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- Title
Component Assessment of the Electric Transmission Grid to Hurricanes.
- Authors
Schumann, Zachary D.; Chini, Christopher M.
- Abstract
The increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events from climate change necessitates understanding impacts on critical infrastructure, particularly electrical transmission grids. One of the foundational concepts of a grid's resilience is its robustness to extreme weather events, such as hurricanes. Resilience of the electric grid to high wind speeds is predicated upon the location and physical characteristics of the system components. Previous modeling assessments of electric grid failure were done at the systems level with assumptions on location and type of specific components. To facilitate more explicit adaptation metrics, accurate component‐level information is needed. In this study, we build and utilize a data set of location, physical characteristics, and age of transmission structures for nine counties in the Florida Panhandle. These component characteristics were then simulated for failure under a variety of scenarios using fragility curves. Eight hurricanes were modeled using Hazus from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the resulting impact to the network was assessed. The network was generated using the transmission lines and towers, showing increasing impacts to network efficiency with larger storms. Although modern transmission structures are built under the more stringent extreme wind loading construction standards, the prevalence of older, wooden transmission structures throughout the region poses a substantial risk to reliable electricity transmission during tropical cyclone events from the Gulf of Mexico. Plain Language Summary: Coastal infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events. A critical infrastructure, such as electric transmission grids, must be robust and resilient to increasing intensity events to continue to provide an appropriate level of service to its customers. However, there are limited data on the component‐level assets of the transmission grid. Therefore, there are significant uncertainties in models and how they can be used in disaster preparedness and response scenarios. In this study, we build a high‐resolution transmission grid data set for nine counties in the Florida Panhandle. We then simulate eight different hurricane scenarios and detail how vulnerable the transmission grid is to hurricanes. Key Points: Component‐level characteristics of the electric transmission, such as tower type and location, are important for modelingThe tower types across the region has varying levels of vulnerability to hurricanesRobustness efforts to increase structural integrity of transmission towers would reduce overall system vulnerability
- Subjects
FLORIDA; GULF of Mexico; ELECTRIC power transmission; ELECTRIC power distribution grids; EXTREME weather; INFRASTRUCTURE (Economics); HURRICANES; TROPICAL cyclones; GRIDS (Cartography)
- Publication
Earth's Future, 2023, Vol 11, Issue 11, p1
- ISSN
2328-4277
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2023EF003525