Caribbean hurricane damage is also an opportunity for local utilities and for Spain's Abengoa.Summary: Violent hurricanes which ripped through the Caribbean in recent years have caused widespread destruction of infrastructures, but rebuilding power grids allows utility companies to add valuable fiber-optic capacity to their network. Spanish company Abengoa is using this opportunity to expand its activities in the region. A series of devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. storms over the past five years have played havoc with exposed networks of high-voltage power lines throughout the Caribbean. Even 'moderate' storms of a far lesser severity then the infamous Gustav and Katrina cause extensive damage to the vulnerable transmission towers and cables. Storms that hit the region's island nations are invariably in·var·i·a·ble adj. Not changing or subject to change; constant. in·var  i·a·bil accompanied by widespread
power blackouts that often require weeks of work to overcome, followed
by months of more extensive repair work afterwards.
Some local utilities have started to take advantage of the refurbishment forced upon them, by installing fiber optic communications infrastructure alongside their power transmission network. Typically, this is achieved through the use of OPGW OPGW Optical Power Ground Wire OPGW Optical Ground Wave OPGW Optical Pilot Ground Wire (OPtical fiber composite overhead Ground Wire Optical fiber composite overhead ground wire (OPGW) is a type of cable that is used in the construction of electric power transmission and distribution lines. Such cable combines the functions of grounding and communications. ), a purpose designed cable that incorporates the optical transmission fiber within the steel cable traditionally used for grounding the towers of the electric power lines. The new fiber optic communications infrastructure provides power companies with a proprietary means of voice and data communications data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications make it possible for one computer to "talk" with another. , capable of dealing with immense loads at high speeds. Moreover, fiber optic networks offer immense load capabilities, and companies can lease or trade some of their excess capacity to others. Spanish engineering firm Abengoa, a leader in power transmission, has been operating in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. for some thirty years. Like many other Spanish and Portuguese firms over the past three years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time company has increasingly been looking to Latin and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. as natural drivers of growth. Recent efforts have shown that Abengoa has seized the opportunity presented by the installation of OPGW in order to expand into new markets in the Caribbean. The company has already won a tender for installation of a 500-1000 Km OPGW network, and is said to be actively pursuing several more such opportunities in the region. 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com) 2009 Al Bawaba (Albawaba.com) Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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