Energinet, the Danish national transmission system operator, has awarded Fugro a 5-year framework agreement to capture aerial lidar and imagery data of its 3000 km electricity transmission network. The acquired geo-data will be processed through Fugro’s ‘Roames’ technology to develop a 3D digital twin of the network to report on critical clearances. As part of the framework, Fugro will partner with Energinet to develop a vegetation growth model to assist future vegetation and asset management programmes.
Fugro will use a lightweight helicopter equipped with scanning technology – including digital cameras and a lidar system – to collect accurate geo-data about Energinet’s network. The data will then be processed and analysed using technology that combines what Fugro calls ‘innovative 3D mapping techniques with cutting-edge machine learning and cloud computing’. The technology, designed specifically for power utilities, will create, as well as the digital twin, detailed analytics for remote asset inspection, identification, and condition assessment to help Energinet optimise its maintenance schedules and identify compliance defects.
Fugro will also implement a dynamic network model to simulate the sag and swing of Energinet’s electrical conductors to significantly improve the accuracy of vegetation analytics. This will include individual tree crown detection, as well as fall-in and critical tree risk identification. This initial analysis will enable the development of a full-scale vegetation growth model allowing Energinet to proactively identify and prioritise risk for their whole network, conduct inspections through a web browser, and update and improve their data quality.
Bram Mulder, Fugro’s regional business line director Land Asset Integrity, commented: “Using [this] technology, asset engineers and network programme analysts can access and extract millions of records and asset attributes within seconds, optimising Energinet’s maintenance schedules and improving the safety and reliability of their network … we look forward to working with Energinet over the next five years as we develop a full-scale vegetation growth model.”
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