Grid operators have been inspecting their critical infrastructure using proven methods for years, but with a skill shortage in the industry, tightening of budgets and need to get more out of existing infrastructure, grid operators need to evaluate and adopt new strategies, technology and methodologies.  

Limitations with current grid inspection methods
Traditional grid inspection methods can demand heavy machinery and a significant workforce on foot patrol or by helicopter. These inspection methods are established and work but are time consuming, manual, labour intensive, dangerous and can be subjective.  

The majority of traditional inspection methods tend to be reactive with a find-and-fix approach and most methods are lacking digital documentation and automation within the process. On top of it, these methods are often just focused on capturing data for high priority defects and are prone to human bias and subjectiveness.  

How can AI-assisted virtual inspections help grid operators? 
AI-assisted virtual grid inspections can support grid operators in addressing some of these challenges and if done right can be an important inspection method in their toolbox. AI-assisted virtual inspections can support grid operators to: 

1. Reduce cost and improve safety with less people out in the field, walking the line, climbing structures, or flying helicopters.  Virtual inspections can minimize the risk of worker accidents by keeping people out of harm’s way as the asset data can be captured in a safe manner, distanced away from the physical structure using high quality camera technology. 

2. Improve consistency and objectivity of inspections with a built-in inspection workflow.

3. Optimize efficiency and productivity of staff by focusing their activities on high value work and letting the AI do the manual and repetitive tasks such as component and defect detection, automating image to asset linking and asset inventory.  

4. Potentially identify more defects as the data is collected in the field but the inspection is done remotely, the inspector has more time to view the structure from different perspectives and identify defects of varying priority. 

5. Reduce the number of grid incidents and potential outages with higher precision of detecting defects and the ability to identify common vulnerabilities using the image-based digital asset.

6. Improve capital planning by using accurate, objective image-based inspection data that provides insights into the mechanical health of the grid and support your teams to make decisions based on risk of asset and not based on time.    

7. Support knowledge retention by digitalizing information on assets and inspection data with an audit trail within inspection software. 

8. Reduce OpEx by providing the visual data from virtual inspections (if structured correctly) to wider teams, enabling them to conduct more work from the desk than going out in the field.

9. Get more out of existing infrastructure, new grid infrastructure takes 5 to 15 years to plan, permit and complete. In the meantime, operators must deploy limited OpEX in a targeted way to maintain and inspect the existing grid. Utilities can use the inspection data from virtual inspections that is now digitized and more accurate to support their spending and inspection programs based on risk. 

Ready to add visual inspections to your inspection program? Contact us today to start your journey.

Why not watch our webinar on virtual T&D inspections to:

• Learn what virtual inspections are.
• Discover how they fit into utilities’ current processes and how they can be scaled.
• Uncover virtual inspection pitfalls and benefits that can be achieved.

Our approach to AI-assisted virtual inspections is different. We have an asset centric approach to all of our solutions and build your image-based digital asset while you inspect as we know that data can support grid owners in their operations.

What is an image-based digital asset?
This is a digital representation of your physical grid linking your asset to your asset data, inspection data, images, meta data and grid topology. 

Why would you need this data?
You may not have easy access to this image-based data today in your core IT systems. This data gives you another dimension of insight into your physical grid, the mechanical state of your grid through structured and tagged photos linked to inspection data, grid topology, meta data and a clear audit trail. 

We hear from utilities that images taken of their grid by field crew is often not tagged, unstructured, not linked to an asset and difficult to access. If there are images, they are on a USB stick somewhere, on someone’s mobile phone or in a database that takes ages to load.

What value can an image-based digital asset give you?
From working with 50+ utilities globally we have seen our customers utilize the image-based digital asset in Grid Vision^® in various ways and have summarized the top 10 common use cases below:  

1. Improved capital planning
Our customers have now based their investment plans on accurate asset data and risk. Supporting them to prioritize their capital planning. 

2. Decreased unplanned outage time
Utilizing Grid Vision as part of the outage management process to check the impacted assets and then plan the correct tools and expertise before going on site has seen our customers decrease CAIDI by 28% (43 mins). 

3. Identifying common vulnerabilities
Our customers have saved hours from eliminating field visits by identifying assets at risk within Grid Vision at a desk within hours instead of days.

4. Supporting emergency maintenance 
Providing Grid Vision to emergency response teams to check for structure types before sending out the crew to the field has saved our customers time and shortened time to restore grid faults.

5. Wildfire mitigation 
Multiple customers are using Grid Vision to identify assets at risk from wildfire within hours by searching for components at risk at a desk and providing the visual data to field crews to go and fix.  

6. Supporting regulatory reporting and major incidents 
Our customers are using Grid Vision to confirm the state of an asset before an incident for root cause analysis and regulatory reporting.   

7. Improving situational awareness and business decision 
Our customers are using Grid Vision in virtual meetings with leaders to demonstrate challenges with projects.  

8. Maintenance & planning
Grid Vision is used by maintenance teams to identify inventory, materials, skills, right of way before going on site.  

9. Siting land rights 
For new builds, our customers are checking Grid Vision to confirm any siting land rights for new projects. One of our customers identified an undocumented family cemetery on a potential new substation site.  

10. Maintenance strategy  
Grid Vision is used to support maintenance strategies, one of our customers identified assets failing before end of design life through Grid Vision. This insight helped them to re-prioritize their maintenance strategy to avoid unplanned asset failures.  

By leveraging Grid Vision’s image-based digital asset, our customers are unlocking multiple core use cases and saving their teams time, improving safety, reducing costs across multiple departments and improving grid resiliency. 

We do more than provide virtual inspections, we start with the asset itself and link the data that is needed to support your asset management processes. 

Thinking of making the transition? Contact us today to start your journey.

Recently, there has been an increased adoption of digital tools to carry out overhead line inspections like the use of drones and cameras to collect imagery or visual data and manually analyze them, but a more efficient and effective method of conducting those inspections is by completely digitalizing the process and using AI technology to analyze and sort out the data. Utilities are looking at software to check the health and performance of transmission and distribution assets as part of a suite of digital tools in order to create agility and safety on that side of their operations.

In an October webinar we did with Xcel Energy, Brian Long, Xcel Energy’s Project Director for Transmission Asset Management, clarified “The main reason we do this is to improve our inventory and really understand the condition of our assets.” With fast and robust data being sent to the utility through virtual inspections, utilities can have a clearer picture of the health and efficiency of their T&D network without sending work crews which saves time, gas and labor money, and reduces worker exposure to job hazards from lines and substations. AI-based inspection solutions can also find more defects than traditional methods, and can be used with modeling tools to help predict issues with assets on a timeline which can increase both efficiency and safety.

The main reason we do this is to improve our inventory and really understand the condition of our assets.

 

 

Brian Long

Xcel Energy’s former Project Director for Transmission Asset Management.

Virtual line inspections provide a wealth of data in conjunction with various sensors and other devices that can be utilized in the decision-making process for all sorts of applications beyond just asset health. The timing of investment decisions can hinge on which systems most need addressing, and having a complete picture of one’s systems through a synthesized data repository can inform and accelerate that process. More granular data can be used to target specific parts or aspects that need addressing rather than more costly replacements of an entire unit or system. Data can also be used to create efficiencies for field crews both in management’s ability to effectively allocate their efforts, and for the crews themselves if they have easy access to the data in the field. The whole of the utility apparatus can be more deft with these data and analytics tools.

The key to unlocking the business value of virtual inspections is a smart plan executed by skilled staff

On our podcast about AI misconceptions, eSmart System’s CTO Erik Asberg said:

I think people sometimes get disappointed when an AI tool doesn’t magically solve their problems. AI isn’t magic, it’s just a tool.

To get the best use out of the data and the analytics, a robust plan with buy-in from the entire organization is necessary to reach the most efficient applications of the data for the highest return of investment in terms of time, money, and safety. It is also prudent to ensure that staff is properly trained to utilize these tools, or partnerships are formed with skilled professionals familiar with these processes. Collaboration and partnership in general can help fill knowledge gaps for an organization looking to onboard more advanced systems. The tools at our disposal are capable of synthesizing a lot, but they are only tools, we cannot forget the human element.

Concluding thoughts.

Throughout this year, we’ve seen many advancements in utility infrastructure and systems as they modernize for resilience and increasing customer expectations. Making the most out of data in transmission and distribution is both part of the modernization process and an accelerant of it. By creating efficiencies in this space utilities can open up resources for further investment and planning. Collecting data can allow for proactive decision-making on upgrading which makes the grid more resilient. With a clearer understanding of assets, workers can be better allocated and hazards can be identified faster. A utility with a good plan, knowledgeable partner, and trained staff that are kept up throughout the process can use virtual inspections alongside a suite of tools to improve not just their T&D, but the whole enterprise.

Contact us today and see how Grid Vision is transforming the way the world’s leading energy providers inspect and maintain critical infrastructure.

eSmart Systems and envelio are excited to announce their partnership to support utilities with their asset management and grid planning decisions.

eSmart Systems’ Grid Vision^® solution powered by AI enables utilities to scale virtual inspections and grid inventory while digitalizing transmission and distribution assets with an image-based digital asset, combining inspection data, substation assets, metadata and grid topology to provide actionable insights and downstream value beyond the inspection.

 

envelio’s Intelligent Grid Platform empowers utilities by delivering a digital twin of the distribution grids. The platform unites relevant grid data from multiple sources into one platform to digitalize and automate grid planning and grid operation processes. Applications like Grid Planning and Grid Study enable the evaluation of future scenarios and their effect on the power grids. The results can then be used for strategic grid planning.

Bringing the two solutions together unlocks a powerful combination of an accurate image-based digital asset with the digital twin, resulting in a knowledge-based platform to support utilities to break down silos between grid operations, investment planning and condition monitoring to provide holistic and accurate information on the conditional and physical state of the grid. Based on these additional insights on the power flow and mechanical asset data combined, utilities can enable improved maintenance and inspection planning, support unplanned outage response and improve long term asset investments and strategic grid planning for their power grids.

• Inspektionsdienstleistungs-Programm zur Bereitstellung einer vollständigen virtuellen Inspektion des AllgäuNetz Freileitung      Hochspannungsnetz.
• Virtuelle Inspektion unterstützt durch Künstliche Intelligenz.

Die AllgäuNetz ist Verteilnetzbetreiber im südlichen Allgäu in Deutschland. Gemeinsam mit eSmart Systems beginnt AllgäuNetz die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ziel die Inspektion des Freileitungsnetzes deutlich zu verbessern. Die Lösung der eSmart Systems ermöglicht eine virtuelle Inspektion der Freileitungen, die durch eine künstliche Intelligenz unterstützt wird.

Mit diesem Schritt unterstreicht AllgäuNetz ihre Strategie, verstärkt erneuerbare Energien zu integrieren, den Ausbau intelligenter Netze auszudehnen und die Digitalisierung ihrer Assets und Prozesse voranzutreiben. Dies dient dazu, die Energiewende zu unterstützen und gleichzeitig das hohe Maß an Versorgungssicherheit für die AllgäuNetz Kunden zu optimieren.

Im Rahmen dieser Partnerschaft bietet eSmart Systems eine vollständige Ende-zu-Ende-Inspektionslösung von der Bilderfassung mit Drohnen und automatisierten Flugmustern bis hin zur virtuellen Inspektion mit Grid Vision^®. Somit erhöhen wir die Inspektionseffizienz. Diese Partnerschaft wird sicherere, genauere und effizientere Sichtprüfungen der Freileitungen ermöglichen und die Inspektionskosten optimieren. Zusätzlich wird das Programm ein bildbasiertes digitales Abbild der Freileitungsanlagen erstellen, welches die AllgäuNetz dabei unterstützt, sich bei der Investitionsplanung auf Betriebsmittel, basierend auf ihrem Zustand, für Wartungs- und Reinvestitionsmaßnahmen zu konzentrieren.

Über die AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG

Die AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG ist der Verteilnetzbetreiber im südlichen Allgäu und versorgt 144.000 Kunden sicher mit Strom.

Eine sichere und zuverlässige Stromversorgung ist eine wichtige Grundlage unserer Gesellschaft. AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG, als Allgäuer Unternehmen Kraftwerke GmbH, Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH, Energiegenossenschaft z.B. Mittelberg, Energiebedarf Oberstdorf GmbH und Energiebedarf Oy- Kressen eG stellt sich dieser Verantwortung konsequent.

Mit unseren Mitarbeitern sind wir für große Teile des Stromnetzes im südlichen Allgäu verantwortlich. Das in Betrieb befindliche Stromnetz umfasst ca. 5.500 km Leitungen auf einer Fläche von ca. 1.700 km².

Durch das Zusammenspiel erneuerbarer Energien, intelligenten Netzausbau und -betrieb sowie zuverlässige flächendeckende Betreuung sorgen wir für ein hohes Maß an Versorgungssicherheit.

Gemeinsam mit unseren Privatkunden, Gewerbebetrieben und den Gemeinden im südlichen Allgäu arbeiten wir täglich an der sich verändernden Energielandschaft und setzen die Veränderungen gemeinsam innovativ und zielorientiert um.

Über eSmart Systems

eSmart Systems ist ein führender Anbieter von KI-gestützten Lösungen für die Inspektion und Wartung kritischer Infrastrukturen. Mit unserer Softwarelösung, Grid Vision^® revolutionieren wir die Betriebs- und Wartungsprozesse von Netzbetreibern für ihre Übertragungs- und Verteilungsnetze. Wir unterstützen Netzbetreiber weltweit dabei, Inspektionskosten zu senken, Inspektionen sicherer zu gestalten, die Qualität der Asset informationen zu verbessern und die Lebensdauer der Assets zu verlängern.

• Inspection as a Service program to deliver full virtual inspection of AllgäuNetz’s distribution network.
• Virtual inspection supported by Artificial Intelligence.

AllgäuNetz the Distribution System Operator in southern Allgäu, Germany is partnering with eSmart Systems to transition their infrastructure inspection from manual to virtual inspection supported by Artificial Intelligence. This move is to emphasize AllgäuNetz’s strategy of integrating more renewables and expanding their intelligent networks and digitalizing their assets and operations to support the energy transition and optimise a high level of security of supply to their customers.

As part of this partnership eSmart Systems will provide the full end-to-end inspection solution from image capture with automated flight patterns and drones to the virtual inspection, which will provide safer, more accurate and efficient visual inspections and will optimize the inspection costs. The program will also build an image-based digital asset alongside the inspection which will support AllgäuNetz to focus on assets based on condition for maintenance and rebuilds.

About AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG

AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG is the Distribution System Operator in southern Allgäu, Germany, supplying safe and secure electricity to 144,000 customers.

A safe and reliable power supply is an important basis for our society. AllgäuNetz GmbH & Co. KG, as a company belonging to Allgäuer Kraftwerke GmbH, Allgäuer Überlandwerk GmbH, Energiegenossenschaft eG Mittelberg, Energiebedarf Oberstdorf GmbH and Energiebedarf Oy-Kressen eG, consistently faces up to this responsibility.

With our employees, we are responsible for large parts of the power grid in southern Allgäu. The power grid in operation includes approximately 5,500 km of lines in an area of ​​approximately 1,700 km².

Through the interaction of renewable energies, intelligent network expansion and operation as well as reliable support across the area, we ensure a high level of security of supply.

Together with our private customers, commercial businesses and the communities in southern Allgäu, we work daily on the changing energy landscape and implement the changes together in an innovative and goal-oriented manner.

About eSmart Systems

eSmart Systems is a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for the inspection and maintenance of critical infrastructure. With our software solution, Grid Vision^® we revolutionize how utility companies operate and maintain their transmission and distribution networks. We support utilities globally to reduce inspection costs, make inspections safer, improve the quality of asset data and prolong asset life.  eSmart Systems has more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge-based, leading IT and energy-related companies targeting global markets.

• 5-year program to digitalize and automate current inspection process to a complete Artificial Intelligence (AI) image-based virtual inspection.
• The inspection program will focus on distribution grid with a focus on wood, steel and concrete structures.
• BKW will utilize AI to improve the speed and quality of the virtual inspection process.

The program will utilize eSmart Systems Grid Vision^® solution, powered by AI to support the high voltage distribution grid with inspection and maintenance. This partnership will provide safer, more accurate and efficient visual inspections and will optimize the inspection costs.

Grid Vision^® will be delivered as a Software as Service solution for BKW Energie. The solution delivers automation from day one through the 40+ AI models that are already trained on over 15 million global images. Through a Collaborative-AI approach, BKW will automate their virtual inspections to improve the quality and speed of inspections. The partnership will enable BKW Energie to transition their inspection processes to condition-based asset maintenance over time with the use of Grid Vision^® Insight.

By lowering their carbon footprint through reduced field visits, and focusing on assets based on condition for maintenance and rebuilds, BKW Energie is building for a sustainable future and the partnership with eSmart Systems will support these initiatives with integrating more low carbon technologies onto the grid.

About BKW

The electricity grid is the backbone of modern society. As the operator of Switzerland’s largest distribution system, BKW ensures that electricity flows reliably from producers to consumers. We plan and build grid infrastructure and make the most of the opportunities that digitalization has to offer to create sustainable living spaces.

We distribute electricity to one million people in our supply area via 22,000 km of lines and 188,000 grid connections. By running our grid safely and efficiently, we can offer our new customers access to it based on their needs.

About eSmart Systems

eSmart Systems is a leading provider of AI-powered solutions for the inspection and maintenance of critical infrastructure. With our software solution, Grid Vision^® we revolutionize how utility companies operate and maintain their transmission and distribution networks. We support utilities globally to reduce inspection costs, make inspections safer, improve the quality of asset data and prolong asset life.  eSmart Systems has more than 20 years of international experience in establishing and operating knowledge-based, leading IT and energy-related companies targeting global markets.