DTEK Grids continues to survey power lines with drones - the Kyiv region to use the technology
DTEK Grids proceeds with the program to survey the power transmission lines using unmanned aerial vehicles. A pilot project was launched in 2020 at DTEK Dnipro Grids in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Starting September 2021, the power lines are being surveyed with drones in the Kyiv region. DTEK Kyiv Regional Grids started test flights and surveyed 180 km of power transmission lines in the Boryspil district in the first month. By the end of the year, it is planned to inspect another 220 km of lines in the region.
“While diagnosing the power lines faults, a drone scanner can detect 3 times more defects than traditional walking crews. Thanks to the drones and IT systems, an operator can foresee a potential fault spot, and the human factor is minimized during such surveys. DTEK Grids is attracting new technologies to Ukraine, creating an innovation ecosystem for the Distribution System Operators. We are changing approaches to the operation of power grids to ensure that every home, every customer has a reliable power supply,” says Ivan Geliukh, CEO for DTEK Grids.
During the flight, the drone takes photos of all the elements of the network, which are then uploaded into the IT system. The software developed by the Estonian company HEPTA analyzes the received power grid data, and then informs the company about defects. Thanks to such data, the company can do the maintenance of faulty sections at the stage when the damage is still minor and has not led to an outage yet. In this way, the company can provide better quality power supply to customers.
“We believe that uBird gives the inspections teams the tools they need to succeed. And DTEK Grids has been a great example of this. They are capturing and analysing more data with every passing day, making sure their power grid is well taken care of. They started the project with an innovative and result oriented approach and it has served them well. We look forward to helping them achieve even more in the future,” commented Henri Klemmer, CEO of Hepta Airborne.
Using the drones, the power engineers can survey lines in hard-to-reach areas: wetlands, over trees, water hazards and industrial areas. At the same time, such surveys do not entail power cuts to customers and the need to use more equipment, which significantly speeds up the process of identifying network faults.
"The use of unmanned aerial vehicles is an efficient, fast and safe way to inspect overhead power lines. In addition, some equipment malfunctions that are invisible to the human eye can only be detected by the rise in temperature. We use a high-accuracy thermal imaging camera with a drone for this. At DTEK, we see opportunities for development of the intelligent network inspection modes, as well as predictive analytics and building 3D models of overhead lines and vegetation, implemented using a drone, a lidar scanner and software. These methods are widely used in the world in various spheres of industry and economy," says Dmytro Osyka, IT Director for DTEK and head of the MODUS digital transformation program, within which the project related to the power network diagnostics using drones was implemented.
The energy workers in the Kyiv region need 6 drone sets to fully use them every day. Another 5 sets are needed in the Dnipropetrovsk region. This change in the work practices within the Distribution System Operators will reduce the time of power outages for customers. The possibility to use such innovative technologies systematically in the work of the Distribution System Operators will be considered by the national regulator (NEURC) within the framework of annual investment programs.