Xcel Energy on Tuesday said it has received for inspecting power lines and other equipment.
Xcel said the small, unmanned aircraft will facilitate inspections in remote areas and lessen risks to workers.
The Federal Aviation Administration last week approved Xcel’s application to use drones.
“We have been thinking about use of drones for the past couple of years,” said Michael Lamb, vice president of operating services for Minneapolis-based Xcel. “As costs have come down and technologies have improved, the promise has really become more clear.”
Xcel, Colorado’s largest utility company, said drones will be used to inspect electrical transmission and distribution lines, power plants and substations, renewable-energy facilities and natural gas systems.
Xcel recently conducted tests using drones to inspect the interiors of power-plant boilers at the Comanche 3 station in Pueblo and the Zuni station in Denver, as well as a plant in Minnesota.
“We have to frequently inspect components inside the boilers, and traditionally that involves the use of scaffolding, ladders and people,” Lamb said. “But (with drones), we avoided all that infrastructure and people time. It was faster and lower-cost.”
He said the inspection cost using a drone was about $25,000, compared with $125,000 with conventional techniques.
With FAA approval in hand, Xcel now will extend the tests to outdoor flights.
Lamb said Xcel hasn’t yet decided whether it will purchase and operate its own fleet of drones or use a contractor, as it did with the boiler inspections.
Drones used in those tests were about 3 feet square, weighed 15 to 20 pounds, and were powered by small, helicopter-style rotors.
“They’re not unlike something you might find at a hobby store,” Lamb said. “They’re not at all like what you would see in the network news of drones in a war zone.”
Xcel officials said they expect drones to be useful in surveying storm damage and for inspecting systems in environmentally sensitive areas without using trucks or other ground-based equipment.
The utility said its initial plan is to use drones only above utility property and rights of way and away from populated areas and airports.
The drones will be flown at low altitudes and within operators’ line of sight, Xcel said.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948, sraabe@denverpost.com or twitter.com/steveraabedp
