Kjeller Vindteknikk has launched operational wind and icing forecasts for Türkiye’s national transmission grid. The goal is to help grid operators to take mitigative actions and reduce the duration of power outages caused by severe icing and wind. The image above is an example of an icing map showing the forecasted ice mass (kg/m).
Every winter, Türkiye experiences heavy snow and icing events under specific weather conditions. Cold air masses from the north, carrying moisture from the Black Sea, often lead to ice accumulation on transmission lines. This icing is frequently accompanied by strong winds, especially in mountainous regions. The forecasts will provide valuable insights which will help identifying regions where failures and tower collapses are most likely to occur. This will enable operators to better plan their maintenance resources on a daily to weekly basis.
Our forecasts are based on an in-house icing model that reads necessary meteorological variables from our weather model. These model runs are updated every six hours and predict icing and wind conditions up to 48 hours in advance.
Kjeller Vindteknikk provides wind and icing forecast products for several sites in Europe, but this project marks the first time our operational forecast covers an entire country. Earlier this year, we also delivered comprehensive climatological icing and wind maps for Türkiye.