E-REDES Analytics4Vegetation 2.0 – AI to foster advanced vegetation management in overhead lines

E-REDES, the main Portuguese Distribution System Operator, operates 67,971 km of high and medium-voltage overhead lines (OH), with 39% (26,222 km) in forest areas. These lines are crucial for grid stability but face risks from vegetation encroachment. In 2022, E-REDES launched Analytics4Vegetation (A4V), an innovative solution leveraging advanced technologies. The initial version of A4V enhanced operational efficiency by digitizing field inspections, integrating LiDAR data, and predicting vegetation growth patterns. It featured process automation, a severity model for risk classification, a growth model for predictive maintenance, integration with SAP systems, and an Azure-based architecture for data management. The improved AI-based vegetation growth prediction model now achieves 93,26% accuracy, validated by data from over 108.409 trees, considering species type, climate, soil, and elevation for accurate growth forecasts. A new automated decision-making tool optimizes operational (OPEX) versus capital expenditure (CAPEX), analyzing vegetation criticality, urgency of intervention, and costs while attempting to align expenses with local councils' fuel management needs (CAPEX). Analytics4Vegetation 2.0 (A4V2.0) optimizes intervention timing to ensure efficient resource use, minimize environmental impact, and avoid unnecessary pruning, promoting sustainable vegetation management and biodiversity conservation.