Falling out of power for a prolonged period of time The discussion on the review of the strength of steel towers and utility poles begins November 5, 18:31

However, due to typhoon No. 15 in September, the power transmission towers and poles collapsed mainly in Chiba Prefecture, and power outages continued for a long time. We started discussion about the review.

The first meeting of the Working Group held by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was attended by five members including power experts.

In Typhoon No. 15 in September, two power transmission towers fell in Kimitsu City, Chiba Prefecture, and about 2000 power poles fell and collapsed, leading to long-term power outages over a wide area. It was.

The working group will continue to investigate the cause of the collapse of the steel towers and utility poles on this scale.

In addition, power transmission towers and poles are stipulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as required by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

There were opinions from the committee members such as "There are many utility poles where flying objects are caught on the electric wires or pushed down by fallen trees. It would be better to consider measures to check the strength other than the wind speed."

The working group will compile reports by the end of the year and link them to specific policies.

Review of the strength of steel towers and utility poles

However, in Typhoon No.15 in September, a power outage occurred in a wide area centering on Chiba Prefecture, and it generally took more than two weeks to recover.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been holding a working group since last month to verify whether TEPCO's response was appropriate and to study disaster-resilient power transmission systems and quick recovery methods.

In this context, issues such as whether or not we should have thoroughly implemented “temporary restoration” in which electricity is sent using tilted utility poles in order to prioritize the elimination of power outages.

In addition, the review of the strength standards for power transmission towers and poles was also a subject of study, and a new working group was set up on the 5th to discuss from a professional point of view.

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry stipulates that power transmission towers and poles must withstand wind pressure of 40 meters.

Each electric power company installs it according to this standard.

However, in regions that are often hit by typhoons, such as Okinawa Prefecture, Kyushu, and Shikoku, there are places where power companies voluntarily increase their strength beyond the standards set by ministerial ordinances.

As natural disasters such as typhoons continue to cause unprecedented damage, we are considering whether the safety standards for steel towers and utility poles are sufficient as they are.