Predicting wildfire ignition induced by dynamic conductor swaying under strong winds

Abstract

During high wind events with dry weather conditions, electric power systems can be the cause of catastrophic wildfires. In particular, conductor-vegetation contact has been recognized as the major ignition cause of utility-related wildfires. There is a urgent need for accurate wildfire risk analysis in support of operational decision making, such as vegetation management or preventive power shutoffs. This work studies the ignition mechanism caused by transmission conductor swaying out to nearby vegetation and resulting in flashover. Specifically, the studied limit state is defined as the conductor encroaching into prescribed minimum vegetation clearance. The stochastic characteristics of the dynamic displacement response of a multi-span transmission line are derived through efficient spectral analysis in the frequency domain. The encroachment probability at a specified location is estimated by solving a classical first-excursion problem. These problems are often addressed using static-equivalent models. However, the results show that the contribution of random wind buffeting to the conductor dynamic displacement is appreciable under turbulent strong winds. Neglecting this random and dynamic component can lead to an erroneous estimation of the risk of ignition. The forecast duration of the strong wind event is an important parameter to determine the risk of ignition. In addition, the encroachment probability is found highly sensitive to vegetation clearance and wind intensity, which highlights the need of high resolution data for these quantities. The proposed methodology offers a potential avenue for accurate and efficient ignition probability prediction, which is an important step in wildfire risk analysis.