SION PLANNING: Networks in remote rural regions of Now Zealand are aging and require renewal investment to provide safe and reliable service, Powerco's distribution network is predominantly an overtead tine network constructed with ‘conerete poles, timber erass arms and porcelain insulators using a wide variety of conductor types. (Taranaki regional landscape with mountain) Zealand a matter of ays, at By PAUL BLACKMORE, Powerco erco uses data and analytics to identify and prioritize line rene that previously took months. | projects in sNew Zealand!’ largest distribution network operatorin terms oftotal network length, Powerco manages 28,000 km (17,400 miles) of cables and lines and supplies com- ‘munities in the regional and rural areasofNew Zealand’s, North Island. Its33-kV, 1I-kV and 400-V overhead line networks were built mainly during a period of intense development in the 1950s, when many New Zealand rural communities were supplied upported by a mix of aged structures, dominated mostly by concrete poles with electricity for the firsttime. The networks are: and a smaller proportion of wood poles in remote rural areas, The condition and performance of these structures are deterio- rating, and renewal is required. To respond to this need, Powerco is executing a substantial five-year renewal program, funded bya customized price-quality path approved by the Commerce Commission of New Zealand in 2018, The renewal program fo- uses on replacing the aging mass-reinforced (non-prestressed) 36 TaD World | February 2021 concrete poles along with the wood poles. The issue with 1 concrete polesis they are susceptible to corrosion and conerete spalling, which is the deterioration of stee-reinforced conerete {in severe cases, concrete sections completely break away from the reinforcing steel bars, exposing the steel to the elements and, thereby, increasing the rate of corrosion). The wood poles mainly have wood rot and are decaying. Identifying and prioritizing the replacement of overhead line assets is not a straightforward task, Renewal need is only loosely based on the installed life; more importantly, itis highly depen- dent on other factors such as material quality, environment maintenance practices and fault history. The large-asset footprint combined with a vast quantity of information from diverse and. sometimes sparsely populated sources wasn -ordled through vie sual inspections of ground patrols conducted every five years. This. ently thas made it difficult to determine where investment isANSI MISSION PLANNING Heragon-shaned areas enable vsualzatian of asset condition at dering scales, ranging trom macro whole of network to micro project level. Smaller grids are ‘employed for localized visualizations and calculations. required and how remedial works should be packaged to create projects of efficient scale, Such difficulties can lead to subjectivity and inefficiency in identifying and scoping projects. To avoid this, Powerco developed a new approach to overhead line planning, Powerco’s Approach The utility developed a suite of plan- ning models that combine the diverse sources of avaiable data to produce visualizatic renewal is needed. This approach uses hexagon-shaped areas that are 2 sq km (0.77 sq miles), 0.5 sq km (0.19 sq miles) and 0.25 sq km (0.1 sq miles) in area. The largest area is most used. toprovide an overview, with the smallest area used when greater ns that identify where urgent network detail is required, Each hexagon-shaped area is assigned a score based on the us. This includes fa weighted combinations of inp I records, overhead line inspection reports, assetage and known problems. linked to asset types. The resulting scores enable visualization of the network condition as a heat map, providing rapid and compelling insight on where renewal is required. Diflering sized hexagon areas enable the higher resolution needed when moving from a macro network view to a localized project view. Asset condition is not the sole criteria for renewal, so a fur- ther layer of hexagon haped areas was produced, this time with scores charac terizing the potential consequences of asset failure. Information from diverse sources had to be combined to produce the visualization, The number of con- nected! customers provided a measure of the consequences of service inter ruptionsand census-based population density maps provided a measure of potential public safety consequences. The condition and consequence layers were then combined to producea third layer visualizing asset risk By visualizing the abstract quant risk, engineers can balance trade-ofs and target investments where they provide the greatest benefit throu better service levels for customers Fisk i calculated as the product of area scores for condi and tically. Using hexagon areas makes It pos- sible to perform calculations across diferent layers. improved safety for the community. This insight is used to shape and scope efficient renewal projects that target resources where they provide the greatest cost benefit. Overhead Line Health Model Overhead line conductors are one of the more difficult asset types for which to assess conditio is because reliable condition information is best obtained by removal of samples for laboratory tests, which is both expensive and plan for renewal. This and causes service interruptions. Therefore, these difficulties severely limit the amount of information available for planning, In the past, this limitation has favored renewal planning methods that focus on replacing conductors based on a combination of age and known problematic types that have demonstrably high failure rates. Thisapproach may not be the most efficient in identifying the Visualization of risk enables renewal planners to see viner® investments wil provide the greatest benefits in terms of public safety and improving reliability of supply (note diferent hexagon resolutions) February 2021 | T&D World 37TRANSMISSION PLANNING highest priority sections of overhead line for renewal when multiple prob- lematic conductor typesare present in widely varying environmental condi- tions, Therefore, a predictive health model was developed to overcome this, problem and provide additional insight. ‘The model calculates the health ofeach, conductor based on knowledge of ex- pected life, corrosion environment historical failures and visual observa- tions of condition, Visualizations of predicted current and future conductor health then are used to identify target areas for more intensive testing, This requires each line ‘ear segment of the overhead conductor tobe assigned a calculated health score based on a modeling methodology knownas the Ofgem Common Network Asset Indices Methodology (CNAIM). This was developed by six distribution network operators for Ofgem, the UK’ regulator, to provide a common methodology for assessing condition- based risk for electricity distribution networks. Following calibration, this model was found to be sufficiently ac ‘curate for ps ‘of known problem types of overhead line for renewal. While free to wse, the Ofgem CNAIM methodology is most often implement. oritizing specific sections, ‘ed using an enterprise asset manage- ‘ment system, with the output being tabular data and summary statistics For this project, a different approach was taken byimplementing. the CNAIM algorithms within a geospatial information system (GIS) — using GIS-enabled modeling to be entixely comtained within a single environment and lev aging geospatial an: ‘capabilities to improve th -way the modeling was implemented. Asan example, the modeling used spatial maps of corrosion cenvironmentand wind speeds made available from New Zealand’s rch (NIWA) san inputto provide location-specific information for the mod- National Institute of Water and Atmospherie Rese el. The resulting calculations were then converted to the New Zealand Electricity Engineers Association’sasset heath indicator scale, which is intended to provide a common framework for describing asset condition within the New Zealand electricity supply industry. The scale is based on qualitative descriptive crite fora range of observable condition and non-condition factors (te ned drivers) that relate toendeof.asset life. The asset health indicator scale used for the presentation and communica: tion with stakeholders was as follows: ‘* H5 = Asnew condition, no drivers for replacement ‘* Hd = Asset serviceable, no drivers for replacement, normal in-service deterioration 38 TaD World | February 2021 Viewing autput of conductor adel using ESRI insights dashboard assists with calibration and turing as well as providing summary information regarding health of overall population. Geographical maps and distribution by lengtn of conductor health are shown above for current time and for projections fie year inthe future. In “B," panels show distribution of conductor health by general size category, conductor material and type. + 13 = End-oflife drivers for replacement present, asse- related risk # H2 = End-offife drivers for replacement present, high asset risk + Hi = Asset replacement recommended. Model Calibration To calibrate and continually improve the accuracy of the mod ed cling, a visual condition assessment program was implen using a mobile data collection application that integrates with the GIS, This enabled field-hased visual observations of condition to be integrated seamlessly with the modeling, While d-based visual observationsare notas accurate as laborator; ssessments, the high volume and low cost provided by the mobile data collec tion application neverthelessis useful for verilying and improving. the model, Finally, a business intelligence application was used to produce a dashboard of summary statistics. These statisties were used for both tuning the modeling and presenting high- level statistics on renewal needs to stakeholders, The project made extensive use of the integrated Esti ArcGIS mapping and analytics platform software application and tools| TRANSMISSION PLANNING Section of squire aluminum conductor stee-reinforced (ACSF) conductor installed in overhead line section highlighted in blue in aerial photo (on let) was predicted to have health indicator grade of H2, indicating endo ie. ‘A sample of replaced conductor confirms advanced corrasion as predicted by model All models were developed in ArcGIS Pro and scripted using Python to add custo ations and the development of features specific 10 the modeling required. A Python toolbox also was. created that enables end users to run and tune the models by editing parameters in the application and through parame files. Modelsalso are configured to publish feature services: o- matically and write toa database for business use after validation. ArcGIS Insights was used to produce summary statistics and. visualizations to aid in summarizing, calibrating and navigating the models, General dissemination of results is done by sharing projects in Powerco's operations dashboard, Finally, the ArcGIS. Collector application provides a feedback loop that enables field observations tobe cost effectively incorporated into the modeling. for verification and continual improvement. Improved Asset Management Powerco recently upgraded its overhead line inspection standards to include aerial photography, so it can obtain high-resolution top-down images to assess the condition of cross arms, insula- tors, otherhardware and, toalimited extent, the ingressof trees and vegetation in close vicinity to the overhead line conductors. Included in this project was a detailed sample-based inspec- tion of some 500 sites where selected! spans are being inspected. 40 T&D World | February 2021 using acoustic detection and close-up photography bya drone. Renewal Program Expenditure Poxcerco implemented its new renewal planning approach in 2019 for the kV and IL-kwV overhead line networks It currently is extending the model to include 400.V overhead lines. Initially, Powerco was required to subr tomized price quality path application to the Commerce Commission in New Zealand, whereby itreceived approval for pital expenditure (CAPE) Asa result, its renewal CAPEX forox head lines was increased to NZ$30.1 million (US$19.66 million) in 2019, with approval to progressively increase toa planned peak of NZS5 (US§37.38 million) in 2023. ‘The ability to virtually look down on the network and see previously disparate sources of data combined to produce views of asset condition and risk has transformed the way Powerco planning engineers identify and package overhead newal projects. A task that previously took months and involved. alarge degree of subjective judgment ean now be performed in days based on logical and consistent rules driven transparently from available data, ‘This new efficiency has enabled renewal planning engineers to prepare a significantly larger portfolio of planned renewal projects with longer forward lead times. This larger backlog. of scoped projects has assisted in achieving procurement and. delivery efficiencies. In the future, the pool of scoped renewal proje ther optimized using a project portfolio optimization tool. TOW Ilion etwork re- ‘s— with their costsand benefits quantified — will be fi Acknowledgement The author would like to acknowledge the efforts of the project team th: realized this solut ines rela Andrea Galliegue, bu tionship manager who promoted the project within Powercoand, managed the project as agile seru GIS specialist who led the technical implementation; and Ken Pattie and Waseem Awan, Powerco overhead line renewal engi- neers responsible for overhead line asset condition and conductor health modeling, master; David Haberkorn, DDR PAUL BLACKMORE (nau backmore@paveco cor an assel management ‘hisr responsible for shaping nities to improve Powercos asset performance, eas na variety cles associated with T&D asset management cling Powero's ebay asset eet manager, iectr of consuiting fr EA Tecnology ‘Austala and engnering rls at Erergx in Queensand, Australia. Blackie was ‘narded a PhD. for developing novel contion monitoring techniques fr polymer compost insular in 1998, For more information: si | wnnasricom (Ofgem | wanvoigemgovuk