Living up to the energy challenge with XLPE

The energy challenge has emerged as a fundamental issue which greatly impacts today’s society and economy. Over 2 billion people still lack access to electricity and our global energy needs are expected to increase by more than 50 percent by 2030. With the rise of Far East economies and their power-hungry manufacturing sector escalating the need for energy at exponential rates, utility companies are under pressure to deliver more power without losing sight of environmental, health and cost considerations.

Today’s power market is at a crossroad: seeking sustainable and long term solutions to meet the needs of our growing energy demand while also considering more reliable, environmental friendly approaches. As government authorities have placed stringent requirements on network owners to ensure reliable service to end users to avoid penalties for any downtime due to outages, utility companies are increasingly looking for alternatives to their network development. Indeed, cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulated underground cables are one such alternative to deliver on the energy challenge.

XLPE underground power cables provide a world of opportunity to the power market by reducing the long term cost and maintenance of power networks while lessening the environmental and health risks associated with high voltage power transmission and distribution.

There are obvious aesthetic advantages as underground cables do not visually disturb their surrounding environment. In addition, as the electromagnetic fields created by overhead high voltage networks in proximity to residential areas are known to increase the likelihood of health risks, more and more countries have introduced additional precautionary measures for the use of overhead lines. The adoption of underground cable systems safeguards local communities to significant health risks.

XLPE creating synergies: environmental benefits and sound investments

Apart from the obvious benefits that underground cables provide alone, the use of XLPE to insulate these cables increases further environmental advantages that contribute to long term cost reductions.

The cross-linked molecules in XLPE allow the material to withstand high temperatures from temporary high power load without melting and causing failures. In consequence, less material is needed to protect against high temperature loads, thus streamlining the amount of natural resources used to produce durable power cabling systems.

Moreover, underground high voltage cables generally have more efficient copper conductors and operate at lower temperatures than overhead lines. These properties combine to transmit energy to end users as efficiently as possible, which is especially important for remote renewable and low carbon generators. Reducing these power transmission losses makes a valuable contribution to lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

It is well known that XLPE insulated cables have longer service-lives than alternative materials such as PVC as they do not degrade as rapidly. XLPE can withstand higher short-circuit temperatures and offers better resistance to moisture which together lowers the risk of faulty cables. Ultimately, this extended service life implies that fewer cables are needed to be replaced, thus improving the return on investment and capitalizing on the maximum value of our limited natural resources.