The system will deploy sees.ai’s technology and will see drones flying Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) close to live power infrastructure, piloted from a central control room.

Drones will be used to capture images and data of National Grid’s infrastructure, primarily pylons and cables. This data will then be used to help inform National Grid’s maintenance and investment programmes across its transmission network in England and Wales.

Automised asset inspection using drones is expected to deliver significant benefits, including increased speed, efficiency and consistency of data processing, as well as reducing the risk and environmental impact of manual data capture.

In a statement, Kathryn Fairhurst, overhead line operations director at National Grid said: “This rollout underscores our commitment to use innovative technologies to manage and upgrade our network. By handling non-intrusive inspection tasks, this technology enables our highly skilled line workers to focus more efficiently on the complex, hands-on work that requires human expertise, and will form an important part of how we continue to manage our assets and deliver a safe and reliable network.”