Iberdrola : inspects 53,000 kilometres of power lines in Spain in 2016 to boost security of supply

In 2016 Iberdrola Distribución inspected over 53,000 km of power lines in Spain to boost the security of supply, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of the service it offers its customers.

The company inspected very high, high and medium voltage power lines to guarantee their reliability and optimal functioning even in adverse weather conditions.

Iberdrola inspected some 33,500 kilometres of overhead power lines and an additional 9,600 kilometres of underground power lines last year. It also conducted thermographic testing on 7,400 km and performed pruning and maintenance work on electricity corridors spanning 2,500 km.

The inspections on these overhead power lines are geared towards detecting possible anomalies in the elements that make up this type of installations: insulators, conductors, fittings, pylons, etc. that are damaged by lightning, trees, construction work or adjacent buildings, for example.

The company also performed infra-red or thermographic tests on some 7,400 km of overhead power lines. This kind of inspection of electricity infrastructure is performed with special cameras transported by helicopter or by a team of workers on the ground. It allows to measure the temperature of the installations, thereby detecting the spots where temperatures are too high ('hot spots') so that they can be corrected and supply can be guaranteed in the event of peak demand.

IBERDROLA also carried out cleaning operations in the corridors through which its lines pass, pruning the trees that posed the greatest risk of coming into contact with about 2,500 km of power lines.

This power line inspection campaign is part of the company's work to improve its electricity installations, with a view to improving the quality and security of its energy supply on an ongoing basis.

Company achieves best ever quality of supply in 2016

Iberdrola Distribución recorded the best figure ever for the quality of its electricity supply in Spain, ending the year with a 12% improvement on 2015 and a network availability rate of 99.99%.

This progressive improvement in the quality of service that IBERDROLA offers its customers is due to the investments made on new electrical distribution infrastructure and the maintenance and renovation of existing facilities, as well as the ongoing roll-out of the STAR smart meter installation scheme in Spain and the associated plan for grid supervision and automation.

It should be noted that the interruptions in service scheduled to enable this work to be carried out are also included for the general figure on service availability. This means that if these outages for scheduled work on the network had been left out, the improvement in quality would have been even more significant.

With some 9 million smart meters installed in Spain, Iberdrola is one of the first companies in the world to attain this volume of equipment installed and connected. It has also adapted its distribution network at the same time by adding the real-time supervision and automation capabilities.

Apart from meeting the official schedule for the roll-out of remote management, the company also intends to use this roll-out as a springboard for technological evolution and upgrading its grid by digitising and automating it with the new smart grid technologies.