EPRI’s Climate REsilience and ADaptation initiative (READi) is dedicated to developing a comprehensive and consistent approach to assessing physical climate risk to power industry assets and systems and identifying a framework to address those risks and enhance resilience of the systems. The objective of this effort is to develop a common approach to risk identification, adaptation, and planning for the impacts of climate change on energy grid assets and the integrated power system. In this literature review, we seek to review the current state of knowledge of potential vulnerabilities to electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure from physical climate hazards and to consider their applicability to safe and reliable operation of these assets. The effort is focused on sources addressing how current and changing climate can impact power assets and what the climate-related impacts are anticipated to be. An examination of existing research and literature demonstrates that many relationships are known and well understood; other relationships have not yet been studied and documented as thoroughly. While each asset class is unique with unique climate interactions, this literature review shows some common variables that are widely impactful, such as:
- Ambient temperature – Performance of many T&D assets depends on asset temperature, which is typically impacted by ambient temperature (direct impact) combined with increased system electrical loading (indirect impact). For most assets, the indirect impacts of electrical loading are more significant and occur at both high and low temperatures.
- Frequency and severity of extremes – In many cases, assets in the T&D system are highly susceptible to extreme events, both directly and indirectly. For instance, distribution equipment is directly susceptible to the winds of a hurricane. Those assets are also indirectly susceptible to extreme temperature events through electrical loading caused by the temperature event (HVAC loads, cold load pickup, as examples).
- Soil temperature and moisture – Many of the assets in the T&D system have soil interfaces. Some assets are completely underground, and others rely on foundations or embedment in the ground. Soil conditions, such as temperature and moisture, are highly impactful to corrosion and degradation rates which could have long-term impact to asset degradation rates, reliability, designs, inspection frequency, and maintenance programs.
The review also identified gaps in knowledge that should be addressed in future R&D:
- Increases in electrical loading as a function of ambient temperature – In general, there is a lack of robust models that relate ambient temperature to asset-level loading.
- Impact of sustained elevated temperatures on asset life – Research is needed to increase understanding of the impact of sustained operations at elevated temperatures on long-term asset life.
- Impact of climate on emerging technologies and materials – Most details of asset performance and climate impacts are known for existing assets and materials. This body of knowledge will need to be enhanced as new assets are developed, and as new materials are introduced to existing assets.
The development of a framework to assess climate change risk and vulnerability transmission and distribution infrastructure would guide an organized, thorough, and efficient approach to managing climate change risk throughout these systems.