FAA grants Southern Company waiver for autonomous remote monitoring, asset inspections
Southern Company has received a first-of-its-kind waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that will allow remote-based, autonomous beyond line of sight (BVLOS) dock operations system-wide.
“This is a huge step in advancing autonomous and remote operations at scale,” Dean Barefield, Southern Company’s UAS program manager, said. “The waiver will help to unlock the true potential of autonomous and remote-based operations while increasing efficiency and reliability.”
These operations will be undertaken through the Skydio X2 and Skydio Dock, as part of a partnership with Skydio, a U.S. drone manufacturer. With these, Southern Company will be able to undertake remote-based monitoring and inspection of plant sites, substations and other fixed sites, which it said would increase efficiency of inspections, mapping and monitoring operations.
The waiver is conditions-based, and follows on another waiver issued in November 2022 that gave the company allowances for advanced BVLOS inspections at its Alabama-based Plant Barry, specifically.
“This national-scale approval enables the Southern Company system to conduct remote operations at critical infrastructure sites from Georgia to California,” Jenn Player, Skydio’s senior director of aviation regulatory affairs, said. “When it comes to scaling beyond visual line of sight operations, having an intelligent drone makes all the difference. Skydio was proud to support Southern Company in obtaining this approval that enables inspection and monitoring of critically important facilities.”
By turning to AI in this way, the companies noted that the drones will allow for more efficient, recurring inspections of critical infrastructure. Operators will be able to safely inspect infrastructure even in complex environments where less sophisticated drone technology might falter.
