Icolim 2020, the latest news on live line maintenance

The international conference on live line maintenance is here. The event has been held every three years since 1992 by one of the member countries of the LWA (Live Working Association), founded in the nineties by European operators with the aim of monitoring the condition of live line working, which increasingly requires specialist and innovative skills: after all, the work takes place on the electricity grid without ever interrupting the flow of high-voltage electricity. This year Terna, as the Italian representative of the LWA, has accepted the baton from the French operator RTE and will host the thirteenth edition of the ICOLIM conference at Lingotto (Turin) from 15 to 17 May. This major event was originally scheduled for 2020 (the title of this year's conference is "Icolim 2020") but was postponed due to the pandemic. The conference will be attended by institutions, academics, grid operators, distributors, electricity companies, heads of department, engineers, researchers and naturally electricity technicians to discuss the evolution in the sector and its impact on the electricity system.

We asked Alessandro Trebbi, Head of Asset Management at Terna, what it means to be the host of the 2020 edition of Icolim, who explained to us what live line working actually means. «When managing the high-voltage grid there are two ways to approach maintenance: the conventional way, where the asset is not supplied with electricity (the connection is broken); and "live line" working, when you work on the wires or pylons when they are actually transporting high and high-voltage electricity through the National Transmission Grid managed by Terna». Live line maintenance enables works to be carried out without breaking the electricity current, enabling faults to be prevented and thus avoiding outages for customers.

It is a job that has very strict rules and protocols, given the high level of risk which is nonetheless managed with the highest levels of safety. It is a world that uses «the best skills and technologies, developing specific strategic skills and benefiting the electricity system by maintaining the entire network», explains Trebbi. On average, Terna conducts between 1,500 and 3,000 interventions across Italy each year, equating to a total of 25,000 hours of maintenance.

There are 150 operators qualified to conduct this type of work in the field and more than 50 support workers, totalling 200 people who work using this type of technology. Nothing is left to chance: strict guidelines and training protocols are followed, and all of the equipment used at the accredited facilities (of which Terna operates one of the few authorised ones) is rigorously tested. We're talking about some 10,000 pieces of equipment that must be checked periodically to enable the operators to work safely: in this kind of work, the workers touch the conductors - a 380 thousand volt power line - with their hands. «This is why the principles of safety and the rigorous execution of procedures are the foundation of live line working», emphasises Trebbi.

This thirteenth edition of Icolim, awaited with great anticipation given the numerous postponements due to the Covid-19 emergency, will bring together 59 companies from over 20 countries, 37 speakers, around seven universities, 27 newspapers and 40 exhibitors, who over the three day event will have an opportunity to discuss the latest innovations in their field. «We're all working together on this type of approach», says Trebbi, adding that it is not just an opportunity to «showcase our expertise, but also a chance to listen to the best practices of other operators in the sector, sparking ideas and inspiration to chart a pathway to growth in the near future».

The first two days will be held at Lingotto Fiere di Torino convention centre, where the conference rooms and internal and external spaces will host operators' stands in order to share know-how, best practices and innovations on the subject. A wide range of topics are up for discussion: from first-hand accounts about modernisation and maintenance works on power lines and electricity substations to new tools, equipment and materials; from safety, quality and the environment to new standards and legal aspects; from the latest techniques to the market context.

The third day will take place at the Rondissone electricity substation and will focus on practical demonstrations to show exactly how Terna conducts some of these activities in the field. What’s more, the operator of the Italian national grid is bringing something special to this year’s event: «A helicopter - the company has a fleet of seven helicopters - which Terna uses to control and monitor the entire electricity infrastructure. We're talking about 300,000 kilometres of aerial inspections above the power lines to take prompt action in the event of a fault. Then we classify the areas that have deteriorated and from there the operating teams decide how best to act, either with the traditional approach or with live line maintenance», explains the engineer.

The equipment. A key point is that "live line works" take place within the so-called proximity zone of a power line (which has a radius of 1.1 metres for the 132 kilovolt power lines and 2.5 metres for the 380kV lines): as such, having the correct safety equipment is just as important as the procedures themselves. A crucial piece of equipment to carry out these works safely is the insulated basket, a piece of machinery with an arm that enables operators to be brought to the same potential as the active conductor to be worked on (up to 420 kV) while remaining isolated from the other parts with different potentials. But the most important piece of kit for this type of activity is the insulating rod, which enables the works to be carried out safely on the live sections. Operators also have to wear insulated gloves, a helmet with visor and an orange hi-vis vest. The equipment is always red in colour.