The standardized ice-observing station for transmission lines in Zhejiang is put into use, and technology empowers the power grid's 'anti-freezing' capabilities

Affected by the convergence of warm and cold air currents, Zhejiang has ushered in a new round of cold air, and sleet or snow may occur in mountainous areas across the province. To this end, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power has studied defense and response measures in advance. It uses intelligent technologies to accurately monitor the status of ice-covered transmission lines in mountainous areas. A standardized ice-observing station for transmission lines has been built and put into use in Lishui, as well as an automated weather monitoring station has been set up to keep track of the weather and icing conditions at the ice-observing station at any time.

As the cold air begins to affect Lishui, the temperature in mountainous areas has dropped significantly. The temperature near the meteorological radar station has dropped to around -2 C. Persistent low-temperature, rainy, snowy, and freezing weather may cause icing on transmission lines, which will have a significant impact on the safe operation of the power grid. Every winter, transmission operation and maintenance personnel need to closely monitor weather changes and travel to areas prone to quickly icing to observe the icing conditions of transmission lines and collect on-site images and data, providing important information support for subsequent anti-icing and power-protection work.

With the standardized ice-observing station, it's as if the transmission lines are equipped with an "ice-observing staff" that is online 24 hours a day and has piercing eyes. It is understood that there are four cross-regional main lines near this ice-observing station, such as the 500-kilovolt Xianyong 5815 line and the Xiankang 5816 line. The area where it is located has an average of more than 30 days of low-temperature freezing weather per year, and it is a key node for icing monitoring of the power grid in southwestern Zhejiang. The meteorological monitoring system equipped in the station can collect 12 micro-meteorological data in real-time, including temperature, humidity, wind speed, precipitation type, etc. Coupled with the high-definition ice-condition image recognition device, a "meteorology + vision" two-dimensional monitoring network is formed. It can keep track of the line operation situation in real time, issue pre-alarms, and reduce power grid icing accidents.

"Most of the areas prone to icing are located in high-altitude mountainous regions. The ice-observation work often has to be carried out in harsh environments of ice and snow. This is not only dangerous but also takes a lot of time on the road." Huang Hao, a transmission operation and maintenance worker, is full of anticipation for the operation of the ice-observation station. "Now, the ice-observation station is equipped with high-end equipment. It can not only meet the needs of on-site presence but also conduct experiments related to line icing on the spot. This will greatly improve the efficiency and quality of the ice-observation work."

After the ice-observing station is put into use, it is expected that the manual ice-observing operations for the lines in this area can be reduced by 100 person-times per year during special anti-icing inspections. The response time for icing early warnings can be shortened from 3 hours to 15 minutes. Especially in dealing with the "freezing rain-wet snow" mixed-type icing, its monitoring efficiency has increased by 50 percent compared with traditional methods, providing valuable data support for the differential design of lines in high-altitude mountainous areas.

In the next step, State Grid Lishui Power Supply Company will continue to optimize the functions of the ice-observation stations. Building big-data models will continuously refine the ice-zone distribution map of transmission lines across the entire Lishui area. With big data and digital technologies, the company will establish a more comprehensive power-grid anti-icing and disaster-resistance system, providing stronger guarantees for the safe and stable operation of the power grid.