The first installation of line lightning protection devices in Peru has been completed

The installation was done for a local power company Electrosur. Assembly and installation of the line lightning protection devices on one pole by two workers took less than an hour including hoisting onto the pole and activities regulated by the safety instructions - briefing, protective grounding, etc. Electrosur cares about staff training in new equipment handling. That is why the process was monitored by five more erection crews of 2 workers, as well as a safety supervisor and heads of district electric power systems from two adjacent regions.

"The line equipment is subjected to regular icing due to quite severe climatic conditions specific for this region. The night temperatures are well below zero degrees at such height, so even mountain streams freeze up. However, the day sun strikes down and heats up everything and anything. This is conditioned by the proximity to the equator and the high level of ultraviolet emission. The latitude of Peru is similar to the one of Thailand and Vietnam. At the same time, the equipment is located much higher, so the ultraviolet filter of the atmosphere is much thinner. Gusty wind continuously blows along the crossing, so all line equipment is subjected to wind load and vibration. A half-dried salt lake is located next to the installation site, the salt concentration in air is elevated which means that all equipment is subject to accelerated aging in the aggressive environment. Finally, there is a reduced air density, so the equipment designed for higher voltage classes has to be used", - says Product Manager Mikhail Zhitenev.

Within the boundaries of this pilot project, a total of 27 products will be installed in Peru by the end of June: 18 line lightning protection devices for the 10 kV line at a height of about 4,000 m and 9 devices for the 33 kV line at a height of about 3,800 m. The line segments were selected for installation for a reason: over recent years, a major part of outages occurred due to lightning strikes hitting these poles specifically. The insulators were damaged by electric arcs in all cases.

The first meeting with the clients and the presentation in Peru were held by the employees of Streamer 1.5 years ago. Mikhail noticed the exotic character of this distant country during his business trip.

"Lamas, vicunas, and alpacas are walking everywhere. Guinea pigs are traditionally eaten here. The name of the dish is "Cuy". I tasted it, but I cannot say that I was in raptures about it", - he says.