Sempra builds first commercial fiber-in-gas link

Sempra Fiber Links, a subsidiary of national gas utility Sempra Energy, has installed its first commercial fiber optic transmission line within a live gas pipeline in Long Beach, CA, using Sempra Fiber In Gas technology.

The one-mile fiber link connects municipally owned Long Beach Energy with two Long Beach city facilities. The city is initially using the link for its own network purposes but plans to bring to eventually market capacity to other public institutions and business in the city.

Unlike other utilities laying fiber along their rights of way, Sempra has developed its technology to run conduit through live gas lines themselves without interrupting the flow of the fuel or disrupting the optical transmission. Using special tools, a technician can drill into a gas pipe to insert the fiber conduit directly into the pipe. The fiber remains embedded in the pipe itself, exiting only at valves. A gas company building out a network needs only dig a three-foot diameter hole at intervals of 500 to 1500 feet using Sempra’s technology instead of a continuous 3 foot trench. In most markets, laying fiber costs about $300,000 a mile, but Sempra claims it can cut those costs by 60% to 70%.

While other energy companies, most notably Williams, have done similar projects, this is the first time a company has done this over live gas lines, said Scott Beals, vice president of technology for Sempra Fiber Links. “Williams bought up abandoned pipeline and used it mainly for long-haul routes. That’s a great strategy if there’s a bunch of abandoned pipeline lying around. But there’s relatively little of it in metro markets, where the cost of laying fiber is particularly high.”

While the technology may be very appealing to utilities looking to improve the value of their assets, it’s a slow technology implement. The actual installation is fairly quick but regulatory hurdles and the cautiousness of the utility companies are difficult to overcome.

Sempra first installed a one-mile fiber conduit in a North Carolina affiliate’s pipes in 2001 as a technology demonstration. While that network was never commercially lit, the demonstration did attract interest from other national gas utilities. It struck a deal last year with TXU in North Texas to install fiber conduits in pipeline near Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, but TXU is still waiting approval from the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates use of rights of way in Texas.

Sempra Energy’s own application to run fiber through its own gas systems has been sitting before the California Public Utilities Commission for 15 months. Long Beach Energy was able to deploy so quickly, Beals said, only because as a government-owned utility it doesn’t face the regulatory hurdles that investor-owned utilities face.

“You also have to realize that this industry is very conservative,” Beals said. “This is a brand new technology. To a gas utility that’s been transporting nothing but gas for 150 years, putting something like this into their major assets is a big decision, something they’re certainly not going to rush.”