wiredinusa March 2012

INDEX

Floating wind farm off Fukushima

Transfer station for Kirkuk

Ducab HV in collaboration

Air-blown composite cable

Marubeni aims to build a wind farm off the coast of the Fukushima prefecture. The project will be supported by the Japanese government through the reconstruction budget from last year’s tsunami. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nippon Steel Corp and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding are also involved. It marks Marubeni’s first stake in an offshore project. In September 2011, Japan’s trade ministry said it planned a $130 to $260 million project to develop a floating turbine in the deep waters off the northern coast. Japan hopes to develop a 1GW floating offshore project off its northern coast by 2020. The announcement follows the passing of a renewable energy bill in the upper house of Japan’s parliament. There is sound reasoning behind Japan’s push for offshore wind. When the tsunami struck, the Kamisu near-shore wind farm, located 40 meters off Ibaraki prefecture, withstood the magnitude-nine earthquake

The spokesman of the Ministry of Electricity, Musab Al-Mudaras, has confirmed the completion of a 132kV electricity transfer station east of Kirkuk, indicating that the total cost of implementation of the project amounted to 22 billion dinars. Al-Mudaras added that the station consists of three main transformers and six lines, plus the external network. It is expected that the station will help to avoid bottlenecks in electricity supply, and increase the reliability of the network, especially after the linked station, Kirkuk, which has a capacity of 400kV. The Ministry of Electricity announced in February that the current electricity crisis will improve over the next two years, while confirming a significant improvement next summer. The Ministry has already completed the final linkage line between the Iraqi and Syrian national electricity systems, in preparation for the import of energy.

AMEinfo reports that in a move to accelerate the introduction of high voltage technology to the UAE, Ducab HV has signed a collaboration agreement with J-Power Systems Corporation (JPS), an equally-owned joint venture of Sumitomo Electric Industries and Hitachi Cable, covering all areas of high voltage cable technology. Ducab HV is a joint venture between Ducab (50 percent), DEWA (25 percent) and ADWEA (25 percent) to manufacture high voltage cable systems. Hitachi Cable and Sumitomo Electric have been involved with high voltage cable technology since the 1960s and currently supply projects up to 500kV across the world, including significant projects in Japan and the Middle East. JPS was formed from their their high voltage power cable divisions in 2001. Ducab HV’s collaboration, which came after a detailed evaluation of all the qualified international cable companies, extends up to the 400kV range, which is the highest voltage in use in the UAE. Technology transfer is a key part of the agreement and will take place through a combination of Ducab HV engineering teams visiting Japan, as well as experienced JPS engineers stationed in the UAE to train Ducab HV staff. The knowledge and technology transfer will cover all aspects of HV cable manufacture.

LS Cable & System has introduced a new 12/20kV air-blown fiber optic composite power cable that combines both electric power and communication cables, necessary for building smart grids and communication networks. Immediately after the announcement the company entered into a supply contract with Energy Australia worth $10 million. Unlike conventional fiber optic composite cables, this product is installed using high-pressure air. With this new installation method a 3–5mm diameter tube is installed inside the cable and the fiber optics are pushed inside by the high-pressure air. Existing fiber optic composite cables can combine a maximum of 16 core wires, but this new method makes it possible to bind up to 144 optical cable core wires. A key feature of the air-blown fiber optic composite power cable is that it is scalable, meeting the needs of customers who want to build-out power grids and communication networks as demand arises. Also, unlike conventional fiber optic composite cables, the dual structure of a plastic tube and sheath protects the cable, greatly reducing the risk of damage. Another advantage is that the optical cable can be used to monitor the temperature and state of the cables in real time.

and contributed vital electricity in the aftermath of the disaster.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

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wiredInUSA - March 2012

wiredInUSA - March 2012

65