Globally, wildfires are increasing annually. From California to Indonesia, from Canada to Australia, burning vegetation is a worsening threat to society. Rising temperatures from climate change dries out forests and grasslands, fueling bigger, more destructive fires. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, fire-related threats are increasing and the fifteen most damaging wildfires in the USA happened since 2000. Globally, the frequency of wildfires is increasing and so is the area burnt by fire. The loss of life, farmland and homes, as well as the damage to forests and wild animals is worsening.
Utilities worldwide suffer from this climate risk: firstly by their own equipment actually starting the fires, secondly from the destruction of buildings and equipment the fires cause. According to an Australian government investigation into wildfires, 29 of the 190 fires assessed were initiated by malfunctioning assets on the electricity grid, that is, around 15 percent.
The Risks
Utility companies need to build in wildfire prevention strategies to their resilience and disaster prevention plans. Prior planning can prevent significant damage, and the resulting financial losses that can be incurred.
Three Strategies do Prevent Wildfire Damage
Improved Equipment Design
Much of the grid is legacy equipment. A great many ordinary pieces of equipment was made for a milder climate and was not expected to perform in temperatures exceeding these parameters. However summer temperatures in Australia have climbed over 40º C (105º F) and last year California had the hottest weather ever recorded. Instituting new regulations that would require all equipment manufacturers to certify that their plant will function at higher temperatures would go a long way to ensure to reduce risks in this area.
Spark Prevention Technology
Mandatory surge arresters in wildfire-prone areas are another deployable technology. These can reduce fires by protecting critical assets from overvoltages from overheating, lightning strikes or perhaps malfunctions during normal operations. In addition spark prevention units (SPU) can monitor the current and thermal load of the surge arrester and automatically disconnect it from the network in the event of thermal overload. This prevents any arcing, sparking or ejection of hot particles that could ignite nearby vegetation.
Better Monitoring Systems
Overhead wires, which comprise a large part of the grid, are vulnerable to trees falling on the lines, and all sorts of animals and birds can get caught in them. Both of these events can trigger fires. By using digital monitoring systems, the grid control room can detect problems and receive alerts about irregularities on the network caused by such incidents. Asset management strategies can provide new insights into grid health and behavior through real-time awareness in the control room. AI and machine learning systems can also integrate with sensors to predict potential hazards, for example the migration of animals at a particular time, which could lead to dangerous interactions. The future will have automated AI systems reacting to problems and rerouting power without human interaction, which will be swifter and less prone to human error.
Utilities Need to Embrace Change
The climate crisis is worsening. Rising temperatures and increasing adverse events are going to continue to threaten the electrical grid and potentially cause further wildfires. With lives, property and wildlife being put at great risk, it is essential that the industry take the essential steps to commit to using new technology to prevent fires from starting in the first place. These include, improving equipment design standards, deploying new technology, such as the SPU, and utilizing advanced computing and sensor systems with AI and ML to analyze and prevent risks before they materialize into real dangers.