Terna's experience in avoiding snow and ice sleeves formation on High Voltage overhead line conductors

The transmission system is affected by natural phenomena that could endanger the electrical infrastructure causing damage to the equipment and affecting the security of supply. The present paper describes the effect on electricity assets of ice and snow and the main preventive measures that the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) can adopt in order to increase the resilience of the grid. The first part of the paper provides a general overview of the natural phenomena leading to wet and ice sleeves accretion around the conductors of the Overhead Lines (OHL), while the second part describes the most advanced solutions to prevent icing phenomena on OHL in terms of both operation grid schemes and anti-icing equipment.