Icing Forecast and Detection Operationnaly for the Province of Quebec Grid

Hydro-Québec has developed an expertise in icing forecasts and observations. Following the great ice storm of 1998, where most of the transmission lines and all of the distribution lines of the south of Quebec collapsed. Since that storm, Hydro-Quebec has changed the design of the power lines and improved the monitoring of icing events. Substantial freezing rain (equal or above 10mm) over large regions occurs approximately 9 times per winter in the province of Quebec. Proper preparation for these freezing rain events requires accurate forecast of ice accumulation on power lines to avoid blackouts. Hydro-Quebec has deployed an automated observing and awareness system (SYGIVRE) in remote areas. This system now uses the third generation of icing sensor which is deployed in the entire observing network. To mitigate the drawbacks of the sensor, Hydro-Quebec has deployed, in 2017, cameras in the same areas. Coupling cameras and real time automated sensing of the ice rate improved the reliability of the grid in winter conditions.