Tag:power=line
| power = line |
| Description |
|---|
| High-voltage power lines used for power transmission, usually supported by towers or pylons |
| Rendering in OSM Carto |
| Group: Power |
| Used on these elements |
| Implies |
|
| Useful combination |
| See also |
| Status: de facto |
| Tools for this tag |
|
The tag power=line is use to map high-voltage power lines used for power transmission, usually supported by towers or pylons power=tower. Draw one way for all circuits connected to one power tower. All lines forming the transmission system are power=line.
For lines of the distribution system (from mains voltage to about 45 kV, depending on the country or area), usually carried on poles, use power=minor_line.
How to map
Draw a way and add the power=line to it. The towers that support the power line can be mapped using power=tower. It is not necessary to tag power lines with a layer=* unless two lines cross over each other.
It is possible to connect power lines to power=portal inside power=substation using power=insulator on the connecting node. power=terminal is also used at the connection with buildings without a dedicated power tower or portal to support the end of the line.
If the lines connect mid air at a crossing point without any ground support then use power=connection on the node connecting them.
Additional tags
It is also possible to give some additional and advanced information about power lines:
- The number of wires=* per conductor.
- You may use cables=* for the number of power-carrying conductors (bundles of wires) the line is composed of.
- circuits=* corresponds to the number of electrical circuits (logical bundles of conductors). The tag may be used when the number of power-carrying conductors is unknown (often the case for underground cable connections) or when the number of circuits is different from cables=* divided by 3 (or by the number of phases of the line).
| Key | Value | Comment | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| power | line | It's a power line, normally mapped as a . | Mandatory |
| voltage | <operating voltage> | The voltage at which the line is operated. May be semicolon-separated if there are multiple voltages. | Recommended |
| cables | <number of conductors> | The number of different phase conductors for this power line. Usually multiples of 3 (6, 9, 12) | Recommended |
| circuits | <number of circuits> | The number of separate electrical circuits carried by this power line. For the common 3-phase systems, it's no. of conductors/3 | Recommended if not implicit |
| operator | <cable operator> | The name of the company which operates this power line | Recommended |
| wires | <wire bundle per conductor> | The bundle form factor for each conductor of the power line | Optional |
| frequency | <operating frequency> | The frequency in hertz at which the power line is operating. May be semicolon-separated if there are multiple frequencies. | Optional |
| name | <name> | The name of this power line | Optional |
| ref | <reference> | The reference of this power line | Optional |
| line | bay, busbar or substation | Specifies that a line is a busbar or bay in a substation | Optional |
Since power lines conductors are high voltage and usually uninsulated, they can only be located overhead to protect them from grounding with external elements.
Lines carrying multiple voltages or frequencies
If a line has multiple circuits at different voltages, they should be listed individually, separated by semicolons. For example, if there are two circuits at 66 kV and one at 33 kV, the line should be tagged as:
If there are also multiple frequencies (only in the case of HVDC or traction power), the frequency=* tag should also be semicolon separated. In this case, the frequency=* tag should have the same number of semicolon-separated items as the voltage=* tag. For example, for a line carrying 220 kV and 110 kV at 50 Hz, as well as 110 kV at 16.7 Hz for traction power:
If a power line is technically designed for another voltage than it's operated, it was suggested that this may be tagged with construction:voltage=*, however this conflicts with the meaning of construction:*=*.
See also the discussion at power routing proposal.
Examples
| Picture/description | Tags | OSM Carto | Openinframap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity pylon and power lines |
power=line wires=double cables=6 circuits=2 operator=(operator-name) voltage=380000 |
Three conductors correspond to one circuit (except traction power lines and high voltage direct current/HVDC). Every circuit has one voltage=* level on which it operate.
Towers/pylons usually carry high voltage lines, but taller poles are also used in some countries, typically on those forming the "subtransmission" grid, which connects the main transmission system to the distribution grids.
Rendering
In addition to rendering on power lines on OSM Carto the following services are also available:
- Open Infrastructure Map
- Power Grid Map
- Electricity grid map (Europe only)
- Maperitive power line rule set for rendering power lines, cables and substations in Maperitive.
See also
- Classification of power lines.
- Power transmission refinement proposal