Xinjiang power grid embraces smart patrols

Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Lu Fengbao) news: With a "whoosh," a drone shot up from the ground into the sky. On the afternoon of August 30, 2026, Zhang Bo, a safety officer of the live-line work crew at the Urumqi Operation and Maintenance Branch of Xinjiang Power Transmission and Transformation Co., Ltd, piloted a drone toward the top of a transmission tower. The drone darted up to the tower's summit and wove through the gaps between power lines, precisely inspecting every piece of equipment.

The footage captured by Zhang Bo was transmitted in real time to the large screen at the Aviation Patrol Center of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. With the lens zoomed in and the frame frozen, every detail — insulators, clamps, and connector fittings — was clearly visible.

This is now routine for power grid inspections in Xinjiang. Since 2018, Xinjiang's power grid has introduced drone-based inspection equipment and technologies, freeing frontline workers from the old practice of "trekking through sand" and shifting to intelligent, drone-enabled patrols. Over more than seven years, the region has forged a path from "human patrols" to "smart patrols."

Photo shows Chen Hui, Deputy Manager of the Northern Xinjiang Operation and Maintenance Branch of Xinjiang Power Transmission and Transformation Co., Ltd., operates a drone to inspect power transmission lines. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Lu Fengbao)

"It used to be entirely reliant on human labor — a single line patrol could take three or four hours, with only binoculars and a camera at hand," Zhang recalled.

Xinjiang's vast territory, long transmission lines, and complex terrain posed huge challenges for traditional manual inspections — lines were too long, terrain too rugged, and many areas inaccessible by vehicle or even on foot. Patrol crews often had to hike dozens of kilometers, working in extreme heat, severe cold, and sandstorms, with low efficiency, high risks, and many blind spots. "We were always worried about missing something or not covering everything," said Zhang.

With the growth of Xinjiang's power industry, inspection work reached a "smart inflection point." In 2018, the Aviation Patrol Center of State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. was established, and three-dimensional drone-based inspections gradually replaced traditional ground patrols, bringing transformative changes.

The Center is the first provincial-level professional aviation patrol organization within the State Grid system and currently the largest power-aviation operation unit in Xinjiang. From the outset, it set a clear goal: to move traditional manual line patrols into a new era of intelligent, unmanned autonomous aerial patrols.

Starting from scratch, the team introduced equipment while cultivating talent, accumulating experience through repeated test flights, commissioning, and optimization. Through sustained technological breakthroughs and equipment upgrades, the Center was the first to achieve full autonomous drone inspection coverage for all 110 kV and above airworthy transmission lines across Xinjiang — covering a total of 70,000 kilometers of transmission lines — and resolving the pain points of manual inspections in complex terrains such as Gobi deserts and steep mountain canyons.

Chen Hui, deputy manager of the Northern Xinjiang Operation and Maintenance Branch of Xinjiang Power Transmission and Transformation Co., Ltd, explained that patrol personnel operate drones on site to conduct fine-grained inspections, rapid fault identification, infrared thermometry, and corridor scanning, with all footage transmitted back to the support platform in real time.

The drones generate tens of thousands of images; manually screening them would be a monumental task. The Center employs an AI system to automatically compare and analyze the transmitted images — completing the review of a single image in 15 seconds — and can autonomously identify line defects. "Which bolt is loose, which insulator is damaged — it's all clear at a glance," Chen said.

From manual foot patrols to autonomous drone operations and AI-assisted defect recognition, Xinjiang's energy sector is leveraging technological innovation to cultivate new quality productive forces. The shift has not only reduced physical labor but also significantly improved inspection quality and efficiency.

"Inspection efficiency is now four to six times higher than traditional manual patrols, while effectively mitigating risks associated with live-line work at height and greatly reducing operation and maintenance labor costs and outage-related losses," Chen added.

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