STORY: Canadian expat's vlog: one day as a power worker in China
DATELINE: July 11, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:15
LOCATION: GUANGZHOU, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Adrian Berzenji experiencing a day as a power worker in Zhongshan, China

STORYLINE:

On a scorching hot day, Adrian Berzenji, a Canadian expat living in south China's Zhongshan, experienced a busy day as a power worker.

SOUNDBITE (English): ADRIAN BERZENJI, Canadian expat in China's Zhongshan
"I feel safer already. What if there was no power, how would our lives be different?
In 1912, the first thermal power plant was established in Zhongshan, and since then, power has been changing the lives of all Zhongshan people. But how exactly is the power grid laid out? And how do the power workers complete their daily jobs? Well, today, I've come to the Zhongshan Power Supply Bureau to find out, and I'm going to get to experience life as a power worker for one day.

This is the training field of the Zhongshan Power Supply Bureau. You can see there are several towers over 20 meters tall. The basic skills that the linesmen need include climbing the towers and walking along the power lines. In fact, the first thing any new worker will learn is how to climb the tower safely and how to walk along the power lines.

Hello.
Hi. My name is Adrian.
My name is Huang Jinyu.
Huang Jinyu.
This is my new friend, Huang Jinyu.

As a technical expert and a member of the transmission lines team, he once replaced a glass insulator in just 18 minutes during a competition. This is a task that normally takes 30 minutes. Let's see just how quickly he and his team can replace one of these glass insulators.

The staff told me that the "glass insulators" are one of the key components of the high-voltage transmission lines, which will affect the operational safety of the entire line.

During routine inspections, if a "glass insulator" is found to be damaged, it must be replaced as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the transmission line.

Well, it took Huang and his team just 18 minutes to replace the insulator.
Now it's my turn.

Well, our climbing the tower today has been a really special and unique experience.
Not only do you have to overcome your fear of heights and acrophobia, but you also have to improve your technical skills to be able to meet the demands of the job.

Master Huang, do you think I still have a chance to be a qualified power worker?
Yes, of course.

Currently, there are 124 different substations affiliated with the Zhongshan Power Supply Bureau. This includes over 2,700 kilometers of transmission power lines.

So how do you ensure the safe operations of these power lines?

The answer is here.

This is the monitoring center for the Zhongshan Power Supply Bureau. And from here, on-site staff are able to monitor all of the transmission lines throughout all of Zhongshan on their large screen. Zhongshan has installed 520 sets of the "Sky Eye" power monitoring systems.

This system can identify hidden dangers in various video devices and sound the alarm by AI technology.

The operation and maintenance personnel of the monitoring center use cloud-based inspection on the screens to send the identified hidden dangers to the on-site personnel to verify and tackle the issue as soon as possible.

In addition to training, monitoring, and on-site operations, the power workers' daily jobs also include tower inspection and maintenance.

As technology has advanced, they've introduced drones to help with the inspections. Let's go (and) take a look.

Well, today has been a scorching hot day. We've hiked for 20 minutes halfway up Wuguishan Mountain. We've made it to the first transmission tower, and the workers are about to launch a drone to inspect the tower and to inspect the transmission lines.

The drone inspections include whether there are any defects in the line, whether the equipment on the tower is intact, and whether there are any floating objects or bird nests on the towers, etc.

Every three months, the drones will conduct an inspection of the lines. Recent years have witnessed a spurt of progress in power technology in Zhongshan. The Zhongshan power supply system has continuously innovated and improved in automation and intelligence.

It ensures the safe operation of power lines and also meets the electricity demand for production and residential use in Zhongshan.

Today, I was lucky enough to follow some power workers around to experience their daily jobs.

And on a day like today where is scorching hot, all I want to do is get back to my nice, cool, air-conditioned office, grab a cold cola, sit back, and relax.

So thank you to all the power workers and all the hard work that you do so we can enjoy our lives to the fullest."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Guangzhou, China.
(XHTV)