VALTHERMO is the Elcowire way to support infrastructure owners in meeting their targets on sustainability! Thanks to well-proven characteristics in terms of useful product life time, low maintenance needs and related extra cost and a significantly reduced CO₂ footprint VALTHERMO opens the way into a cleaner economy.

VALTHERMO means VALue by THERM(O)al resistance!

As of June 2021, Elcowire has delivered more than 3800 kilometers of VALTHERMO contact wire since its first application 2012. According to a CO₂ study, by using VALTHERMO with a 70-year lifespan instead of pure copper limited to 25 years life time, the corresponding lifetime CO₂ savings is as much as the emissions for one year in a European city with around 21,000 inhabitants.

Recently, an investigation has been carried out in cooperation between DB Netz and Technische Universität Dresden, starting in 2020. The aim of this project has been to gather more statistical information on the wear behaviour of VALTHERMO across a larger section of the railway network. DB Netz provided the results of a so-called “F5-inspection” carried out using special train based equipment running at speeds of up to 100 km/h, with a longitudinal resolution of 2mm. The University (“Professur für Elektrische Bahnen”) developed a dedicated program to statistically evaluate the inspection results.

Elcowire will publish the new findings together with its partners DB Netz and Technische Universität Dresden. Results will provide prove of VALTHERMO effects to current and future users of VALTHERMO. Users will be enabled to make informed decisions and develop their network meeting their sustainability targets.