BENDIGO residents may begin seeing drones above their head this week as Powercor begins its biggest trial yet.
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Over a six week period, a range of different types of drones will inspect 10,000 poles in areas around Bendigo, Woodend and throughout the Wimmera.
The drones will capture high resolution images and thermographic information, helping to locate 'hot spots' on the network which may lead to faults in the future.
Powercor head of digital Luke Skinner said the benefit of drone inspections was they could cover a large area quickly and capture in greater detail information about power assets.
"This trial is about finding new ways to keep our network operating safely and reliably," he said.
"We will be operating these drone inspections alongside our traditional inspection program to allow us to analyse results and accuracy.
"Our highly-experienced asset inspectors will examine data captured by the drones and if they detect defects they will direct these to our maintenance teams to address."
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Flights are scheduled to take place throughout September and October during daylight hours, weather permitting.
Previous trials in places such as the Otways, areas south of Ballarat and around Charlton, Wedderburn and Bridgewater have inspected between 50 and 200 poles each.
"These ongoing trials are building our knowledge and understanding about how this new technology may be incorporated into our annual program of work inspecting poles, powerlines and other infrastructure," Mr Skinner said.
The work is in addition to Powercor's ongoing continuous program of asset inspections, which are also being conducted by crews in vehicles, on foot and by helicopter.
For more information on inspection programs, visit www.powercor.com.au
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