Drones Over the Taiga: Yakutskenergo Saves Millions With UAV Power Line Inspections
Yakutskenergo PJSC has begun making extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles to inspect its power grid. In just two months, the use of modern technology has already helped the utility save more than 30 million rubles (about $370,000).
Yakutia’s geography and natural conditions make conventional power grid inspections particularly difficult. Rugged terrain and the vast distances covered by high-voltage transmission lines make it impossible for field crews to conduct traditional ground inspections quickly.
Following the lead of utilities in other Russian regions, Yakutskenergo, part of RusHydro Group, has begun deploying UAVs on a broad scale. In April 2026, the company established a dedicated drone operations team and drew up an annual plan for aerial inspections of transmission lines. The company's staff began fieldwork in June.
Since then, the team has inspected key 35 kV and 110 kV trunk lines in the Amginsky, Khangalassky, Tattinsky and Churapchinsky districts, as well as in Yakutsk itself. In addition to assessing transmission line conditions, specialists checked temperature conditions at a substation in the Tattinsky power grid district and inspected insulators on one of the lines operated by the Borogonsky district power network. The team is also called in to investigate the causes of emergency outages.
UAVs offer several advantages. First, transmission lines do not have to be de-energized to keep personnel safe, avoiding the financial losses associated with outages. Drones can also provide a more detailed assessment of potential defects and the quality of completed repair work.
For Yakutskenergo, digital technologies deliver substantial savings, while consumers benefit from a more reliable electricity supply.
From Visual Inspection to Machine Vision
Yakutskenergo continues to expand its use of advanced technologies. The next stage is likely to move beyond conventional visual inspection of transmission lines by an operator. Russian power companies are already shifting toward comprehensive diagnostics, enabled both by hardware – equipping drones with laser-scanning, magnetic flaw-detection and thermal-imaging sensors – and by specialized software that analyzes the resulting data.
Data collected during UAV flyovers can be processed automatically, with machine vision and AI used to identify damage. RusHydro Group already has its own software suite, previously deployed to inspect hydraulic structures. Its use improved inspection quality by 90% and cut data-processing time fourfold.
Russia’s industry experience also has export potential. Integrated solutions combining unmanned systems, diagnostic equipment and specialized software for data processing and analytics could be offered in international markets, particularly in partner countries.
From Swiss Drones to Domestic Solutions
Rosseti was among the pioneers in using UAVs to inspect transmission lines in Russia. The idea emerged in 2016, followed by research and experimental development in 2017. In 2018, Rosseti conducted large-scale UAV exercises in the Tver region, and by mid-2019 drones were operating across all 20 regions where the company had a presence. Early trials used Swiss-made UAVs, but cooperation with Russian industry began almost immediately.
RusHydro began actively using UAVs in the early 2020s. Pilot projects were carried out on Sakhalin and in the Amur region, testing several types of aircraft – fixed-wing drones, multicopters and helicopter-type UAVs. From the outset, the company used Russian-developed systems.
Diagnostic methods continue to advance. Since 2024, Rosseti Center has been using a new hardware and software system developed by Vizorlabs LLC, a Skolkovo resident company. Its neural network analyzes high-resolution photographs and identifies defects with high accuracy.
Yakutskenergo’s deployment of UAVs for transmission line inspections is more than another example of digital technology entering the power sector. It is a practical case with a measurable economic impact of 30 million rubles (about $370,000) in two and a half months. Eventually, every district power network is expected to be equipped with drones, improving power supply reliability as advanced diagnostic methods become an integral part of the digital framework for managing the grid.
