Climate Change – What Do We Know, What Do We Not Know, and What May Be the Consequences For Electric Overhead Line Systems?

The validity of global climate beinginfluenced by emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gasesfrom human activities is now globally recognized. Althoughthe global temperature is expected to rise, and consequentlyalso precipitation amounts, many secondary effects are stilluncertain, concerning for example flooding, stormfrequencies, atmospheric icing and so on. However, manyelectrical utilities around the world are already consideringpreventive measures for their network, based on thephilosophy that proactive measures in the long run arecheaper than taking extra costs for maintenance and repairafter expected increases in damage and outage frequencies