Webinar Series: 21st-Century Costs of Undergrounding
This six-part webinar series with T&D World explores the 21st-Century Costs of Undergrounding. Each webinar is co-sponsored by one of our member companies.
Find a list of dates and topics below. Check back for updates, registration links, and access to archived webinars.
Part 1: Lowering Costs with the Technology to “See” Underground
Date: March 31, 2021
Co-sponsor: IMCORP
Description: Ever wish you could drive by and see the condition of your underground cable systems? What if a technology existed to provide a foot-by-foot profile, pinpoint manufacturing and installation defects before the installers walk off site, and prevent millions of dollars in future operation and maintenance costs? What if the same technology could be used to assess the health of aged cable systems that have been damaged by extreme operating conditions. What if you had foot-by-foot asset condition knowledge to direct expenditures as part of a FERC-approved, all-capital program that can double or triple the life of existing assets and reduce costs by up to 70%? Learn about cutting-edge technology that has been proven to enable dramatically lower underground cable life-cycle costs. Review two decades of field experience encompassing 200 million feet of cable from 80 utilities in 17 countries providing powerful underground life-cycle cost insights.
Part 2: Materials Solutions Enable Value of Strategic Undergrounding
Date: April 28, 2021
Co-sponsor: Dow
Description: Recent events involving power outages are redefining the value of reliability in power systems. Materials solutions can help provide long-life performance and lower total ownership costs over the life of the asset.
Join this April 28th webinar when Dow will share information validated by 3rd party data to learn more about value vs. price. Dow, a leading global provider of materials for both power and telecom cable applications, also will share information about Cable Tech, its online educational partnership with WPI, where you can advance your cable expertise.
Part 3: Underground Construction Strategies
Date: May 26, 2021
Co-sponsor: Haugland Energy
Description: Once papers are signed, life is given to a project. From there, the process from engineering to construction is a long road; often the two are viewed as separate paths, but coordination and communication throughout them is key to a project’s success.
Join the webinar on May 26th when Haugland Energy, a leader in electrical and civil construction, will share insight on this collaboration based on their extensive project experience. You will learn more about:
- Constructability reviews
- Early engagement between engineering and construction
- Project communication
- Contracts and procurement
Part 4: Thinking Ahead for the Next 100 Years: Underground Solutions
Date: June 30, 2021
Co-sponsor: Centuri
Description: Utility companies are challenged with the ever-present need for continuous preparation and response requirements to high-impact and low-probability events, mostly weather-related. Historically, these events have increased for the past fifteen years. Specific to the past five years, there has been a sharp increase, and 2020 was a record events/costly year.
Centuri invites you to “think ahead” about how to dramatically improve electric system reliability and resiliency by driving the cost out of underground solutions. We will discuss how effective resiliency programs are able to proactively harden the system power grid in a capitalized, strategic, cost-effective manner.
Learn about the opportunity to be proactive and reduce total time to restoration for customer outages, while improving regulatory performance metrics and enhancing the public image. Explore the practical applications that deliver value…every day.
Part 5: Reliable Underground Insulation Systems for Cost Effective Transmission, Distribution, and Renewable Energy Connections
Date: July 28, 2021
Co-sponsor: Borealis
Description: Strategic undergrounding offers a solution for increased reliability and resiliency of transmission and distribution systems. Join this webinar on July 28 to discuss insulation materials from Borealis with proven in-service track records to enable reliable solutions for applications of distribution and transmission voltages through 500 kV, as well as offshore wind generation and HVDC transmission.
Part 6: Cable Systems for the Future of Underground Transmission in North America
One innovative approach to integrate extruded cable technology in existing pipe-type cable infrastructure.
Date: August 25
Co-sponsor: Southwire, G&W Electric
Description: 69 kV through 345 kV class high-pressure fluid-filled cable systems – also known as pipe-type cable systems – have reliably delivered power to North American metropolitan areas for decades. As an estimated 3,000 – 3,600 circuit miles of this oil-filled underground infrastructure reach end-of-life, stakeholders – asset managers, manufacturers, construction companies, and the public – are looking for different options to maintain reliable power delivery at a reasonable cost while mitigating any negative aspects of maintenance and conversion activities.
You will learn about one emerging solution – the development of novel cable systems which combine well-known and reliable pipe-type components with customized extruded insulation systems and elastomeric stress control parts for joints and terminations.
The webinar is co-sponsored and moderated by PDi2, an organization of suppliers, consultants and stakeholders promoting the long-term value of undergrounding the electric grid.
