MUNICH, GERMANY — According to Siemens Energy, holistic inspections of overhead power lines of this kind could also be performed with the help of large drones in the near future.

Siemens Energy has recently announced that they have been commissioned to inspect almost 4,000 kilometers (2485 miles) of high-voltage overhead lines by the German grid operators Schleswig Holstein Netz AG and Bayernwerk Netz GmbH.

According to Siemens Energy, the inspection will be conducted by a helicopter equipped with a high-tech multi-sensor system, which should collect all the necessary data during the flight. The data would then later be evaluated with the help of artificial intelligence and analyzed by other software tools. According to Siemens Energy, holistic inspections of overhead power lines of this kind could also be performed with the help of large drones in the near future.

For the inspection, a multi-sensor system will be attached to the underside of a helicopter, equipped with 19 cameras and modern 3D laser scanning sensors which should capture all relevant inspection data in a single flight over the power line, resulting in up to 12,000 images and detailed 3D data per kilometer of power line. The digital data obtained should provide a precise and detailed overview of the condition of the operating equipment, and it could be combined with existing data from the grid for other evaluations.

"The use of artificial intelligence is an important advance in the inspection of power lines. The high data quality makes us more precise and more cost-efficient, and it also allows us to conduct the inspection more safely. What's more, with conventional measurement and inspection techniques, the lines would have to be flown over several times to get the same results. Each flight saved over the distance of 4,000 kilometers saves 74 tons of CO2 emissions. This is another way that we’re making an important contribution to the environment while supporting our customers to maximize the reliability of the transmission grids," says Milena Ramos Subires, Vice President Transmission Service at Siemens Energy.

Source: Siemens Energy