Policy brief: Lessons from Odisha: Developing power sector resilience to extreme weather events in coastal areas

This study aimed to explore disaster resilience strategies for the power sector, specifically transmission and distribution (T&D) infrastructure, against cyclones and floods, focusing on the measures undertaken by the state of Odisha, India. A major objective of the study was to showcase replicable practices for coastal regions confronting comparable challenges.

For Odisha's T&D infrastructure, some of the key findings from the study are as follows:

• More than 30 percent of distribution substations are located within 20 km of the coast.
• 75 percent of distribution lines were commissioned more than 30 years again ago.
• 80 percent of poles are susceptible to high wind speeds.
• Long span lengths of power lines make them highly susceptible to damage.
• Wind speed maps need to be updated to account for extreme weather events.