PwC: Drone detection of power grids will be a major trend in the future

Flying robots capable of traveling tens of kilometers without stopping could be the next big thing
for power companies.

PwC: Drone detection of power grids will be a major trend in the future

European utilities are looking to long-range drones to detect thousands of miles of grid damage and leaks to avoid grid failures
that cost billions of dollars each year.
However, the technology faces significant safety and regulatory hurdles that cast a shadow
over the future of the industry.

Italian company Snam and RTE, a subsidiary of EDF, tested prototypes of long-range drones that fly
at low altitudes on pipelines and power lines.

Italy's Snam, Europe's largest gas utility, told Reuters it was testing one of the machines, known as the BVLOS drone, hoping to let it explore 20 kilometers of transmission lines
as soon as possible.

France's RTE also tested a long-range drone
.
The drone flew about 50 kilometers, inspecting transmission lines and sending back data, allowing technicians to virtually model
a portion of the grid.
The company said it will invest 4.
8 million euros in drone technology
over the next two years.

Currently, power companies mainly use helicopters equipped with cameras to check their power grids
.
They have also recently begun to occasionally use more basic drones that can be within the controller's line of sight, but only have a detection range
of about 500 meters.

However, the industry-wide shift to renewable energy, as well as the need to monitor the myriad additional connections needed to bring solar and wind farms to the grid, is forcing utilities to look into advanced technologies
.

"It's a real game-changer
.
" Michal Mazur, a partner at consulting firm PwC, said of drones, "They are 100 times faster than manual measurements, more accurate than helicopters, and equipped with AI equipment that solves problems
very quickly.
" ”

Executives at tech companies that make utility machines say drones cost around €20,000 each, while BVLOS drones will cost significantly more, while monitoring the entire network requires dozens or even hundreds of drones
.

According to Navigant Research, global grid companies are expected to spend more than $13 billion annually on drones and robots by 2026, up from about $2 billion
currently.
But PwC said the amount of investment still pales
in comparison to the $170 billion a year cost to the power sector from grid failures and forced shutdowns.

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