Drone team adds extra layer of safety as networks urge people to plan ahead for extreme weather

Households and businesses are urged to prepare for the possibility of power outages in extreme conditions this summer as the Bureau of Meteorology issues predictions of “warmer than average days and nights.”

Summer is traditionally a season that brings extreme weather events, such as high heat, strong winds and lightning, which can damage the power network and lead to localised power outages.

CitiPower and Powercor Head of Customer Experience Adam Nason said now was the time for everyone to plan ahead and know how to prepare for potential power outages.

“Our specialist teams work year-round to make sure our network is prepared for extreme summer months and are ready to respond safely and quickly if the power does go out,” Adam said.

“We are also asking everyone to act too by making preparing for power outages part of their emergency plan.”

This year, CitiPower and Powercor has established an in-house drone inspection team to inspect the tops of power poles in the most high-risk bushfire areas, adding an extra layer of protection on top of an already-comprehensive asset inspection and maintenance program.

Powercor’s team of CASA-qualified drone pilots help conduct additional inspections in high risk areas.

This work is over and above the broader program that involves inspecting and maintaining more than 77,000 kilometres of powerlines, 602,000 power poles and other infrastructure on a rolling cycle of at least 2.5 years.

“We are always looking at ways to build on how we keep our network safe and reliable, and we are already seeing major benefits from introducing drone technology to complement our inspection programs,” Adam said.

“Our team of drone pilots have been flying small quadcopter drones above our network, capturing valuable data and images of assets such as cross-arms, pole tops and insulators.

“This means we can pick up issues that may arise in-between our usual inspection cycles. For example, we have found and removed some bird nests on high voltage insulators this year that may have otherwise led to an outage occurring.”

BIRDS EYE VIEW: An example of the types of things our drone pilots have found on power assets. The drone inspections are over and above Powercor’s extensive asset inspection and maintenance program. PIC: Powercor.

Other activities Powercor has conducted to prepare for summer include:

• Using LiDAR technology mounted on helicopters to inspect vegetation across our network. With an expanded helicopter fleet we completed our full year inspection program ahead of time in June, with additional pre-summer inspections completed in July in our highest fire risk areas.
• Cut trees away from more than 55,000 powerline spans (the line between two power poles) in the CitiPower and Powercor networks – an increase of 27% on last year.
• Rolling out new fault indication technology across the southwest coast, Ballarat and Bendigo regions in areas protected by bushfire safety devices known as REFCLs. These allow our teams to quickly find faults and restore power to more customers faster.
• Installed 60 additional remote switches to allow more of the network to automatically restore power if a fault occurs.
• Tested REFCLs devices which are operating in 22 high bushfire risk areas, protecting more than 17,800km of powerlines covering about 290,000 homes and businesses.
• Replaced or reinforced more than 6000 power poles already and on track to exceed our 2024 target of 6415.
• Updated more than 100 low voltage and distribution substations to support growing demand.

Customers are encouraged to sign up for outage alerts at www.powercor.com.au/notify

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Advice on how customers can prepare for power outages 

Be Safe.

• Have a back-up plan ready if you rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for babies, the disabled, elderly or pets.
• Plan to keep food safe. Set your fridge to 5 degrees (5°C) or below. An unopened fridge will keep food for about four hours.
• Have plenty of drinking water available if your supply relies on power.

 Be Smart.

• Sign up for SMS notifications about power supplies and choose your preferences for who you want to receive them here
• Download the VicEmergency app and keep emergency phone numbers handy.
• Know how to connect computers and tablets to your mobile phone’s hotspot.
• Back-up computer files.
• Know how to open electric garage doors and gates manually.

 Be Ready.

• Charge mobile phones, laptops and portable back-up batteries.
• If you plan to use a generator, make sure it’s fully fuelled, operational and that you know how to safely operate it.
• Have a battery-powered radio available for real time news updates.
• Keep battery-powered lamps or torches handy.