Autumn 2020 Storm inspection PoC for Järvi-Suomen Energia, Finland

Background

After the strong autumn storm Aila, Hepta conducted a quick power line storm inspection with drones in September 2020. The works were conducted in Mikkeli, Finland, for Järvi-Suomen Energia (JSE) and in the Lahti area for Kymenlaakson Sähkö (KS).

Järvi-Suomen Energia  (JSE) builds, maintains, and develops the electricity network of Finland’s unique lake district. JSE maintains an electricity grid of approximately 27,000 kilometers as the local distribution system operator. Kymenlaakson Sähkö (KS) is an energy group owned by 10 towns and municipalities.

Hepta was invited by JSE to conduct an operative powerline inspection after the autumn storm Aila in Mikkeli, Finland. The goal was to find the causes of blackouts affecting up to 1000 homes. The storm inspection with the drone was conducted in conjunction with the ground maintenance crew to fix the issues as soon as possible.

The weather was not very pleasant, with light rain and wind gusting up to 12-18 m/s in the region. In total, the Hepta team flew 5 km of lines. On 3 separate lines, we discovered 1 possible tree that may have caused the blackout, 2 small birch trees lying on the ground, and another line with 1 tree on conductors.

The landscape has many lakes and inhabited areas, which are time-consuming to cover on foot.

Day One of Power Line Storm Inspection

This was the first time we provided storm inspection as a service proof of concept (PoC) to JSE while KS has been Hepta’s customer for 1.5 years. In addition to the usual equipment, Hepta team member Ryan Saar operated a drone, DJI Matrice M210. Ryan commented:

“For me, it is routine to use new, slightly upgraded versions of drones, and I prefer to know the equipment so I could use it with my eyes closed. On the first day, just before the storm peak, we gathered with the client’s team in the morning at 10:00 to discuss what input I would give with the drones. Also, what are the capabilities of drones in storm inspection, and what are the next actions? We were still waiting for the storm winds to fall the trees to start the line inspection. At 11:00, we gathered for a weather prognosis for the upcoming hours, and the wind was strong. We headed to the object at 13:00 (1 pm) to start the work.

During the day, we had a dilemma between two options – to use the M210 or Mavic 2 drone. The M210 is more storm- and weatherproof and has a powerful camera. Mavic 2 is ten times cheaper, but it is not meant to be flown in rain and storm.

The first pick was Mavic 2, and it performed fine in the winds around 12m/s. We found a couple of trees that had fallen through the line but were not suspended on the line.

A picture from the last stretch of line on the first day. The JSE team was curious and impressed by the capabilities of the smaller drone.

Finally, we found the culprit on this stretch of the line- a tree had fallen. We forwarded coordinates to the JSE ground team so the crew could fix the issue and bring back the power to multiple households. We wrapped up the day at 19:00 (7 pm) and agreed to meet at the headquarters at 7:30 am and head out with the objects.

Day Two

The second area for storm inspection was 2h car drive away. An island located about 1km away from the shore. On the way there, we got a call that the line had been fixed, and there were no more interruptions.

As I had not managed to fly M210, I made a demo flight to show its capabilities. This drone surprised us all. It has a powerful zoom and can make objects along the line visible up to 1.8 km away. Not to mention, it is windproofer than smaller ones. It is an excellent drone for storm inspection work, and I enjoyed trying it in post-storm conditions.

I had already called it a day and prepared for a trip back to Estonia. Then I got a call from our project manager, who said that KS is also interested in a quick inspection near the Lahti area. Most of the lines were near roads, and I conducted the flights on my way back to Helsinki without significant findings. The day ended at midnight.”

Hepta is the only one in the Nordics providing real-time storm inspection with drones 24/7, including challenging conditions like nighttime, high wind, and heavy snow.

Hepta provides end-to-end automated grid inspection and analyzing solutions for your utilities.

Starting with drone-, helicopter-, or satellite-based data collection, then analyzing data with the help of Hepta Insights software, and finally delivering the results to the client systems.

Payloads provide options for data capture, including photos, LIDAR scanning, infrared, thermal, orthophotos, Corona detection, and photogrammetry. This allows you to conduct projects from grid defect detection and 3D models to prediction scenarios with vegetation and the full digital twin of your utilities.

Hepta provides grid inspection services for DSOs and TSOs, railways, and communication companies in 11 Countries. In 2020, we are trusted to inspect 3000 km of lines monthly.