Applying Wind Simulations for Planning and Operation of Real-Time Thermal Ratings

Real-time thermal ratings (RTTRs) are an emerging technology that allows the rating of electrical conductors to be estimated using real-time local weather observations. In many cases this leads to a very significant (typically 50%-100%) increase in rating with respect to conventional approaches. Conductor rating is heavily influenced by wind speed and direction. Consequently, in this paper, computational wind simulations commonly employed by the wind energy industry have been applied to inform rating estimation during network planning and operation. This provides an exciting opportunity to allow the identification of determining conductor spans to inform network designers of the rating potential of different conductor routes to estimate the additional wind energy that could be accommodated through the enhanced line rating and to allow intelligent placement of the monitoring equipment required to implement RTTR. The wind simulation data were also used to allow more accurate estimation of conductor ratings during operation. Two case studies taken from actual trial sites in the U.K. are presented to demonstrate that these techniques can provide a real world benefit.