The potential ROI of using UAVs for vegetation monitoring are expected to be sizable, but this requires the FAA to change regulations to permit operating of UAVs with beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) rules. Today at DistribuTECH2016 Eileen Lockhart of Xcel Energy with partners Environmental Consultants Inc and Flot Systems gave a presentation that showed just how close we are to UAVs operating under BVLOS rules becoming a commercial reality for electric power utilities.
Xcel Energy, which has electric and gas assets in eight states, is the fourth largest utility in the U.S. They have partnered with EEI, EPRI, INL and others in the utility sector to show the way in the application of UAVs in the utility sector. This includes working with the FAA to push forward the practical application of UAVs in the utility sector. Their objectives are improved safety for utility employees and the public, reducing risk to and improving reliability of the grid, and reducing the cost of operating and maintaining grid infrastructure. The technologies involved include GIS and geospatial analytics in addition to the UAVs themselves. Expected sources of major savings are reducing the need for expensive helicopters and plane flights and the time utility employees have to spend in the field.
- Transmission line and tower inspections
- Substation facility rating data collection
- Pipeline bridge and river crossings inspections
- High pressure pipeline inspections
- Coal/ash storage inventory (volumetric)
- Wind turbine blade inspections
- Storm damage assessment
Just last week (Feb 3, 2016) Xcel with its partners completed the first beyond visual line of sight mission with UAV flights over 20 miles of transmission lines. They are convinced that BVLOS flights will become a commercial reality in the near future. The UAV flights will not be flown by Xcel itself but by contractors such as Flot Systems operating with FAA licences. Xcel has not yet calculated ROIs for the applications using UAVs, but plan to do so soon.
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