The 40^th General Meeting of the Intercable International Association

The 40^th General Meeting of the Intercable International Association took place on

6 -11 December 2010 in the city of Kazan’ (the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia). It was a jubilee meeting as the Association celebrated its 20^th anniversary.

160 participants of the general meeting represented 69 companies from Russia, Germany, Ukraine, USA, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Italy, Canada, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Czechia, Finland and Switzerland.

In his welcoming speech Mr. I.Sh. Khalikov, the prime-minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, made a brief review of the Republic industry achievements, including the construction of the new “Tatkabel” cable plant, and wished all the participants of the meeting to achieve great success in economic, scientific and technical areas and further development of the international cooperation.

A scientific and technical symposium dedicated to the most important cable technology problems was held within the framework of the general meeting and included two sessions.

Session 1 - Energy saving in the cable industry. The following reports were made:

♦ Energy saving during transmission and distribution (All-Russian Electrotechnical Institute, Russia);

♦ Cable engineering and energy saving (VNIIKP OJSC, Russia);

♦ Energy saving issues in the cable industry by the example of Samara Cable Company (Samara Cable Company JSCcl., Russia);

♦ Energy efficiency technologies at JSC “Plant “Yuzhkabel”, The Ukraine);

♦ Energy efficient manufacturing methods of bare conductors (Maschinenfabrik NIEHOFF GmbH, Germany);

♦ Energy saving in the wire production (SAMP S.p.A., Italy);

♦ Energy saving in the cable industry owing to the application of the bimetallic conductors instead of copper conductors (Ziemek Cable Technology, Germany);

♦ Energy saving coating and UV-curning system for optical fibers and wires (Medek & Schoerner GmbH, Germany);

♦ Energy saving in production of welded jackets (Nexans Deutschland GmbH, Germany);

♦ Energy saving measuring and control technology for the cable industry (Sikora AG, Germany).

Session 2 New cable materials (polyethylene compounds for high-voltage cables, silane cross-linked polyethylenes, halogen free polyolefin compounds, etc.)The following reports were made:

♦ System of cross-linked PE based materials for polymer insulated high-voltage cables of direct current ( Borealis AG, Austria);

♦ Enhanced Water Tree Retardent XLPE Insulation for Medium Voltage Cable Applications (Dow W&C, Switzerland);

♦ Sampsistemi solutions for silane cross-linked polyethylenes (SAMP S.p.A., Italy);

♦ Application of fluoropolymers in the cable industry (Du Pont de Nemours International S.A., USA);

♦ Application of silanes in the cable industry (Momentive Performance Materials GmbH, Germany);

♦ Silane cross-linked polyethylene and its application for medium voltage cable insulation (Odessa Cable Works Odeskabel OJSC, The Ukraine);

♦ Application of modern insulating compounds at “Gerda”, universal cable system developed by plant “Doncable” (Gerda ISE, Russia);

♦ Cross-linkable polyolefin based compounds. Technological peculiarities of production and characteristics (Plant “Yuzhkabel” JSC, The Ukraine);

♦ Silicone rubber for fire safety cables (Wacker Chemie, Germany).

Besides technical-organizational matters some questions concerning the changes in the Association membership were considered at the general meeting. The following companies and enterprises became members of the Association: ROTEQ Machinery Inc. (Canada), Wacker Chemie Rus. (Germany, Russia), “Incab” Ltd. (Russia), “Tatkabel” Ltd. (Russia). In accordance with the application filed by Bongard (Germany) this company was withdrawn from the Association membership. CADIVI company (Vietnam) was expelled from the Intercable Association due to failure to pay the membership fees.

The participants of the general meeting visited the “Tatkabel” plant which is equipped with modern equipment of the leading global manufacturers. The plant produces insulated and bare wires for overhead transmission lines, low, medium and high voltage power cables. The plant has up-to-date laboratory and testing equipment.

The next scheduled 41^st general meeting of the Intercable International Association will take place from 27 June till 01 July 2011 in Slovenia. The scientific and technical symposium that will be held within the framework of this general meeting will be dedicated to the following themes:

Session 1 – Development prospects of the world cable industry, cable industry of Europe and the CIS under economic crisis conditions.

Session 2 – Data cables (LAN-cables): machinery, production technology, control and measurement equipment.