Undergrounding power lines and fiber optic cables brings long-term benefits

Underground electrical and optical cable systems are safer during storms.

About 45% of streets have underground power lines and fiber optic cables.

According to Hai Duong City Electricity, by January 10, about 54% of the city's power grid system had been buried underground, and the electric poles behind the transformer stations had also been replaced with meter cabinets to ensure urban aesthetics. The unit is also coordinating with local authorities to continue burying and clearing power lines on some streets such as Ngo Quyen, Tran Phu, Ly Thuong Kiet, Pham Quy Thich, etc.

“In addition to implementing the company's power grid renovation and repair project, when the Hai Duong City People's Committee has a policy to invest in and renovate roads, we always coordinate to put the power line system underground and replace electric poles with control cabinets in these areas as required," said Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of Hai Duong City Electricity.

According to the report of the Department of Information and Communications, by the end of 2024, telecommunications units in the province will have buried optical fiber cable systems on about 45% of the streets of the localities. Of which, Hai Duong Telecommunications is the leading unit in burying optical fiber cable systems, accounting for about 80% of the optical fiber cables buried underground in the whole province.

The undergrounding of fiber optic cables was implemented by Hai Duong Telecom before 2000 to ensure network safety and urban aesthetics. By the end of 2024, Hai Duong Telecom had undergrounded more than 3,400 km, accounting for nearly 40% of the fiber optic cables managed by the unit.

According to the leader of Hai Duong Telecom, right from the planning, design and construction stages, Hai Duong Telecom always adheres to the principle of building a sustainable network, with backup routes, ensuring network safety in case of incidents. Most of the main transmission cables are pulled underground in sewers or buried directly, thus minimizing incidents caused by cable breaks...

Beautiful landscape, safe system

Many streets of Hai Duong city are cleaner and more beautiful after the electric wires and fiber optic cables were put underground.

Some roads in Hai Duong City have recently become more airy and clean after being cleared of “heavenly trash”. Some inner-city roads such as Quang Trung, Tran Hung Dao, Le Thanh Nghi, Thanh Nien… no longer have electrical wires and fiber optic cables tangled along the road or bundled into large bundles on electric poles, even sagging down to the sidewalk.

On these streets, there are only electric poles for lighting, no more electric poles with tangled wires and hanging boxes, the whole street becomes airy and clean. "Since the electricity and telecommunications units buried the electric wires and cables in front of my house, it has become more airy, the whole street has also become much more beautiful. We no longer have to worry about the wires sagging or a car passing by causing the wires to break and fall onto the road, causing danger", Mr. Hoang Van Hung, Quang Trung Street (Hai Duong City) happily said.

Storm No. 3 made landfall in September 2024, causing huge damage, and severely affecting electricity and telecommunications units. However, underground power grids and telecommunications networks were quickly restored immediately after the storm.

Hai Duong City is the locality with the most underground power lines in the province. Storm No. 3 caused trees to fall on the power lines, causing power outages and many power poles to fall. After 2 days of the storm, Hai Duong City Electricity Company restored power to about 90% of customers in the entire city. Meanwhile, many other localities had to take 3-5 days to repair the damage and restore power to people.

“Because of the advantage of undergrounding a lot of the power grid, the unit was least affected during the recent storm No. 3. When incidents occurred, we just had to isolate and remove the problem points to gradually restore power to customers. Only after the storm and flood did we see the benefits of undergrounding the power grid system,” added Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of Hai Duong City Electricity.

Similarly, thanks to the largest underground fiber optic cable network, during the recent storm No. 3, VinaPhone network still operated stably, even in some localities, this was the only network that could maintain communication in the first one or two days after the storm. To support other networks, VinaPhone also shared mobile waves (roaming) to ensure communication.

The benefits of undergrounding power lines and fiber optic cables are clear, but there are still many difficulties in implementing them. That is, the sidewalks of some roads are narrow, not enough space to arrange and install equipment. In some areas, people do not agree with the policy, do not cooperate with construction units... The biggest obstacle in implementing undergrounding is investment capital. The cost of undergrounding is quite expensive while the need to invest in upgrading the power system and fiber optic cables in general has many other items, so businesses cannot focus their investment resources. On the other hand, undergrounding also depends on the urban renovation and beautification policy of local authorities, so electricity and telecommunications businesses are still passive... Therefore, the rate of undergrounding power grids and fiber optic cables in the province is still not as expected.

THANH HOA

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/ha-ngam-day-dien-cap-quang-mang-lai-loi-ich-lau-dai-402896.html