Helicopters are scanning powerlines around Ballarat and the surrounding region as part of Powercor’s year-round bushfire mitigation and vegetation management program.
The inspections began Monday and will continue until late next week.
People may see and hear the choppers, which fly about 300 metres above the ground and use technology known as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to scan the distance between tree branches and powerlines.
Using the LiDAR data, Powercor teams create 3D models of powerlines and their surroundings, helping to inform what vegetation needs to be cut.
Powercor’s Head of Vegetation Management, Ayce Cordy, said it was important that accurate measurements were taken of all vegetation every year.
“Inspecting and managing vegetation growing near powerlines is an essential part of how we keep power safe and reliable for our customers,” Mr Cordy said.
“By capturing data every year, we can track growth rates of vegetation across our network, helping us plan where to cut right now and when we may need to conduct cutting in the future.”
Each year Powercor uses a fleet of three helicopters to inspect 100 per cent of more than 77,000 kilometres of powerlines across western Victoria.
How our cutting program works:
- Our trained cutting teams can enter private property to cut trees back from powerlines, and also work on public land across our network.
- Our teams need to meet clearance requirements that are regulated by Victoria’s energy safety regulator, Energy Safe Victoria (ESV).
- Larger clearance areas are required in areas of higher bushfire risk.
- For private property, our teams notify customers of cutting required at their address, complete the required pruning work then return to remove debris.
- When urgent cutting is identified, we aren’t always able to provide advance notice.
