Replacing Fiber Optics on Power Lines

Fiber optics have been used within the electric utility industry for decades.  In fact, electric utilities were early adopters of the technology – even before telephone companies.  Thanks to this experience, many lessons learned have been identified.

Background and Replacement of Utility Fiber Optics

I read a great article from Electrical Contractor Magazine about fiber optics within the utility industry, and it was interesting to understand the history.

According to the author, electric utilities started using fiber optics almost immediately when the technology became available because it solved a major problem – interference from high-voltage lines.  Because fiber technology is made from glass, it is nonconductive and therefore eliminates this issue.  Conversely, telecom companies started using fiber due to its ability to send data farther, faster and cheaper.

Due to the many benefits of fiber optics, it wasn’t long before the technology was enhanced to be used for transmission lines.  The invention that enabled this, optical power ground wire (OPGW), is made out of conductive wire but contains a hollow tube filled with optical fibers that are not affected by lightning.

Some OPGW infrastructure has been in operation for several decades at this point, which means that sooner or later it will need to be replaced.  There are several techniques for this – click on the Electrical Contractor article above for all the details or just refer to this summary:

• Install new fiber optic cables by stringing the cables between the poles, per the traditional process.
• Use all-dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) cables, which are cost effective and convenient next-gen fiber cables that can be installed with simple-to-use hardware and can withstand very high-tension loads and long spans.
• Use an optical power-attached cable (OPAC), which is a small and lightweight cable that gets lashed or wrapped to energized power lines.

So, there you have it – everything you wanted to know about using fiber optics in the electric utility industry, but were afraid to ask!