How It
Works

BOLD’s patented design leverages physics to maximize electrical performance reducing inductance and impedance while increasing capacitance.

 Consumer Benefits

With enhanced capacity, higher efficiency, and increased aesthetic appeal, BOLD® provides a cost-effective solution that will benefit you and your customers:

  • Up to 60% increase in Surge Impedance Loading (SIL) per circuit
  • Eliminated need for series compensation in long-distance bulk power transfer applications
  • Increased power delivery in the same right-of-way
  • Reduced energy losses from conductor heating
  • Mitigation of electric field effects
  • Aesthetic appeal and reduced structure height
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Digging deeper: What does efficiency really mean?

When we say efficiency we mean a lot of different things, from limiting energy losses to reusing right-of-way already housing old transmission lines instead of building new lines on new right-of-ways. Often this means replacing older, lower-voltage lines with higher-capacity new lines.

The key word here is “maximize.” BOLD® does this by utilizing less space than conventional lines, while also providing more capability in the same right-of-way. This efficiency helps move power more within crowded utility corridors.

Additionally, using low-impedance bundled conductors, BOLD® lines can save up to 40% of the energy that is lost during power transmission using existing lines. And that’s a really big deal because it means dollars saved.

One BOLD® tower can carry the same amount of power as three comparable single circuit traditional towers, in a right of way one-third the size

More power to you: It’s all about capacity.

Historically, the implementation of compact line designs was driven by some type of space constraint or environmental concern. With BOLD®, we focused on performance first, but the design’s synergy lies in its ability to address both.

An innovative approach to compacting electrical phases led to the breakthrough that is BOLD®. Conventional lines are arranged in a stacked configuration with three cross arms, but BOLD® uses a more efficient configuration featuring a single, arch-shaped tubular cross arm assembly that supports both circuits.

This arrangement eliminates the need for complex and costly terminal equipment such as series capacitors and other reactive compensation often required for long-distance bulk power delivery. By lowering the overall impedance and taking advantage of electrical physics, BOLD® intrinsically increase the line’s ability to carry more megawatts over longer distances.

Looks can be everything: Why you should consider aesthetics.

Siting transmission lines is difficult, even when replacing an existing line in an existing right-of-way. In addition to BOLD® Transmissions towers being much smaller (up to 33% reduction in height compared to traditional towers), there’s a touch of the artistic at work. Our studies show that’s important.

BOLD® offers an alternative that takes these concerns into consideration by featuring:

  • Simple, elegant, low-profile design
  • Reduced structure height
  • Mitigation of magnetic fields
  • Lower audible noise

Customers increasingly tell us they want less community and environmental impact from transmission towers. A 2015 survey performed across the United States and throughout Europe found the general public strongly favors the BOLD® design when compared to conventional designs.

The potential key to connecting wind energy in the U.S.

One of the biggest challenges to the mass-adoption of wind energy in the United States is the creation of a transmission network connecting renewable generation to the areas that demand it.

Wind resources are generally located far away from the population centers where it is needed, thus requiring long transmission lines for both connection and transport. While different technologies are available to accomplish this task, BOLD® provides a new and important option to further support renewable development.

Historically, series compensation has been utilized to increase transfer capability on these lines for performance needs. But series compensation can not only add cost, but potentially create harmonic interference known as Sub-Synchronous Resonance (SSR), which can interfere with and even damage turbine generation facilities. BOLD® lines intrinsically perform the duties of series compensated lines, without the complexity.