The global market in drone-powered solutions for the power and utilities industries is worth as much as US$9.46 billion a year, according to a new report from PwC. The report has flagged up the potential benefits of implementing drone technologies for the water sector.
According to PwC, water technology companies can find major opportunities in introducing innovative and cost effective solutions such as drones to monitor water quality and detect leakages in pipelines.
‘Clarity from above: Leveraging drone technologies to secure utilities systems’, from PwC’s global Drone Powered Solutions team illustrates how creative uses of unmanned aerial vehicles are disrupting the way companies build, operate and maintain their networks.
A flamethrowing drone used to clear rubbish from power lines is one of the more dramatic examples found of innovative uses for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Other applications range from geospatial surveys in pre-investment planning, through monitoring of the construction process and managing assets, to proactively dealing with threats such as overgrown vegetation.
Applying UAVs with infrared cameras offers the ability to monitor water areas remotely at a higher spatial resolution than ever before, at low cost and at any time. Drones are already being used by UK water companies in various capacities to reduce costs and improve safety.
Drones could be used to inspect numerous and extensive types of water supply infrastructure
The report suggests that drones might also be used for mapping and inspecting numerous and extensive water supply infrastructure, including pipelines, sewage and drainage channels. Two years ago, scientists at Nottingham Trent University found that a high-resolution infrared camera could detect from a height the change in soil temperature that occurs when leaking water soaks into underground.
This could be used to help reduce the vast quantities of water that may be lost from large-scale underground pipe systems, especially in desert countries where water is transported over large distances, the report says.
Water utilities are also finding that drones can be more useful than satellites in the process of monitoring water quality. PwC’s Geospatial.App software allows the integration, presentation and management of mapping data gathered by drones equipped with visual, infrared and other cameras, which is useful in areas including monitoring the process of infrastructure construction, tracking the need for maintenance and assessing damage after natural or man-made disasters.
“The power and utilities sector faces numerous new challenges as it stands on the threshold of a digital revolution,” said Drone Powered Solutions Partner Michał Mazur. “Pressure to shift to renewables from fossil fuels, while reducing prices, is forcing companies to look for new ways to stay profitable. As companies reinvent their business models, drones are helping increase the reliability of energy production, transmission and distribution.”
The latest report in PwC’s ‘Clarity from above’ series includes stories of how utilities managers around the world are turning to drones to solve some of the industry’s most intractable problems, increasing both reliability and worker safety.
“Applying drone technologies to capture a variety of data on power plants, electrical substations or power lines is becoming a change driver for the entire power and utilities industry,” said Massimo Pellegrino, a PwC partner who contributed to the report. “Not only can drones gather standardised, tangible data in a more efficient way than people located on the ground, but also, unlike manned aerial vehicles, they can do it without risking human life.”
The new report is the third in the ‘Clarity from above’ series. The first, released in May 2016, looked at the overall global market for applications of drone technology, estimating its value at more than $127 billion. The second report found a US$45 billion market for applications in the transport infrastructure sector.
“To remain competitive on the market, and stay current in the changing business ecosystem which is being challenged by new technologies, companies from the power and utilities sector need to broaden their horizons,” said Norbert Schwieters, PwC’s Global Power and Utilities Leader. “They need to perceive new technologies, such as drones, as opportunities to increase effectiveness, reduce costs and improve internal processes.”
Click here to download Clarity from above: Leveraging drone technologies to secure utilities systems
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