The Future of Energy: How AI is helping to combat power outages
Imagine knowing a power line will go down before it happens. Here's how one company is making critical infrastructure industries climate resilient and sustainable.
Nova Scotia Power states that trees contacting power lines are one of the primary causes of power outages.
To address this issue, they have partnered with a company called AiDash, which specializes in analyzing high-resolution images and using algorithms to identify problem areas in detail.
It’s part of a $1.3-billion investment in the power system over five years, with the tree-trimming investment alone at $45 million a year.
"There’s that balance we have to strike between the utility’s reliability and the benefits that trees do bring to the communities," said Jason Lyver, Nova Scotia Power Vegetation Management manager, at a press conference.
Through the new technology, segments of the power lines are colour-coded based on their condition, which is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based on how close trees are to the line.
There are 28,000 kilometres of power lines across Nova Scotia, and having the AI technology will allow Nova Scotia Power to use the satellite image to narrow in on individual communities and feeders.
Right now, it’s based on the proximity of vegetation to conductors, but weather data could also be added.
“They do have storm modelling that could be incorporated into this strategy as well, but we didn’t embark on that just yet," added Lyver. "I think we wanted to test the waters, see how the proximity data would work, combine it with what our existing technologies allow us to do, and then maybe explore that in the future."
The hope is the detailed snapshot will allow them to be more efficient in allocating resources where they’re needed most, cutting the need to patrol the entire province by vehicle.
Watch the video above to learn more about how Nova Scotia Power is using AI technology to help them reduce power outages during storms.