A new trial of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will be carried out by Power and Water Corporation to inspect Northern Territory power networks.
NT Minister for Essential Services, Willem Westra van Holthe inspected a UAV in action near transmission lines in Darwin.
Power and Water has more than 10,265km of powerlines across the Northern Territory that need to be inspected periodically to identify maintenance needs.
Many transmission lines are located in remote and hard-to-access areas.
Transmission lines are currently inspected using a combination of methods including ground based inspection, aerial inspection (from helicopter), climbing and elevated work platforms.
Each inspection method has limitations related to access, viewing angles of the asset, time, cost and system security.
Power and Water is investigating the use of UAVs to supplement these existing inspection methods and to provide more flexibility with the resources available.
