WiredInUSA-November2015

INDEX

Going underground

Alstom has chosen Nexans cables exclusively to power Brazil’s first modern tramway, the Porto Maravilha tramway in Rio de Janeiro. Nexans will manufacture power, data and control cables for 32 trams. The new tramway will connect areas across Rio de Janeiro including the Porto Maravilha region, the Central Station and Santos Dumont airport, covering 28km of the city. The line will receive no power from overhead lines, but will be supplied by a combination of a third rail and recycled energy from braking stored in a supercapacitor. It will be the first tramway in the world to use this combination of systems. Tramway combination

The German cabinet has endorsed draft law to give preference to high voltage underground cabling instead of stringing cables above ground. A total of 2,800km of cables are to be laid by 2024. Germany’s decision, in 2011, to abandon nuclear power by 2022 relies on the capability to transmit prolific wind and solar-generated power from northern Germany to the southern industrial regions such as Stuttgart and Munich. A quarter of Germany’s electricity currently comes from wind, solar and biogas sources. Segments of transmission cables are already under construction or have already been enlarged. The cabinet’s decision follows bitter resistance to overhead cabling. Cabinet sources quoted by Reuters said the extra costs of going underground were justified because of costly legal resistance put up by citizens’ groups. They have cited losses in scenic values, and perceived health risks associated with above-ground cables. The economy ministry has estimated the extra cost at between $3.3 billion and $9 billion.

wiredInUSA - November 2015

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