The use of drones for assessing power plant equipment is relatively new and will become more common as the technology develops.  Understanding the requirements for their use, establishing the roles they will provide as maintenance aids, and developing procedures for their operation will be some of the challenges facing utilities.  Utilities will have to decide what types of unmanned aircraft will be most useful for these assessments, and whether they should purchase their own drones, develop the expertise for flying them, or use contractors to perform these duties.

The Using Drones for Power Plant Inspections and Loss Control webinar will discuss the benefits of drones to conduct and improve the inspection of critical infrastructure, reducing risk to employees, the impact to plant schedules, and overall costs.  

The discussion will be based on AES Corporation’s Drones & Robotics Program, a strategic program within their Emerging Technologies organization that focuses on the development of a Center of Excellence for Unmanned Systems within their multi-national organization.

The webinar will be presented by Zac Penix, Manager - Emerging Technologies, Technology and Services at AES Corporation. Zac is an Oklahoma native with 14 years of experience in technology and innovation with previous roles at Fortune 50 companies and technology start-ups.  He is a patented inventor, four-time recipient of the International CES Innovation award, and an active voice for the Edison Electric Institute in Washington, D.C.