Drones to protect Victorians

THIS summer Powercor will be using an in-house drone inspection team to inspect the top of power poles in high-risk bushfire areas.

The drones are designed to add an extra layer of protection to the asset inspection and maintenance program.

“We are always looking at ways to build on how we keep our network safe and reliable, and we are already seeing major benefits from introducing drone technology to complement our inspection programs,” said Powercor head of customer experience Adam Nason.

“Our team of drone pilots have been flying small quadcopter drones above our network, capturing valuable data and images of assets such as cross-arms, pole tops and insulators.

“This means we can pick up issues that may arise in-between our usual inspection cycles. For example, we have found and removed some bird nests on high voltage insulators this year that may have otherwise led to an outage occurring.”

Mr Nason also urged households and businesses to prepare for potential power outages over summer.

“Our specialist teams work year-round to make sure our network is prepared for extreme summer months and are ready to respond safely and quickly if the power does go out,” he said.

“We are also asking everyone to act too by making preparing for power outages part of their emergency plan.”

High heat, strong winds and lightning can damage the power network and lead to power outages.