KEPCO installs ‘eyes’ on transmission towers to prevent forest fires and monitor Baekdudaegan ecosystem

KEPCO installs ‘eyes’ on transmission towers to prevent forest fires and monitor Baekdudaegan ecosystem

Entered: 2023-11-20 13:24:32

Protecting the natural environment by monitoring signs of forest fires and landslides and monitoring endangered species
After pilot operation in Uljin area, expanded application to 500kV HVDC East Coast-Shingapyeong transmission line

Korea Electric Power Corporation (CEO Kim Dong-cheol, hereinafter referred to as KEPCO) has installed and piloted the ‘Intelligent Disaster/Environment Monitoring System’ at two transmission towers in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do from the 20th to mark the autumn forest fire caution period (November 1 to December 15). It was announced today that operations had begun.

Considering the fact that transmission towers inevitably pass through mountainous areas due to the nature of Korea’s topography and transmission lines, KEPCO developed its own ‘Intelligent Disaster and Environment Monitoring System’ in March of this year, and will apply and operate this system for the first time in the Uljin area.

This system automatically recognizes and analyzes images captured on CCTV through artificial intelligence (AI) technology and automatically notifies KEPCO and related organizations in the event of a disaster such as a forest fire or landslide. It is also equipped with ecosystem monitoring and landslide sign detection functions, so it is expected to be of great help in forest fire prevention and environmental conservation.

The detailed function of this system is to recognize forest fires using the image identification function of the self-developed AI algorithm. Through deep learning of a total of 130,000 related images, it is possible to distinguish similar images such as clouds that may look like forest fire smoke and car headlights at night. Has the ability. In addition, it has a recognition function for endangered species of animals such as mountain goats, so it can be used to study the ecological characteristics of mountain goats living in the Gangwon and Gyeongbuk regions. It can also be used to quickly respond by receiving information on detection of signs of landslides in real time using a landslide displacement measurement sensor. It is expected that damage to life and property can be minimized.

CCTV for animal monitoring installed on the pilot tower (inside the yellow circle) and enlarged image. Provided by KEPCO

KEPCO plans to improve the supplements through a one-year pilot operation until October next year and then expand the application to about 20 500kV (kilovolt) HVDC (ultra-high voltage direct current transmission) East Coast-Singapyeong transmission towers currently under construction. The East Coast-Shingapyeong transmission line passes through 10 local governments from Uljin to Gapyeong and is the largest transmission line in Korea with a total length of approximately 220km.

In addition, we plan to actively prevent forest fire damage and take the lead in environmental conservation by sharing real-time image information and disaster warnings acquired from this system with related organizations such as the Korea Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and local governments.

Reporter Song Hyun-soo [email protected]