State Grid Huai'an Power Supply Company: Rapid Defect Elimination with "Drone + Electric Lifting Device"

Recently, State Grid Huai'an Power Supply Company efficiently addressed a heating defect on a 220-kilovolt transmission line using a combination of drones and an electric lifting device.

Technician carries out live-line defect elimination at height

This transmission line is a key outgoing line of Huai'an's main power plant, characterized by heavy load and high importance. Following a thorough on-site inspection and plan validation, State Grid Huai'an Power Supply Company adopted the innovative "drone + electric lifting device" approach to carry out live-line defect elimination.

Compared with the traditional method of tower climbing—which is time-consuming and physically demanding—this operation mode significantly reduces the physical strain on workers in hot weather and lowers the risk of accidents such as falls caused by fatigue. At the same time, with its advantages of quick on-site deployment and short operation time, the new method greatly improves the timeliness and efficiency of defect handling, further enhancing the intrinsic safety level of the power grid.

Drone secures the towing rope of the electric lifting device

In this case, the entire defect elimination process took only half an hour, making it more than three times faster than manual tower climbing. After the operation, the temperature of the overheated fittings on the tower dropped to 35℃. The task was completed with zero errors and without any noticeable impact on users, further strengthening both the safety and reliability of the Huai'an power grid. (Text/Photos by Yu Baoming Wang Jiahui)