Digital Engineering Ltd Announces Contract With TransGrid Regarding Weather Effects On Network

Digital Engineering Ltd (DE) on July 23 announced a new contract with TransGrid, an Australian Transmission System Operator (TSO), to model the effects of weather on a section of its overhead line network. 

This project will assist TransGrid, which operates the transmission network in the state of New South Wales, to fully operationalize its dynamic line rating system.
DE will utilize a version of its high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model developed by its team of meteorologists, data scientists, mathematicians, engineers and software developers to allow TransGrid to identify overhead line assets that are either shielded from local weather effects or sit in microclimates.

They will highlight spans, which experience weather patterns different from the data gathered at the nearest meteorological station, by modeling weather variables such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and solar irradiance.  The results will quantify the accuracy/uncertainty of the weather model data by comparing it to observed historical weather data across the region.

Rob Sunderland, managing director for DE, said, in part, “Advanced analytics is proving to be a powerful tool when managing a network infrastructure and optimizing network performance.” 

Hoang Tong, principal engineer for TransGrid, said: “Accurately determining the impacts of shielding and microclimates on transmission corridors is one the key in unlocking the dynamic capacity and robust design of transmission lines. This is an important aspect for TransGrid going forward, as we augment our transmission network to meet the energy transition to a lower emissions future, without compromising the delivery of reliable and affordable energy to customers.”

Once the WRF model is proven on this section of the TransGrid overhead line network then, if appropriate, the process will be repeated for other parts of the system.