Bhutan has become the sixtieth country to deploy the ACCC® Conductor by CTC Global. With the help of Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd as a principal contractor, Bhutan Power Corporation completed its first two ACCC® Conductor installations in the hilly nation.
The project involved re-conductoring of the following two existing lines, using the ACCC® Conductor:
- 66kV Semtokha – Hongtsho line
- 66 kV Semtokha – Dechencholing line
The two lines used 122.7 sqmm Silvassa size ACCC® Conductor to replace ACSR dog-size conductor initially installed in 1985. Existing steel lattice structures were used without modification. Spans included highway crossings up to 712m.
Also read:Punjab Gets Its First Set Of ACCC Conductor Installations
These projects enabled a substantial capacity increase to support the new 33/66kV substation at Hongtsho.
Bhutan is the 60th country in the world to successfully deploy ACCC® Conductor to improve the efficiency, capacity, reliability and resilience of the world’s electric power grid.
According to Hitesh Mundhada, Vice President CTC Global – South Asia, “The mountainous terrain made it extremely difficult to bring in men, materials and equipment, and elevation differences between adjacent towers made it very challenging for conductor pulling, but the projects were completed successfully without issue.”
ACCC Master Installers Phani Veerla and Bapi Ghosh (remotely) provided field support. ACCC® Conductor for the projects was supplied by Gupta Power while ACCC® hardware was supplied by TAG Corporation. The ACCC Conductor’s composite core was produced by CTC at its Global headquarters in Irvine, California.
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Negative CO2 producer
Due to its dense forests, Bhutan absorbs roughly 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and produces only around 2 million tonnes. The birthplace of the Gross National Happiness Index, Bhutan is located on the eastern edge of the Himalayas is known for its monasteries, fortresses (‘Dzongs’) and dramatic landscapes that range from subtropical plains to steep mountains and valleys. Bhutan is bordered by China to the north and India to the south. Nepal and Bangladesh are located in proximity to Bhutan but do not share a land border.
(Featured collage are actual photographs of the ACCC Conductor projects in Bhutan, discussed in this story.)
