be installed in heavily treed areas or lines with tight right-ofway
in order to reduce power interruptions and outages. In the
SCS the phase covered conductors are supported from a highstrength
messenger grounded wire by insulating spacers, as
shown in Figure 2.
Several successful cases have been reported around the
world, where the failure rates have been considerably reduced
by installing SCS. An example of good performance of SCS is
shown in Figure 3, where the system average interruption duration
index for a SCS in a period of five years is compared with
the same index for a system with CC and ceramic pin post insulators
(hybrid system), and for a system with bare aerial conductors.
The data are from a distribution system located in the zone
of Orizaba in the Mexican province of Veracruz, located 100
km from the coast. Although initial cost of the SCS is higher
than the bare conductors system, the SCS has proven to be a
long-term benefit for the electric utility when they are installed
inland, and its use is under increasing growth