Drone-powered inspections herald smarter grid maintenance in Tongliao

A high definition camera drone descended slowly in Tongliao, a city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on June 26, marking its first successful distribution line aerial inspection.

Over 180 pole-kilometers along the 10 kilovolt Industrial Zone Line I underwent a comprehensive “checkup” under the drone’s sharp eye. This pioneering practice represents not only a technical breakthrough for the State Grid Tongliao Power Supply Co, but also a significant step forward for the entire power industry, marking the advent of a smarter, more digitalized era of line inspection and maintenance.

“For years, traditional manual inspections have faced major challenges: widely scattered towers, harsh working conditions, high altitude risks and low efficiency. The adoption of drone technology has broken through these bottlenecks,” said an executive of the company, adding that the drone has sharply shortened inspection cycles, greatly improved accuracy and timeliness in detecting equipment risks and built a stronger safeguard for the safe and stable operation of the grid.

The true strength of drone inspection lies not only in efficient data collection but also in its deep integration with intelligent back end analysis. According to the company, footage captured by drones is processed with AI recognition, which automatically flags abnormalities and quickly generates detailed diagnostic reports.

So far, the inspection of the 10 kV Industrial Zone Line I has been completed, uncovering 167 general defects and hazards. According to the plan, drone inspections will cover six 10 kV lines, involving more than 4,000 towers and over 200 km of lines, with all works progressing steadily.

Looking ahead, the company will further expand drone applications in line maintenance, advance intelligent inspections, and, together with manual patrols, ensure safer, more reliable power supply to support regional growth and everyday life.