tor independently or even devise their own tests?

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1 3M Gridlines Updates on 3M ACCR 3M Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced October 2010 Customers Test Us Customers Independently Test 3M ACCR Although 3M ACCR, one of the most thoroughly tested and documented conductors in use, has performed successfully in all precommercialization lab and field tests, what happens when our customers test the conduc- tor independently or even devise their own tests? So far, the results have completely validated the earlier successful testing. Following are some highlights. (Continued on page 2) RTE Test set-up for the Unbalanced Load Suspension Test. The ends of all of the rods were painted in order to clearly see the location and amount of slip. Out in Public Grays Harbor Becomes the Most Recent Municipal Utility to Use 3M ACCR Public power utilities, like the electric industry as a whole, balance the need for secure and reliable power crucial to their communities economies, safety and quality of life with the need to maintain daily business activity, traffic, and green spaces. This is why many are adopting cutting edge technology like 3M ACCR. The most recent public utility application is by Grays Harbor Public Utility District, serving Grays Harbor County, south of the Seattle-Tacoma region. Grays Harbor is upgrading three lines (Continued on page 4) Phil Penttila, Grays Harbor s system engineering supervisor, It is a significant advantage to be able to upgrade three circuits on the same crossing, together with the under-built fiber optics, without having to enlarge the towers. This allows us to avoid the permitting and other potential delays that we likely would have faced with construction along the river.

2 3M ACCR Page 2 Customer Testing (continued) Réseau de transport d électricité (RTE) - ACCR at 400 kv RTE is the French electricity transmission system operator for the high and extra high voltage network. With 100,000 km of lines between 63 and 400 kv and 45 cross-border lines, the network operated by RTE is the largest in Europe. Before installing 3M ACCR 1033-TW-T28, RTE required extensive testing on all accessories and the conductor, including strength, short circuit, crush, electrical resistance, and thermalmechanical testing. ACCR and the accessories passed all tests, with strength results above 100% of rated breaking strength (RBS). DC resistance was also slightly better than specified. Since the line to be upgraded was 400 kv, corona testing was especially important. The testing showed no signs of corona at RTE s specified voltage level and, RIV (radio interference voltage) and noise met requirements. American Electric Power Company (AEP) - X-treme Strength Testing As a U.S. utility interested in innovative solutions to transmission system issues, AEP noticed that, although most conductor samples are used for a single mechanical test, in real life conductors are subjected to multiple situations, including vibration, galloping and installation through a sheave. To get a different perspective, they developed a series of tests, called Sequential Mechanical Testing, in which these tests are all done on the same conductor sample. When 3M, under AEP s direction, performed the test protocol on its own conductor, 3M ACCR reached 109% of rated breaking strength (RBS) and showed no signs of the onset of fatigue damage caused by the Aeolian vibration or galloping. Sequential Mechanical Test ACCR sample in the Roberts 100,000 lb hydraulic tensile test frame for the Tension Cycle Testing portion of the testing protocol. Thank you for visiting 3M ACCR at our 3M Innovation Center during the recent IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meetings in Minneapolis and at the EUCI High Voltage Transmission Conference in St. Louis, Missouri at the Southwire booth.

3 3M ACCR Page 3 Shanghai Electric Power Company High temperature In 2007, Shanghai Electric Power Company became the first utility outside the U.S. to install 3M ACCR. Anticipating a sharp increase in power demand that would accompany the 2010 World Expo (which opened this past May), the utility decided that transmission capacity on its Yangxing line, which serves the Expo site, needed to be doubled. However, this area is in the heart of Shanghai, surrounded by densely populated neighborhoods, making right of way expansion for new towers costly, time consuming, and logistically challenging. Hoping to avoid those problems and meet its tight deadline, Shanghai Electric decided to evaluate the 3M ACCR for the upgrade through rigorous and thorough testing. As described in a 2009 technical paper in the journal East China Electric Power, Pan Yuxin, senior engineer for For copies of all of 3M s test reports, visit Customer Testing and Qualification of 3M ACCR to Date France Électricité de France (EDF) Early prototype testing 1997 Réseau de transport d électricité (RTE) Forty different types of tests completed successfully Positive audit by standards engineer Installed on 400 kv pilot line Germany Amprion GmbH Passed all twelve tests Installed on a 380 kv pilot line E.on Netz GmbH Testing completed successfully Installed on 110 kv pilot line Eastern Europe Testing completed successfully in one country and underway in a second Mexico Qualification completed successfully China All testing completed successfully Multiple installations in China U.S.A. RUS Qualified for List of Materials and eligible for financing American Electric Power Company ACCR only conductor to pass sequential mechanical testing with 109% RBS and no signs of the onset of fatigue damage

4 3M ACCR Page 4 transmission line design with the Shanghai Electric Power Design Institute, detailed the testing that took place at China s National Insulator Arrester Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. Performed at temperatures exceeding 210 degrees Celsius (410 Fahrenheit), which is the conductor s rated continuous operating temperature, the tests included conductor-and-insulator temperature distribution, tensile strength, accessory connection and interface area, shield material tracking, resistance and erosion, and rod current leakage, among others. All tests confirmed that the conductor s performance matched 3M s specifications. The senior engineer also noted that the aluminum-zirconium composition of the conductor s outer wires has superior resistance to annealing. Installation of ACCR on the Yangxing line was completed over a 10-day period in October Shanghai Power Installing 795 -T16 Drake on Shanghai Power s 220 kv Yangxing line. Grays Harbor (Continued from page 1) that cross the Chehalis River where it meets the tidal flow from the Pacific, forming an estuary. The PUD s goal for the project was to avoid tower construction on the river banks while creating greater clearance between the transmission lines and the fiber optic cable running just beneath them. To meet that goal, this fall Grays Harbor replaced copper conductors on two 115kV circuits and one 69 kv circuit with Ostrich 3M ACCR, spanning the 1,628-foot distance between the existing towers. Other public power utilities have used ACCR to solve other challenges. For example, Silicon Valley Power, the electric utility owned by the City of Santa Clara, California, Silicon Valley Power Palm Sub Installation, 715-T13 Stilt ACCR

5 3M ACCR Page Page 5 5 ACCR and Public Power (Continued from page 4) installed ACCR to increase capacity on two 60kV lines in order to avoid expanding a narrow right of way and to keep pole heights consistent, as well as to protect service reliability to sensitive server farms and electronic wafer manufacturers located in its community. They needed both a reliable transmission system and a reliable product in that system. 3M ACCR, which has been proven reliable through extensive lab and field testing and commercial applications, provides a solution with a track record of 100% successes, having never failed in the field, ei- ther during installation or operation. Platte River Power Authority, jointly owned by four Colorado municipals Fort Collins, Estes Park, Longmont and Loveland needed to boost capacity on its Timberline- Harmony line to meet growing summer peak demand for customers in Fort Collins without impacting the view or a neighborhood bike path. So Platte River chose 3M ACCR for the upgrade. During the storms and tornados that hit the area in the summer of 2008, the recently upgraded line functioned under N-1 emergency conditions, and service in the area was main- Get help with your challenging application by contacting your 3M account manager or through the Contact Us link at Observed Silicon Valley Power Director John Roukema, Employing the latest technology also means less maintenance and more reliability, and we have plenty of capacity for rapid response to customers increases in load requirements over the next 15 to 20 years. Platte River Power Authority 954 kcmil 3M ACCR suspension system and dampers installed at a tangent tower on the 230 KV Timberline-Harmony line.

6 3M ACCR ACCR and Public Power (Continued from page 5) tained. Although most often applied to transmission line upgrades, 3M ACCR s first deployment by a municipal utility was on a new line. Aha Macav Power Services in Needles, California owned by the Fort Mojave native American tribe -- constructed a four-mile 69kV line extending from Needles across the Colorado River to the Topock-Davis- Lake Mead ACCR line operated by the Western Area Power Administration. By using ACCR, the utility was able to use tow- ers the same height as a nearby existing line, reducing the number of permitting agencies and helping to end the frequent service interruptions and reliability problems plaguing the reservation and hampering economic development in Needles. 3M ACCR s proven reliability has led public and private utilities of all sizes to recognize it as a proven, advanced and fast solution to problems that limit the capacity of conventional transmission lines. Page 6 Aha Macav Power Services 3M ACCR 300 T-16 Ostrich at the Colorado River Visit to: Find lab and field test reports Download PLS-CADD cable files Download the technical brochure on common conductor sizes Fill in the Information Request Form to get help on a specific project Contact us with questions or comments 3M Electrical Markets High Capacity Conductors 3M Center Building 251 St. Paul, MN Phone: accr@mmm.com Return to page 1