Maintenance and recovery of high voltage electricity transport systems

Every megawatt hour of electricity produced but not delivered is extremely costly for Transmission System Operators (TSOs), Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and for society as a whole. The two HV-SATPROTEC services which are based on the integration of different space and non-space assets, provide users at lower costs with systematic and timely information on the state of the infrastructures and on potential threats in their surroundings. These services support a more cost-efficient planning of necessary maintenance tasks, anticipate risks threatening overhead power lines and improve the overall safety of monitoring operations within transmission corridors. This helps to reduce the risk of power outages and to decrease the related high maintenance/recovery operation costs. More precisely, the expected benefits for the two services are an early detection of potential or actual threats, more systematic and reliable information on threats to reduce fault risks and the associated downtime costs; more accurate information for a better planning of pruning operations; and reduced monitoring and maintenance costs. In terms of infrastructure integrity accurate information was provided for a better planning of infrastructure repairs, systematic information on infrastructure integrity was provided to reduce risk of faults and safety was increased thanks to the reduction of climbers’ inspections or helicopter flights.