. For a long time, utilities had to undergo lengthy environmental reviews if they were rewiring a line longer than 20 miles. Earlier this month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that those would no longer be necessary if utilities are simply replacing wires.
And last month, the Biden administration announced a goal to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission line over the next five years — which could include rewiring the lines.
I'm curious about the cost factor. That's one reason PG&E's had so many wildfire issues in CA before the atmospheric rivers started. Additionally, I work in the power generation industry, and...
I'm curious about the cost factor. That's one reason PG&E's had so many wildfire issues in CA before the atmospheric rivers started.
Additionally, I work in the power generation industry, and money is always an issue in the "free market" areas. Gone are the days when utilities would replace and upgrade things just because they hit some time limit; I've seen a few where plywood is placed between steam leaks and walkways so workers can still safely traverse the area. Duct tape and bailing wire are real things. Granted, that's just the generation side, but I'm quite sure that the transmission owners are also overly partial to padding pockets over upgrades that might "not yet" be needed.
Anyway, I can't read due to the paywall, but it seems like if they can be cost effective and the materials are readily available (I'm thinking now of the shortage of beer cans in the covid era), it could be realistic somewhat soon. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it and how quickly.
Yeah, it's not doomsday everywhere but almost all utility companies face the same issue: no funding to do anything. I'm not against these green energy policies but when these promises turn into a...
Yeah, it's not doomsday everywhere but almost all utility companies face the same issue: no funding to do anything. I'm not against these green energy policies but when these promises turn into a contest to see who's got the "biggest one" in the room, you end up with unrealistic expectations from everyone involved in this project with no politician providing financial support.
Wildfires aside, look at the issues that California is facing with all their green energy initiatives. They're great on paper but the market is terrible and the utility company is being forced to abide by these incentives and isn't given the resources for the needed infrastructure upgrades.
One of the main reasons the U.S. grid stands today is the high level of knowledge and strict requirements that resulted in a reliable infrastructure but, as the article points out, has yet to be upgraded since its inception. No amount of maintenance will prevent failure of a 45+ year old component or structure and those are common everywhere from generation to the lines going to your home.
The paywall doesn't help but thankfully the main comment gives good context and hopefully enough to highlight the main points. I think that rewiring transmission lines is a necessary step but with electrification being in every other state's to-do list, the bottleneck will be first seen on the distribution (homes and businesses) where the capacity is much lower. Doubling your capacity on the transmission side won't change that and I'd say that's a much bigger issue with so many new constructions of buildings/homes, EV charging stations, solar panels added by consumers, etc. that further stress the grid's distribution side.
When I read about these things, I just wonder how the powers at be will just not let it happen. This will be viewed as an attack on the hard working Americans who supply the nation with energy, or...
When I read about these things, I just wonder how the powers at be will just not let it happen.
This will be viewed as an attack on the hard working Americans who supply the nation with energy, or an expensive do nothing venture, or something to be avoided since California is known for rolling blackouts, so why should the rest of the nation subsidize them?
But the fact that we have a grid for the east coast, west coast and Texas is a major national security threat. It needs to be updated.
From the article:
…
I'm curious about the cost factor. That's one reason PG&E's had so many wildfire issues in CA before the atmospheric rivers started.
Additionally, I work in the power generation industry, and money is always an issue in the "free market" areas. Gone are the days when utilities would replace and upgrade things just because they hit some time limit; I've seen a few where plywood is placed between steam leaks and walkways so workers can still safely traverse the area. Duct tape and bailing wire are real things. Granted, that's just the generation side, but I'm quite sure that the transmission owners are also overly partial to padding pockets over upgrades that might "not yet" be needed.
Anyway, I can't read due to the paywall, but it seems like if they can be cost effective and the materials are readily available (I'm thinking now of the shortage of beer cans in the covid era), it could be realistic somewhat soon. It'll be interesting to see what comes of it and how quickly.
Yeah, it's not doomsday everywhere but almost all utility companies face the same issue: no funding to do anything. I'm not against these green energy policies but when these promises turn into a contest to see who's got the "biggest one" in the room, you end up with unrealistic expectations from everyone involved in this project with no politician providing financial support.
Wildfires aside, look at the issues that California is facing with all their green energy initiatives. They're great on paper but the market is terrible and the utility company is being forced to abide by these incentives and isn't given the resources for the needed infrastructure upgrades.
One of the main reasons the U.S. grid stands today is the high level of knowledge and strict requirements that resulted in a reliable infrastructure but, as the article points out, has yet to be upgraded since its inception. No amount of maintenance will prevent failure of a 45+ year old component or structure and those are common everywhere from generation to the lines going to your home.
The paywall doesn't help but thankfully the main comment gives good context and hopefully enough to highlight the main points. I think that rewiring transmission lines is a necessary step but with electrification being in every other state's to-do list, the bottleneck will be first seen on the distribution (homes and businesses) where the capacity is much lower. Doubling your capacity on the transmission side won't change that and I'd say that's a much bigger issue with so many new constructions of buildings/homes, EV charging stations, solar panels added by consumers, etc. that further stress the grid's distribution side.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/3WcRW
When I read about these things, I just wonder how the powers at be will just not let it happen.
This will be viewed as an attack on the hard working Americans who supply the nation with energy, or an expensive do nothing venture, or something to be avoided since California is known for rolling blackouts, so why should the rest of the nation subsidize them?
But the fact that we have a grid for the east coast, west coast and Texas is a major national security threat. It needs to be updated.