Drone trial to inspect faults in regional areas
29 August 2019
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Drones to be used to detect faults on Western Power's grid
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Technology will help reduce impact of vehicles on agriculturally sensitive land
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Western Power crews trained to Civil Aviation Safety Authority standards
Energy Minister Bill Johnston is pleased to announce
Western Power has commenced its trial of
drones to assist with visual
inspections of faults around Northam and Geraldton.
The drones will increase response times to outages and detect faults,
and are capable of withstanding electromagnetic interference, allowing
safe navigation near powerlines.
Drone pilots will be able to switch between two different cameras, a
high powered zoom lens and thermal heat sensing, to see potential faults
that would not be visible to the naked eye.
As part of the three-month trial, four Western Power fault crew members
completed
Civil Aviation Safety Authority training to become Remote
Pilots and undertook specific training on inspecting powerlines.
Using drones can help Western Power crews inspect assets in
difficult-to-reach locations and address vehicle access issues in
agricultural and environmentally sensitive locations.
Comments attributed to Energy Minister Bill Johnston:
"The McGowan Government is committed to improving the energy supply for
regional homes and businesses, and that's why we are supporting the use
of drone technology.
"It is expected the trial will help reduce response times, costs, and
risk relating to visual inspections of faults in regional areas.
"It is exciting to see the potential benefits that drone technology can
deliver to the community, as severe weather in the region can affect
power supply and long feeder lines require intensive man hours to
inspect."
--ENDS--
Source: Western Australia Government - www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au
Contact: Minister's office - 6552 6700
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