The equipment renders information on the real conditions of the grid in order to accurately service those points requiring attention, preventing eventual breakdowns.
With the purpose of detecting sensitive points in Enel Distribución’s electric power system and therefore anticipating and preventing potential service breakdowns, a helicopter specially conditioned with latest generation technology, inspected a total of 1,630 kilometers of high and medium voltage grid power lines, corresponding to 34 counties in the Metropolitan Region.
“The incorporation of technology to the inspection of electric power grids allows the detection of anomalies in the high and medium voltage network lines in areas of greater urban density and to identify defects that may occur in the network, which makes a diagnosis and subsequent maintenance easier, contributing to improve the company’s service”, explained Ramón Castañeda, general manager for Enel Distribución.
The helicopter enables reaching high efficiency levels, since travelling thousands of kilometers by means of air optimizes the work that historically took approximately 30 weeks by land. With this technology time is reduced to four weeks of work.
Additionally, 3 types of technologies were incorporated into its fuselage, with high resolution and thermal imaging cameras and 3D scanner technology, able to identify the infrastructure at a rate of 500,000 points per second.
Complementing the helicopter, a land inspection plan was carried out in 800 kilometers of the grid, in high demographic density areas, consisting in a pickup truck equipped with 3D scanning equipment, for detecting vegetation close to the grid, and the use of drones carrying high resolution and thermal imaging cameras.
This technology allows having all of the information faster, which makes an excellent inspection complement regarding areas with high urban concentration.
* Source: La Segunda