Remotely piloted drones will make inspections along 20km of powerlines in the Charlton, Wedderburn and Bridgewater area along the Calder Highway and along the main supply line from Bendigo on August 23 and 24, weather permitting.

Powercor's head of network asset management John Mifsud said the drone inspections would cover a large area with high-definition cameras used to capture the condition of powerlines quickly and easily.

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"This trial is about finding new ways to keep our network operating safely and reliably," he said.

"While these drones won't replace our existing inspection methods, we're looking at whether they have a permanent role in our program in the future."

The work, which will occur during daylight hours on both days, is in addition to Powercor's continuous program of asset inspections, which are also being conducted by crews in vehicles, on foot and by helicopter.

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A specialist team is trialling the Matrice 300 RTK - a powerful industrial drone platform with an advanced flight controller system, six-directional sensing, real-time video transmission, thermal imaging and obstacle-detection systems.

This trial follows a trial of a similar technology near Ballarat last month and in the Otways last September, with results from the new Charlton trial to inform whether the technology is suitable for inclusion in Powercor's continuous inspection program.

Powercor manages its network of almost 90,000km of powerline and 588,000 poles through a rigorous inspection and maintenance program, on top of a network-wide vegetation management program of clearing trees and shrubs well away from powerlines.

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