Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

Along the Atlan-tic coastal low lands of Brazil lies the city of Cubatão, São Paulo. The city is a major Bra-zilian industrial center, a principal banana pro-ducer and home to one of the largest oil refiner-ies in the country. CPFL Piratin-inga, one of the distribu-

tion units of CPFL Ener-gia, has responsibility for supplying reliable power to this busy city, while protecting the area’s sen-sitive mangrove wetlands that are home to numer-ous endemic plant and animal species.

To balance those

CPFL Piratininga Preserves Mangrove Wetland While Increasing Capacity

3M ACCR Announce Major Capacity Expansion

3M is announc-ing a major expansion of its ACCR manufac-turing capacity in Meno-monie, Wisconsin, U.S.A. By late 2012, the company will double its capacity for making the aluminum matrix core wire that is the heart of the conductor technology.

Mark Reed, who heads 3M’s ACCR manufacturing, says the production growth will be achieved by adding two new wire lines, new equipment and incre-mental improvements in the proprietary manu-facturing process. An estimated 25 new full-

3M™ Gridlines© Updates on 3M ACCR

3M™ Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced September 2011

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ACCR being installed on the Henry Borden-Jabaquara line near

Cubatã, São Paulo, Brazil as the tide goes out in the mangrove area.

Inside This Issue A New ASTM Standard for AMC Wire

2

Mark Reed, Manufacturing Man-ager, 3M HCC Program, “ACCR core wires and the constituent fi-bers are manufactured using a highly specialized and proprietary process. The Menomonie facility is the only place in the world where these innovative wires are pro-duced.”

Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

The aluminum ma-trix composite wires used in 3M ACCR are covered by a new ASTM Stan-dard, issued in July. 3M ACCR’s excep-tional strength, weight and thermal expansion properties are a result of the innovative material used in the core. Each wire is composed of thou-sands of continuous alu-mina fibers infused with a pure aluminum matrix. The Aluminum Matrix Composite (AMC) wires are then stranded into various core configura-tions to make 3M ACCR conductors.

Recently, ASTM International published standard designation B976-11, Standard Speci-fication for Fiber Rein-forced Aluminum Matrix Composite (AMC) Core Wire for Aluminum Con-ductors, Composite Rein-forced (ACCR) under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee B01 on Elec-trical Conductors and the responsibility of Subcom-mittee B01.07 on Con-ductors of Light Metals.

3M ACCR Page 2

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Aluminum matrix core wire, showing alumina fibers, now

covered by ASTM B976.

Standard B976 es-tablishes the criteria for the mechanical, electrical and physical properties of AMC wire, as well as quality as-surance procedures for manufacturing it. The stan-dard gives purchasers the assurance that the AMC product meets these crite-ria and provides a refer-ence for utility specifica-tions.

ASTM (www.astm.org), formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, de-velops and delivers interna-tional voluntary consensus standards. The process includes standard develop-ment by the appropriate committee of industry ex-perts, followed by multiple peer reviews until a con-sensus is achieved and the standard is approved.

ASTM had previ-ously published a standard for the aluminum zirconium alloy wire used in ACCR’s outer strands, ASTM B941.

For more informa-tion, visit the ASTM web-site at www.astm.org.

New ASTM Standard for AMC Wire Published

For assistance with writing an ACCR specification, con-

tact us at accr@mmm.com or visit:

www.3m.com/accr

Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

time jobs will be added at the Menomonie plant.

Since its com-mercial launch, approxi-mately 1,500 miles of conductor have been sold in 11 countries around the world. Cus-tomers include power providers in the fast growing countries of Brazil (see CPFL story, page 1), India and China, as well as 20 U.S. utilities of all types and sizes across the country.

“Utilities around the world have an ur-

(Continued from page 1) gent need to expand transmission capacity with reliable technology in a way that won’t dis-rupt the environment or urban neighborhoods by installing new or larger towers,” says Tim Koenig, 3M HCC Pro-gram Director.

Increase in prod-uct demand is due in part to 3M’s successful 10 year track record. The innovative ACCR technology has been proven through field testing that spanned several years and a range of harsh condi-tions, plus years of com-

Menomonie Factory Expands

Page 3 3M ACCR Page 3

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• Plant opened - 1974 • Most recent expansion - 2007 • Current size - 678,000 sq. ft. • Site size - 505 acres • Employment - 652 employ-

ees, 32 agency workers

3M manufacturing plant at Menomonie, Wisconsin

mercial use without a single failure, either dur-ing installation or opera-tion.

Today, 3M ACCR is successfully operating in the extreme environ-ments of the Siberian tundra and the Hawaiian coast; the heavily popu-lated cities of Shanghai and Washington D.C.; and the environmentally sensitive areas of the Minnesota River Valley and the Brazilian Paranã River.

Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

3M ACCR

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Page 4

objectives, the utility de-cided to install 3M ACCR 780-T10 (395 mm²) on a 7.5 mile (12 kM) stretch of its Henry Borden-Jabaquara double circuit line upgrade near the city.

According to Paulo Ricardo Bombassaro, CPFL Priatininga engi-neering director, a conven-tional upgrade would have required larger towers in a marshy flood plain. Be-sides posing serious con-struction problems, it risked interfering with un-derground oil and gas pipelines. These prob-lems would have been compounded by the need

(Continued from page 1) to build a temporary par-allel line to continue to deliver power to the city during construction.

This ACCR instal-lation is the third by a CPFL company. The first was the Ramal-Duratex line that crossed through the heavily populated Jundiai urban area in São Paulo. The second was the Tieté River crossing to the new Iacanga sub-station, where using the conductor allowed CPFL Paulista to avoid building a tower in the middle of the river.

For more information on other 3M ACCR installations, visit

www.3m.com/accr

The cradle block installation method was used to keep the

conductor high enough to avoid interrupting traffic on the An-

chieta Highway

CPFL Piratininga

“We would have required two sets of foundations in that diffi-cult terrain, taking an estimated 10 months to complete. String-ing ACCR took only 4 months, with no construction time.” Paulo Ricardo Bombassaro, Engineering Director, CPFL Piratininga.

Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

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CPFL Energia is the largest private energy com-pany in Brazil, supplying electric generation, distri-bution, sales and value-added services through its subsidiaries. Its generation mix is primarily renewable, including hydropower, wind and biomass from sugar cane. The Group is recog-nized internationally for its governance, corporate ex-cellence and sustainability.

Tim Koenig, director of the 3M High Capacity Conductor Program, states, “3M ACCR has worldwide recognition as a reliable, cost effective solution wherever structure con-struction poses environ-mental, permitting or con-struction difficulties. Pro-gressive companies like CPFL Energia use the ad-vanced conductor to meet the expanding range of de-mands that our changing society imposes on electric distribution.”

A lineman installing ACCR on the Henry Borden line stands on the foundation as the tide rises in the Man-

grove wetland.

Download the white paper, “Protecting Grid Integrity in a

Changing World” at:

www.3m.com/accr.

CPFL Piratininga

Copyright 2011 3M Corporation

3M ACCR Page 6

3M Center Building 251

St. Paul, MN 55144

Phone: 800-245-3573 E-mail: accr@mmm.com

www.3m.com/accr

3M Electrical Markets

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Visit www.3m.com/accr to:

• Find lab and field test reports • Download PLS-CADD cable files • Download the technical brochure on common conductor sizes • Fill in the Information Request Form to get help on a specific project • Contact us with questions or comments

3M ACCR is offered by 3M Electrical Markets Division, based in Austin, Texas. The division designs, manufactures and markets products for electrical construction, industrial maintenance, utility and industrial power, and electrical and electronic components. EMD has more than 60 years of experience serving customers with reliable products, including electri-cal and electronic insulating tapes and papers; electromagnetic compatible products; power cable splices and terminations; heat shrinkable tubing and molded shapes; electrical wire connectors, terminals, tools and lugs; wire marking products; cable ties; and electrical diag-nostic and detection products.

3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. With $27 billion in sales, 3M employs about 80,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.