Technical Skills and Safe Connection Goals

Preparedness against transmission line and substation failure

With a mission to keep transmission lines safe, front-line workers participate in a company-wide competition workshop held in autumn every year to perform and improve their technical skills in preparation for accidents. In fiscal 2012, workers focused on field recovery work assuming electric equipment failure due to disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes causing a disruption of the power supply.

In the area of system operations, workers responsible for transmission lines and substations for the delivery of electricity generated at power stations to nearby places of demand perform tasks in four different areas: hydropower generation substation, overhead power transmission, underground power transmission, and control.

Employees work hard to improve expertise and skills in various fields by competing with each other to ensure stable power supply.

With overhead power transmission, workers are required to perform swift recovery activities within a limited time at 16 to 17 meters aboveground on steel towers assuming damage to transmission lines by fallen trees due to an earthquake. The team leader on the ground sends specific instructions, and the workers perform recovery work in accordance with the instructions while also concentrating on the work at hand and maintaining a sense of urgency. In some cases, such as with strong winds, voices may not reach the workers on the steel tower. Thus, teamwork is essential to complete tasks with several individuals working at the same time. In this way, both the team leader giving the instructions and the team members must be fully prepared with a full understanding of the tasks.

For hydropower generation substations, participants work to replace electric equipment in the substation. Those working on underground power transmission focus on recovery of power cables buried underground, while control workers tackle recovery of the system protection relay to prevent damage to transmission/distribution lines. To perform tasks, workers make full use of skilled techniques.

The workshop provides an opportunity for workers in individual branch offices around the nation to meet and compete to improve abilities developed through daily front-line activities. At the same time, enhancing the sense of purpose to deliver safe and stable electricity at all times helps ensure the safety of power lines.