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wiredInUSA - November 2015

27

INDEX

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.

Going underground