Combining Helicopter Line Patrol with Vegetation Lidar Reporting

NM Group has just completed flying 480 kilometres of transmission line with their new innovative service Patrol+. The project was conducted in New York State for National Grid. This pioneering technique combines a routine helicopter line patrol with vegetation Lidar reporting; all from a single flight.

Nick Ferguson, senior vice president of NM Group, commented that Patrol+ provides a clear path to defendable regulatory compliance. It is used to increase reliability and safety through the quantification of vegetation risk. The installation of Patrol+ technology on existing patrol flights enables access to Lidar technology at low marginal cost.

Bertram Stewart, vegetation strategy manager at National Grid, stated that utility companies and vegetation managers are constantly looking for opportunities to leverage every OPEX & CAPEX dollar. NM Group’s Patrol+ provides utility asset managers with additional options to leverage their planned patrols by obtaining asset condition data.

More information on Patrol+ and how this new approach is changing the way power utilities get asset information can be found here.