AI-Powered Technology Protects Grids From Extreme Climate Events
AiDash system monitors electrical grids to make utilities climate resilient and better prepared for the energy transition
A new AI-powered end-to-end grid monitoring system aims to address utility companies’ most urgent challenges resulting from climate threats like storms and wildfires.
AiDash has launched its new Full Stack Platform for Grid Inspection and Monitoring to provide utilities with the data and insights needed for proactive, preventative maintenance to keep the grid operational, safeguard communities and reduce costs.
The platform lets utilities perform a satellite scan of their entire network to identify potential vegetation issues, pinpoint asset locations such as poles and conductors, and assess road accessibility and terrain.
They can then opt for ground-based lidar or visual inspections for road-accessible assets, visual or lidar aerial scans for broader areas and drone scans for limited, hard-to-reach regions.
This delivers a detailed picture of all assets and surrounding vegetation in one place. AI processes the consolidated data to quickly identify, prioritize and predict so operators can tackle current and future grid challenges while reducing the average cost per mile of scans.
According to AiDash, the platform also makes the grid more intelligent and ready for the energy transition. The company unveiled the new platform at its Evolve 2024 conference in New Orleans.
“In an era of super storms and wildfires, keeping the power on is more challenging than ever. Climate change, growing power demands, and the need to expand grid capacity highlight the urgent work ahead to ensure safe, reliable and affordable power,” said AiDash CEO Abhishek Singh.
“With our Full Stack Platform for Grid Inspection and Monitoring, we’ve combined all of our capabilities and integrated new data sources, giving utilities the most accurate information to enable swift, decisive action.”
The platform launches as the U.S. utility landscape includes more than 7 million miles of power lines, approximately 250 million poles, a billion devices or assets and billions of trees. Inspecting, monitoring and maintaining this at scale requires technology to minimize outages, reduce costs and improve grid reliability.
“By leading with satellites and complementing them with ground-based lidar and on-ground patrols, we achieve what no single data source could—and do it more cost-effectively,” said Bert Stewart, National Grid’s vegetation strategy manager.
“Sharing data between our vegetation management and asset management teams improves coordination, enhancing reliability for our customers.”
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