Drones to Save Energy

Nottingham City Council uses drones to survey heat networks for leaks, insulation damage and faulty components.

03:35 07 May 2020

Nottingham City Council has enlisted the help of Hexca, a drone company specialising in the flight and analysis of drone imagery of heat networks, to survey its 90km network with the goal to cut back on loss of water. Prior to this move, the city council had to rely on slow, partial or semi-reliable data in order to map the condition of their district heating networks. With drone technology, leaks, insulation damage and faulty components can be identified and built into maintenance schedules, resulting in reduced costs and cheaper energy to customers. 

 

Nottingham City Council is part of the Innovation Gateway and is working with the Royal Bank of Scotland, University of Birmingham, Tesco and Heathrow Airport in finding sustainable solutions through innovations in waste, water, energy, productivity and wellbeing. 

 

Head of energy services Wayne Bexton said: "I believe this demonstrates how cutting edge hardware and technology, with the right people, can drive down the cost of operating a district heating network. If heat networks are to expand in order to decarbonise the UK then initiatives like this that bring down the operating cost are critical. It's never easy being the first to do something like this."