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.
As stated by 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.”
Minister’s office – 6552 6700
