Weather insights for power grids

An innovative approach to ensuring performance, reliability and safety against severe weather

The electrical power grid wasn’t built for climate change.

Weather and environmental measurements are essential for power grid operators as they enhance predictive maintenance, improve load forecasting and dynamic line rating, bolster weather resilience, and facilitate the integration of renewable energy. The data helps ensure the grid's performance, reliability and safety — especially in the face of severe weather challenges like thunderstorms, high winds and wildfires.

Backed by nearly 90 years of weather measurement expertise, Vaisala offers state-of-the-art weather and environmental sensors, compact weather stations, and storm tracking and forecasting services that address the unique challenges faced by power grid operators.

DYNAMIC LINE RATING

The integration of local, accurate and timely weather and environmental measurements into Dynamic Line Rating systems transforms how power grids are managed. It allows for a more adaptive, efficient, and safe distribution of electricity, which is crucial for meeting varying demand without compromising system integrity.

Atmospheric parameters that affect Dynamic Line Rating include wind speed and direction, ambient temperature and solar radiation. These insights empower decision-makers to drive production planning and output efficiency, enhance the capability to forecast supply and demand, and improve safety.

Key applications:

Maximizing transmission capacity
Reducing curtailment and congestion (span-level, line section aggregation)
Understanding and anticipating the impact of wind, temperature and sunlight on capacity

SEVERE WEATHER RESILIENCE

Severe weather events like storms, high winds and solar radiation can cause significant damage to power infrastructure and risk crew safety. Timely and precise environmental measurements empower operators to prepare and respond effectively, minimizing downtime and restoring power faster.

Key applications:

Enhancing grid resilience through weather-based risk management strategies
Visualizing weather data to assess grid vulnerabilities
Optimizing power generation and distribution
Load forecasting and demand response

Actionable weather insights can enhance operations at every stage of a weather event:

Before – assessing risk
During – determining level of safety for dispatching crew, especially if high winds or lightning is presentAfter – analyzing an outage and planning future responses

WORK WITH THE TRUSTED LEADER

Products and services

Beam Weather Station BWS500

The world’s first plug-and-play weather and environmental monitoring platform, Beam Station is an easily scalable solution that provides measurements, data collection, and data visualization in one package.

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Weather Transmitter WXT530 Series

This series of accurate weather transmitters measures six of the most important weather parameters in various compact and affordable combinations.

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Automatic Weather Station AWS810

The Vaisala Automatic Weather Station AWS810 enables modern, high-quality surface weather observation networks anywhere in the world. AWS810 is a generational leap in the industry, enabling first-class surface weather observations, future readiness, plus a modern, secure, and integrated network architecture.