Insulated conductor covers for vulture protection on power lines
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Date
2013-02-11
Authors
Chitungo, Givemore
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Abstract
Overhead power lines are among the top contributors to vulture mortalities in South
Africa due to direct contact electrocution. Furthermore these electrocution incidences
on the endangered birds affect the power quality and the power reliability. Utilities
around the world, faced with the same problem, have implemented various solutions
such as reconfiguring the lines to bird-friendly structures, retrofitting the existing
structures and making use of underground cable by-passes. The choice of these
preventative measures is a function of cost and reliability. This research presents a
case study involving insulated conductor covers that were retrofitted on 88 kV power
line structures to mitigate vulture electrocutions. This research report presents a
theoretical evaluation of the performance of the insulated conductor covers together
with laboratory tests performed to evaluate the theoretical predictions. These results
conclude that the insulated conductor cover flashover performance is similar to that of
High voltage (HV) insulators however it requires a lower specific creepage distance to
prevent flashover for any corresponding pollution severity level.