Techno-economic assessment of global approaches to the design of power transmission lines accounting for climatic loads

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative techno-economic analysis of approaches to rating wind and ice loads in the design of 220 kV overhead power transmission lines (OHL) adopted in the Russian Federation, the USA, the countries of the European Union and China. The relevance of the study is substantiated by the increasing frequency of abnormal ice-and-wind events that lead to mass failures and significant economic damage. Three key normative parameters that determine differences in capital expenditure (CAPEX), operating expenditure (OPEX) and reliability are identified: the load return period, the load reliability factors and the wind-during-ice combination coefficient. On the basis of a single climatic scenario and a typical design object, calculations of CAPEX, OPEX, the expected annual damage from failures and the life cycle cost (LCC) over 40 years at a discount rate of 10% are performed. It is established that the Russian approach minimizes CAPEX and LCC, but provides a 1.8-2.2 times higher annual probability of failure compared with the approaches of the USA and the EU. As an active measure to increase reliability without a critical rise in capital costs, the expediency of introducing location-based overload limiting automation and ice monitoring and melting systems is substantiated.