The Cross-Sound Cable is a 25-mile (40 km) long bipolar

high-voltage direct current A high-voltage direct current (HVDC) electric power transmission system (also called a power superhighway or an electrical superhighway) uses direct current (DC) for electric power transmission, in contrast with the more common alternating curre ...

(HVDC)

submarine power cable A submarine power cable is a transmission cable for carrying electric power below the surface of the water.New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and Shoreham, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States.

Description

The Cross-Sound Cable can transmit a maximum power of 330 MW at a voltage of +/- 150 kV DC. The maximum current for Cross-Sound Cable is 1175

ampere The ampere (, ; symbol: A), often shortened to amp,SI supports only the use of symbols and deprecates the use of abbreviations for units. is the unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI). One ampere is equal to elect ...

s. The Cross-Sound Cable is not simply a pair of underwater HVDC cables; rather it is a bundle of cables that includes the HVDC transmission lines and

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cables for phone and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

data transfer. Construction of the Cross-Sound Cable was started in 2002 from the former site of the

Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was a completed General Electric nuclear boiling water reactor located adjacent to Long Island Sound in East Shoreham, New York. The plant was built between 1973 and 1984 by the Long Island Lighting Company (LILC ...

. The cable was first laid on the floor of

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

; then a machine known as a jet plow tool used high-pressure water to fluidize the sea bed directly under the cable. The cable then fell into the liquidized trench. Concern over possible environmental impact of the buried underwater cables caused significant delay in operation. Commercial operation of the cable was delayed until after the August 14, 2003 blackout of much of the eastern North American power system. Immediately after the blackout, emergency permission was secured to operate the cable. The cable has since been operating and, generally, sells electricity from the New England power grid to the New York power grid. The builders and first operators of the project, TransÉnergie HQ, a subsidiary of

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by the ...

, and the United Illuminating Company, sold their interests in the cable to

Babcock & Brown Babcock & Brown LP was a global investment and advisory firm, established in 1977, based in Sydney, Australia, that went into liquidation in 2009. Babcock & Brown Securities LLC was an active investment banking firm focused on equipment and proj ...

for approximately US $213 million in February 2006. The converters of Cross-Sound Cable are examples of HVDC light technology. Power can flow in either direction between New Haven and Shoreham terminals.

References

External links

Description
by the ABB Group * {{Official website, http://www.crosssoundcable.com Energy infrastructure completed in 2003 Submarine power cables HVDC transmission lines Energy infrastructure in Connecticut Energy infrastructure in New York (state) Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut Hydro-Québec Energy infrastructure on Long Island, New York

Description

See also

References

External links