Power distribution systems are vulnerable to hurricanes as has been documented in recent years. Hurricane intensity or/and frequency may change as a result of increased CO2 emissions. This paper proposes six climatic adaptation strategies for timber distribution poles that may aid in mitigating the hurricane damage costs that may be expected to increase because of global climate change. The effectiveness of adaptation is assessed through a life-cycle cost analysis, which includes direct cost (e.g. cost of pole replacement, maintenance, and adaptation) and indirect cost (e.g. cost of power outage to customers). The viability of the adaptation strategies is examined considering three CO2 emission scenarios. Furthermore, the scenario of no climate change is considered in this paper to show the applicability the proposed framework for hurricane risk mitigation under current conditions (i.e. wind speeds remain stationary). This paper finds that certain adaptation measures can effectively reduce costs, resulting in more resilient power distribution systems.
Bjarnadottir, S; Li, Y; Reynisson, O; Stewart, MG
Reliability-based assessment of climatic adaptation for the increased resiliency of power distribution systems subjected to hurricanes
Sustainable And Resilient Infrastructure