Kuzbass Holds Winter Drone Drills to Find Power Line Faults
Winter drills using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been conducted in Kuzbass by power engineers, who are officially permitted to use drones for finding damage on power lines. This reduces inspection time for energy facilities and speeds up power restoration.
According to the exercise scenario, a technical fault occurred on the 110 kV Zvezdnaya–Bolsheyamnaya power transmission line. High-voltage line service personnel responded but could not reach the pylons in a ravine near a stream.
To survey the inaccessible area, two drones were dispatched. They enabled inspection of the overhead line and detection of a broken wire between pylons, caused by a tree falling from the protective zone. The repair crew commenced work immediately.
«Drone cameras allow for detailed inspection of power line components for defects and rapid assessment of their condition—detecting insulator damage or wire sag, evaluating fastener corrosion, and other issues,» explained Sergey Taradanov, Deputy Director for Technical Affairs and Chief Engineer of the Rosseti Siberia branch «Kuzbassenergo-RES».
The company noted that this technology has been in use in the region since 2018. Unmanned aerial systems and industrial quadcopters are typically deployed for emergency restoration work. For example, they successfully identified damage on an inaccessible taiga section of the 110 kV Temirskaya–Kalary Tyagovaya line in Tashtagol district, where off-road vehicles were ineffective.
