Transmission Power Grid Hardening Strategies Against Hurricane-Induced Extreme Weather Conditions: A Comprehensive Review
Md Jahid Hasan Rifat, Mona Ghassemi
Abstract
High Impact Low Probability (HILP) natural events like hurricanes have become a matter of serious concern in recent times. These catastrophic events not only cause severe damage to residential and industrial infrastructures but also engender massive losses in the economy due to large-scale power outages. Such cascaded long-term power interruptions are usually triggered by individual or simultaneous failure in generation, transmission, and distribution components. In this context, high voltage (HV) transmission lines, insulators, and towers are the most vulnerable components of the transmission system, frequently sustaining the most severe damage imposed by HILP events. In this paper, the underlying reasons for wide-scale power outages are investigated from the perspective of transmission failure. Based on the literature review, this paper contextualizes the idea of grid hardening and emphasizes the importance of adopting transmission power grid hardening strategies. Following this, a brief overview is presented of different failure probability assessment models of these components exposed to intense wind loads. In addition to commonly practiced hardening techniques, this paper provides an elaborative discussion on various robust design and reinforcement aspects of the abovementioned components with an aim toward reduction in large-scale power outages due to wind-induced adverse conditions during hurricanes.