Xiangyang Power Supply Coordinated Air-and-Ground Operations Clear "White Hazards" with Lasers in Seconds

It is currently the peak period for electricity consumption in spring farming, irrigation, and industrial production, as well as a season with frequent high winds. "White floating objects" such as plastic films and dust-proof nets blown up by strong winds can easily entangle high-voltage conductors, causing short circuits and tripping. Facing the challenge, State Grid Xiangyang Power Supply Company responded quickly by utilizing laser remote obstacle-clearing instruments, UAV 3D modeling, and a unified video platform, enabling hazards to be detected within minutes and removed within seconds.

Maintenance personnel use an obstacle-clearing instrument to precisely remove floating objects entangled on a 220 kV transmission line 

Photo by Xiang Binbin

Underneath a 220 kV transmission line in Xiangyang, a sheet of plastic film blown more than 100 meters into the air by strong winds was entangled in the conductors and swinging violently. Such floating objects, when wet or bridging different phases, can easily cause line tripping. In the past, this required applying for a power outage and manually climbing the tower to remove the debris, which was high-risk and time-consuming. Now, the operator sets up the laser obstacle-clearing instrument. After aiming and locking on the screen, a high-energy laser beam is instantly emitted. The plastic film in the distance is rapidly carbonized and broken, falling to the ground in just a few minutes, while the transmission line remains energized throughout the process. The head of the transmission operation and inspection center of State Grid Xiangyang Power Supply Company said that the equipment can precisely target non-metallic debris without damaging the conductors, making it particularly suitable for hard-to-reach sections across rivers and farmlands.

In response to the risk of foreign-object short circuits caused by strong spring winds, State Grid Xiangyang Power Supply Company has also built a three-dimensional defense system featuring "government-enterprise coordination for proactive risk elimination, digital empowerment for around-the-clock monitoring, and emergency forces on standby," making every effort to safeguard the backbone power grid in northwestern Hubei. (By Du Yuan, Zhang Huiwen)