During CIGRE Paris Session 2024, Epsilon Cable’s team hosted an invitation-only panel discussion with leading industry experts from around the world, and a full room of more than 100 transmission line professionals attending from all over the world. The event proved to be a huge success and a good way to foster ideas, share best practices from several leading TSOs, and discover case studies on innovative technologies.
The first expert panel focused on line design using composite core conductors and was composed of Erwin Platenkamp from TenneT, Jérémy Unterfinger from Amprion GmbH, Maxime Delbove from Nexans, and Vivendra Naidoo from EFLA Consulting Engineers.
The second expert panel focused on the installation of composite core conductors and was composed of Tom Vanderlinden from Elia, Gianluca Cimmino from Tesmec – Stringing Equipment, Jérôme Brocard from Sicame Group, and Léo Richard from Epsilon Cable.
For those who could not attend, short excerpts of the event will be shared on Epsilon Cable’s social media pages and in our incoming newsletter (just send us a message to subscribe)
A prelude to CIGRE Paris Session in Epsilon’s backyard
The week before CIGRE Paris Session, members of CIGRE workgroups attended 3 days of technical advisory groups held in the city of Bordeaux, which happens to be right next to Epsilon Cable’s facilities.
On this occasion, our CIGRE delegates Baptiste GARY & Léo RICHARD were happy to act as local guide and welcome other delegates into Epsilon’s nearby pultrusion factory.
Many representatives from grid operators, EPCs and engineering firms took this opportunity to deepen their understanding of composite core conductors, and see first-hand the manufacturing of carbon fiber cores in the very factory which pioneered the use of carbon fibers in industrial, aerospace and energy sectors since 1987.
While visiting the workshop which is fully dedicated to manufacturing composite cores for overhead lines, visitors could discuss the specifics of Epsilon’s manufacturing process and its stringent monitoring of key process parameters to ensure the consistent quality of its products.
Epsilon’s testing lab is also a key point of the visit to witness how our raw materials and products are tested to the most demanding standards, understand our test plan and ISO 9001 quality system.
Finally, visitors could discuss with our engineering team about composite materials, conductor design and performance, choice of accessories and many other related topics.
Following 3 days of technical advisory groups held in the city of Bordeaux, which offered the opportunity for many delegates to visit Epsilon Cable’s nearby factory, the 2024 CIGRE Paris Session (August 25-29) held in the Palais des Congrès was a very intense week for thousands of transmission professionals.
Every two years, the CIGRE Paris event is a unique opportunity to discuss recent designs and trends in the industry.
As a leading manufacturer in the field of advanced conductors, Epsilon Cable unveiled a series of innovation, partnerships and events throughout the week, on Epsilon’s booth as well as through technical conferences.
Alongside the event, Epsilon Cable had also setup a panel discussion to share the state of the art of advanced conductors design and installation, which was followed by an afterwork in a nearby venue to share a few drinks and delicious French cuisine.
This year, visitors on Epsilon Cable’s could discover a series of groundbreaking innovation focusing on improving transmission and distribution overhead lines, including a new efficient advanced conductor, conductor monitoring technology, stringing equipment and structural reinforcement methods for pylons and poles.
CoreCheck® monitoring
After years of development, prototyping and field testing, the event was the first public demonstration of CoreCheck®, an innovative testing method to assess the integrity of the composite core at any time during the conductor lifetime, such as during manufacturing and after installation.
The patented technology relies on breakdown voltage to detect any defect in the composite, which makes it easy and convenient to deploy on the field while reducing the risk of false positive or false negative.
After live demonstrations in test setups and its successful deployment on a trial in 2023, the CIGRE Paris was an excellent opportunity for utilities, EPCs and stranders to discover the patented technology and discuss in details the associated hardware and procedure for its quick and easy deployment on the field.
The technology behind CoreCheck® was also the topic of a technical paper and poster session presented by Léo RICHARD, one of Epsilon’s Product Manager and CIGRE delegate. Following last edition’s Cigre NGN Best Presentation Award for Epsilon’s composite core ageing model, we are proud that Leo was awarded an honorable mention by the CIGRE jury.
Corecheck CIGRE paper presentation in the main amphitheater
Swivel cover joint
The most vigilant observers could spot another interesting innovation on the wall of Epsilon’s booth: a swivel cover joint designed to enable the safe use of midspan joints with pulleys during stringing, and therefore save time during conductors’ installation by making it possible to do those midspan joint directly after the tensioner. The stringing equipment effectively minimizes bending of the conductor at a sharp angle on both side of the cover joint, to avoid any potential damage to the composite core.
Innovations showcased by Epsilon didn’t stop at conductors but also extended to structures.
This CIGRE event was the occasion for many transmission professionals to discover that Epsilon Composite is a pioneer and worldwide leader in composite structural strengthening solutions for civil engineering structures. It was therefore quite relevant to leverage this know-how to cover structures of transmission and distribution overhead lines, which are made of the same materials and face very similar challenges.
Epsilon’s booth showcased several demonstrators of its patented carbon fiber strengthening solutions for pylons and poles. Based on more than 30 years expertise in civil engineering and carbon fiber pultrusion, Epsilon designed technical solutions to reliably and cost effectively extend structures lifetime, with minimized onsite labour.
We felt those solutions would be of interest for both transmission and distribution utilities, and were happy to see that the 2 demonstrators on display -one for metallic lattice structures and the other one for concrete poles, grabbed the attention of many asset managers looking to repair or extend the lifetime of ageing structures on their grid.
Panel discussion on advanced conductor design & installation
With a full room of more than 100 transmission line professionals attending from all over the world, the event proved to be a huge success and a great way to foster ideas, share best practices from several leading TSOs, and discover case studies on innovative technologies.
As usual, the discussion extended well beyond the Palais des Congrès when the gates closed for the day, and the participants could extend their talks during an afterwork and networking event in a nearby venue until late at night.
New manufacturing partnerships
Finally, the 2024 CIGRE Paris Session was the ideal opportunity for Epsilon Cable to develop new partnerships or confirm existing and thriving collaborations.
While most discussions we held during the week shall remain private, some of those partnerships were made public during the show.
Such is the case with the signature of a contract between Epsilon and Riyhad Cables, which further extended the list of Epsilon’ stranding partners and will undoubtedly boost the adoption of the technology in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq.
We would like to thank the CIGRE organization, all visitors to our booth and all participants in related events for this outstanding week and for their cooperation.
This CIGRE Paris Session 2024 allowed many transmission professionals to discover that Epsilon Composite is a pioneer and worldwide leader in composite structural strengthening solutions for civil engineering structures. It was therefore quite relevant to leverage this know-how to cover structures of transmission and distribution overhead lines, which are made of the same materials and face very similar challenges.
During the event, Epsilon showcased several demonstrators of its patented carbon fiber strengthening solutions for reinforced concrete and steel structures (which can be rectangle, round, hexagonal or lattice structures).
Based on Epsilon’s 30 years expertise in civil engineering and carbon fiber pultrusion, those solutions were designed to reliably and cost effectively extend structures lifetime, with minimized onsite labour.
The 2 demonstrators on display -one for metallic lattice structures and the other one for concrete poles, grabbed the attention of many asset managers looking to repair or extend the lifetime of ageing structures on their grid.
Epsilon Cable and Tesmec introduced during CIGRE Paris 2024 an innovative swivel cover joint designed to enable the safe use of midspan joints with pulleys during stringing. This stringing equipment effectively minimizes bending of the conductor at a sharp angle on both side of a mid-span joint, to avoid any potential damage to the composite core. It will save a lot of time during conductor’s installation since it will make it possible to install midspan joint directly after the tensioner, before pulling the conductor through the pulleys. More specifically, field tests demonstrated the use of the swivel cover joint saved approximately 1h per mid span joint.
The new patented swivel joint was introduced by Tesmec and Epsilon on their respective booths during CIGRE, and presented during a panel session dedicated to advanced conductor installation. The introduction of this equipment follows an already well-established partnership between two innovative family-owned companies.
On the picture below, the swivel cover joint can be seen going through a pulley without swivel on the left side (which causes a sharp angle on the conductor) and with a swivel on the right side (which allows a much lower bending radius).
Epsilon Cable will exhibit at the CIGRE Technical Exhibition in Paris from 25th to 30th August.If you want to discuss about different types of advanced conductors, installation inspection Corecheck, asset management tools or new installation technics, please stop at our booth S205 at the second floor of Palais des Congrès next to coffee break space.
It was great to meet with electricity Transmission & Distribution professionals at ENERGYx2024 South and discuss the future of the grid in the UK, Europe and beyond. We’re glad to see how Composite Core conductors are welcomed as a way to quickly and cost efficiently improve existing overhead lines.
Deploying innovative grid technologies can increase transmission and distribution capacity by up to 20-40 %, according to CurrENT Europe and Compass Lexecon’s latest study, supported by Breakthrough Energy
This first of its kind study at a European level underscores the pivotal role that deploying innovative grid technologies can have in helping Europe achieve its decarbonisation goals.
The study examines eight different innovative grid technologies: · Advanced conductors ➡ HVCRC and Losag conductors · High temperature Superconductors · Storage as a transmission asset (SATA) · Dynamic Line Rating · Advanced Power Flow Control (APFC) · Grid inertia measurements · Digital Twin · Flexibility management software solutions
New article in the Journal des Entreprises on our development in the energy sector. Epsilon Cable is stepping up its development with two major projects: a high-voltage line construction project in Cameroon to transport electricity from the new Nachtigal hydroelectric power station, and the Smart Cables collaborative R&D project, aimed at pushing back the limits in the field of advanced conductors.
