Black & Veatch’s BOLD® consultant status to drive new wave of power transmission infrastructure

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 16, 2018 -- Black & Veatch, a market leader in power transmission and distribution infrastructure, announced today it has been named as a BOLD® consultant for the deployment of Breakthrough Overhead Line Design® (BOLD) transmission lines. BOLD structures and specifications have the potential to provide higher power delivery capacity, allowing more power to be transmitted and delivered while mitigating community impacts through lowered structure heights and reduced footprint over traditional approaches.

The BOLD proprietary design technology uses a single, arched cross-arm to hold two circuits, a compact circuit arrangement and a unique insulator assembly allow for a lower profile that can ease siting and land acquisition processes. The design can maximize existing rights-of-way by replacing old transmission lines with smaller-footprint, higher-capacity BOLD lines.

“Our status as a consultant combines BOLD game-changing transmission line design with Black & Veatch’s proven engineering and deployment expertise to help deliver on the promise of a new era of power transmission,” said Dave Abrams, Executive Vice President and Director of Power Delivery at Black & Veatch. “BOLD is a significant step forward from conventional line design, and we are eager to begin putting it to work for clients.”

Black & Veatch’s designation as a BOLD consultant comes as utility clients are working to meet rising customer demand for reliability and managing the increasing physical constraints of rights-of-way limitations. The company’s most recent Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report highlights increased focus on transmission and distribution (T&D) investments, driven largely by efforts to connect more renewables-based power generation to the grid.

Relative to conventional 345-kilovolt power lines, BOLD can provide up to 60 percent greater power-carrying capacity, potentially lowers line losses by as much as 33 percent, and reduces structure height by up to 30 percent. The design’s use of a compact delta phase bundle arrangement has demonstrated the capability to reduce ground-level magnetic fields by up to 50 percent.

Editor’s Note:

• Black & Veatch representatives will be on-site in Denver, CO during the 2018 IEEE PES T&D Conference & Expo, April 16-19, to discuss BOLD and the benefits it brings to the industry. Visit company experts at Booth #645 at IEEE.

About Black & Veatch 

Black & Veatch is an employee-owned, global leader in building critical human infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people in over 100 countries through consulting, engineering, construction, operations and program management. Our revenues in 2017 were US$3.4 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and in social media.

About BOLD Transmission, LLC 
BOLD Transmission, LLC is a subsidiary of AEP Transmission Holding Company formed to facilitate use of the BOLD intellectual property through commercial ventures. The BOLD technology is available through licensing or direct partnerships. Visit boldtransmission.com for more information.

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