Four remotely operated drones are to be stationed at electricity substations in the Lake District as part of a 12-month trial of automated fault detection and power-line condition monitoring.
SP Electricity North West (SP ENW) is working with Skyports Drone Services and eSmart Systems on Project VOLT (Visual Overhead Line Tracking), which will use “drone-in-a-box” systems capable of being dispatched from substations and flown beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
The aircraft will be controlled from Skyports’ remote operations centre in Buckinghamshire, more than 200 miles away. Data captured by the drones will be streamed to SP ENW’s control centre and analysed using eSmart Systems’ Grid Vision software to help identify faults.
The system is intended to provide a faster means of inspecting parts of the electricity network following faults or severe weather, particularly where terrain or other access restrictions make inspections by ground patrols difficult. It will operate alongside SP ENW’s existing fault-response procedures.
The drones will also undertake regular condition-monitoring patrols of overhead lines near the substations. Analysis of the resulting data will be used to identify potential problems including loose connections, damaged insulators, overheating or failing equipment and vegetation encroachment.
The partners hope this will allow deterioration to be identified earlier and maintenance to be planned before defects result in failures. The approach could also provide an alternative to some helicopter-based inspection work.
Skyports will be responsible for regulatory approvals, deployment of the drone infrastructure, remote piloting and the capture and transfer of data, while eSmart Systems will process and analyse the information collected.
The project is being supported through Ofgem’s Network Innovation Allowance (NIA), which provides funding for innovation projects undertaken by electricity and gas network operators.
Martin Tejada, Innovation Project Manager at SP Electricity North West, said: “By combining advanced drone technology and AI analytics, we can identify issues faster meaning improved response times and quicker restorations, particularly in those hard-to-reach areas.
“The project also helps us identify any potential damage before it becomes a bigger issue, meaning a safer and more resilient service for the communities we serve.”
The group eSmart Systems said the combination of repeated remote inspections and automated analysis could also allow network operators to track changes in asset condition over time, rather than relying principally on periodic inspection snapshots.
Project VOLT will deploy the four drone-in-a-box installations for 12 months, with the systems available for remote deployment around the clock.
