Dingxi, Gansu: Intelligent 'sky eyes' help ensure power grid safety

"Reported at 17:07 hours: A large volume of smoke has been detected on the high-number side of Pole No. 033 along the 110kV Minqing Line. Transmission Operation and Maintenance Team 2 is to proceed immediately to address the situation!"

On Aug 7, operators at the Transmission Line Monitoring Center of the State Grid Dingxi Power Supply Company identified a potential wildfire risk – one that could threaten the safe operation of the transmission line – via their remote monitoring system. They promptly relayed this information to personnel already conducting patrols in the vicinity of the line, who then moved to verify and handle the issue, thus ensuring the safe and reliable operation of the Dingxi power grid.

The Transmission Line Monitoring Center primarily leverages digital and intelligent monitoring devices to perform real-time surveillance on factors jeopardizing the regular operation of transmission lines, such as tree encroachments and micro-meteorological conditions. It is capable of issuing early warnings upon detecting potential hazards, and boasts the merits of remote high-frequency and intelligent patrolling.

To guarantee reliable power supply, the company has deployed digital-intelligent monitoring devices at urban "lifelines", power feeders for critical users, construction sites with heavy machinery, and segments where transmission lines traverse farmland — facilitating real-time surveillance of conditions within line corridors. Concurrently, it integrates intelligent operation and maintenance technologies such as transmission line online monitoring and autonomous drone patrolling, thereby forging an intelligent "sky eye" for line inspections. This system delivers all-dimensional, three-dimensional, and lean inspections of transmission lines and associated equipment.

Moreover, to ensure the robust and efficient operation of the Transmission Line Monitoring Center — thereby maximizing the controllability, manageability and oversight of critical line operations — the company fully harnesses the strengths of intelligent patrolling. It conducts uninterrupted remote surveillance of transmission line corridors, with focused attention on high-frequency, high-risk hazards such as various construction activities, nurseries, floating debris, fishing-related incidents, and wildfires within these corridors. Upon detecting any hazard that threatens the safe and stable operation of the lines, the center promptly notifies personnel closest to the hazard site to carry out on-site investigations. It then maintains oversight until the hazard is fully mitigated, ensuring a complete closed-loop process for hazard disposal.

According to the person in charge of the Transmission Operation and Inspection Center of the State Grid Dingxi Power Supply Company, the large-scale integration of digital and intelligent monitoring devices has shortened the inspection cycles for equipment corridors, markedly elevated the standards of intelligent operation and maintenance, and thus laid a robust foundation for ensuring the safe and stable operation of transmission lines.