December 17, 2019
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
*This press release was originally published in Japanese on December 16, 2019.

In December 2019, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. began shipping low-loss high-capacity overhead conductors for the Dhaka-Chittagong Main Power Grid Strengthening Project in Bangladesh. The Company is accelerating its power transmission line business in the Asia-Pacific region, with major orders for a total of 9,300 km of low-loss high-capacity overhead conductors, not only in Bangladesh, but also in India (October 2019), Sri Lanka (September 2019), and Papua New Guinea (April 2019) under ODA loan projects.

Amid the developing economies and expanding energy consumption in the Asia-Pacific region, there is a growing need for products that enable efficient energy supply in power transmission. Transmission loss tends to be large particularly for long-haul transmissions, and therefore, our low-loss high-capacity overhead conductors are expected to meet the need.
Our conductor uses a steel core material that is 1.3-times stronger than conventional materials, successfully reducing the core diameter, while increasing the aluminum ratio by tightly placing trapezoidal aluminum wires without gaps around the core. As a result, while maintaining the outer diameter and tensile strength, this conductor reduces electrical resistance and thus transmission loss by 20-25% compared to conventional conductors.

The features of this low-loss high-capacity overhead conductor are being recognized and increasingly adopted by Asian countries including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, where energy demand is rapidly increasing.

Awarded orders for our new conductor in Asia-Pacific region

Bangladesh

In March 2019, Sumitomo Electric received orders for low-loss high-capacity overhead conductors for the projects of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd. from KEC International Ltd. in India through Mitsubishi Corporation. These projects construct new overhead power transmission lines under the Dhaka-Chittagong Main Power Grid Strengthening Project and the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal-Fired Power Project. Sumitomo Electric began shipping in December 2019.
At the project sites in Bangladesh, high wind speed was assumed and thus required a strong pylon design. Adoption of our low-loss high-capacity overhead conductors, however, enabled a smaller diameter while maintaining similar transmission capacity as conventional conductors, reduced wind pressure on the conductors, and mitigated the load on the pylons. Consequently, the required strength of the pylons was reduced, contributing to the reduction of overall construction costs.

Awarded in March 2019
Section TL-1) 400 kV, between Dhaka and Chittagong
TL-2) 400 kV, between Chittagong and Matarbari
Product Low-loss high-capacity overhead conductor with a total cable length of 8,100 km
Construction by January 2022 (schedule)

The low-loss high-capacity
overhead conductors delivered

Sumitomo Electric continues to leverage its experience in the power transmission line business accumulated in and outside of Japan and supply high-quality products, in order to contribute to a stable power supply in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world, and thus contributes to the development of each country.

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Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. published this content on 17 December 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 December 2019 05:15:03 UTC