Power Engineering - February 2018

Authors

David Price is Chief Technology Officer and Associate Vice President, Business and Technology Architecture in Black & Veatch Management Consulting LLC. Nathan Ives is a Managing Director, Business and Technology Architecture in Black & Veatch Management Consulting LLC. Caitlin Frank is a Consultant of Business and Technology Architecture in Black & Veatch Management Consulting LLC.

These are the types of scenarios that utilities will begin to face as they embrace these new technologies, and while these may seem like daunting questions to face, embracing the changes to make a utility UAV-capable will bring great benefits.

MEETING ASSET
INSPECTION
CHALLENGES
HEAD-ON
Performing complex asset
inspections is a difficult,
assets such as transmission
towers -not only accelerates
the inspection process; it
eliminates safety hazards for
utility employees and
standardizes how data is
collected and recorded.

Utilities deploying a UAS have seen considerable improvements in inspection time. Field tests with a leading electric transmission and distribution provider in Ontario, Canada, found that using a UAS allowed them to inspect 20 or more 500 kV transmission towers per day; reducing inspection times by over 50 percent, while simultaneously moving personnel away from the high energy system.

Improved asset inspection efficiency enables utilities to realize reduced costs and/or more frequent data collection. More frequent inspections drive better intelligence on asset performance trends over time. Furthermore, the use of UAV governed by automated flight scripting heightens data collection consistency and quality needed for bulk and over-time analyses.

Utilities employing
standardized asset models outlining critical facilities and com-
ponents, as well as their required attributes further improve
field data collection by ensuring the right data is captured
during each flight. When integrated with the utility’s asset and
work management systems, the ability to generate immediate
follow-up repair and maintenance work orders, as well as
perform bulk and over-time asset performance analysis, is
gained. Integrating a UAS solution into a utility’s enterprise
asset management system enables the organization to gain a
clear, full lifecycle view of asset conditions and performance;
informing decisions for overall operations improvements,
extending asset life and determining future capital
investments.

IMPLEMENTING A UAS PROGRAM Planning the successful deployment of a UAV-based enterprise asset management program can be thought of in three main components: people, process, and technology.

ENGAGING THE RIGHT PROFESSIONALS

Engaging the right personnel within an organization is an integral part of creating a holistic UAS program. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities help establish a comprehensive process that will touch many aspects of the utility’s business. Operations professionals within a utility organization, from the C-suite to the shop floor, should be involved when developing this new asset management program to ensure that aspects of business strategy (capital investment planning, and risk management) as well as day-to-day operations (maintenance, safety, analytics, and aviation) are taken into account and incorporated into the standardized inspection process.

Developing a holistic asset management culture, despite what technologies are being used, can be a daunting task. Gaining this level of collaboration often requires the assistance of a third-party expert that can help bring these diverse functions together to best determine how to optimally integrate business operations with an end-to-end UAS solution.

An asset management partner with deep technical and in-
dustry knowledge and world-class engineering expertise can
help evaluate foundational program components such as:
• Identifying the body of use cases for which the UAS will
support

“Utilities deploying a UAS have seen considerable improvements in inspection time. Field tests... found that using a UAS allowed them to inspect 20 or more 500 kV transmission towers per day.”