Showing the possibilities of drone inspections: POC for a large German DSO

The EAM GmbH & Co. KG is a regional power company headquartered in Kassel. The business area has a geographical area of ​​more than 13,000 square kilometres and extends over large parts of Hesse, southern Lower Saxony and parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to the operation of electricity, gas and water networks, the EAM Group’s range of services includes the sale of green electricity and natural gas products. It also drives the expansion of renewable energies in the region, offers energy-related services and is active in the telecommunications sector. EAM employs around 1,200 people at 20 locations.

EAM Netz GmbH (formerly EnergieNetz Mitte GmbH) has been responsible for the network business of EAM since June 2014. The electricity and natural gas network of the wholly-owned subsidiary extends over a length of around 50,000 kilometres. The supply facilities in the electricity network include 71 substations and more than 6,300 switching and local network stations, as well as 71 transfer stations and 283 regional gas control systems in the natural gas network. The company also offers a wide range of energy-related services, for example in the area of street lighting or the planning and management of supply networks as well as water supply and wastewater disposal.  Since April 6, 2020, the network company has been operating as EAM Netz GmbH

“One of the key possibilities for us was to get a closer and better view of the poles, especially the top view. With traditional inspections, you make decisions based on what you can see from the ground. Here we got a birds-eye view of our assets, which was really helpful, particularly with roof stands. We also used LiDAR and thermal cameras to inspect the power lines, which help to detect hidden defects and examine vegetation. The platform we tested was comfortable to use for our inspectors, forgoing traditional folder and list-based system, thus allowing for quicker analysis” said Jan-Hendrik Amrhein, who led the tests for EAM Netz.

“We were happy to see that Hepta, took care of all of the permits and notified all parties well in advance,” commented Amrhein. “In the end, the pilot project showed for us that drone-based inspections can be a great alternative to traditional inspections on the ground and we will look to include them into our future inspection procedures,” said Amrhein.

“For us, EAM Netz represents a perfect client  – innovative, inquisitive and focussed on development. We believe that we can give their inspection teams superpowers by providing them with a platform that can streamline their workflow and upgrade their detection capabilities. Instead of relying on time-consuming and error-prone foot patrols, they can collect data with drones and analyse it in our infrastructure platform uBird. This allows them to have a better overview of assets, their defects and make well-informed decisions based on that,” explained Henri Klemmer, the CEO of Hepta.