Energy 3 min read
Energy: underwater and aerial inspection of critical assets without stopping operations
Every hour of downtime in generation and transmission has a price. ROVs and drones measure without shutting anything down, and RETIE already requires documented right-of-way evidence.
In generation and transmission, every hour of unavailability has a market price. Energy asset inspection is moving towards a simple logic: measure often, without shutting anything down. In the case of transmission lines, this is not just good practice: RETIE (Colombia’s Technical Regulation for Electrical Installations) requires periodic maintenance of the right-of-way with documented evidence.
Under water
Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) make it possible to review what used to require divers, shutdown windows and extensive permits:
- Dam walls, gates and intake screens.
- Submerged pipes, diffusers and outfalls.
- Sedimentation in reservoirs and its effect on live storage.
- Anchors and seabed structures.
In Colombia, this monitoring is not governed by a technical regulation dedicated to dams (unlike other countries that do have a single instrument of that kind). What exists is oversight by ANLA (Colombia’s National Environmental Licensing Authority) through its evaluation group for Energy, Dams, Reservoirs, Water Transfers and Impoundments (SELA), which monitors hydropower plants, dams and reservoirs according to each project’s Environmental Management Plan or Environmental Licence, both during construction and in operation. In practice, this means monitoring commitments (frequency, parameters, thresholds) are defined project by project in the licence conditions, not in a single generic regulation. The operational outcome is the same: a model comparable across campaigns that shows corrosion, scour and sediment build-up with metrics, ready to support compliance with those conditions before the environmental authority.
In the air
Above the surface, flights with thermal and visual cameras cover:
- Transmission lines, insulators and hot spots in connections.
- Substations and transformers with periodic thermography.
- Solar parks: detection of faulty modules by thermal signature.
- Rights-of-way and vegetation encroaching on the corridor.
This last point is not only failure prevention: it is a concrete regulatory obligation. RETIE (Reglamento Técnico de Instalaciones Eléctricas, Resolución 9 0708 de 2013 of the Ministerio de Minas y Energía, Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy), in its article 22, establishes that every overhead transmission line with a nominal voltage equal to or greater than 57.5 kV must have a safety zone or right-of-way, and that the line’s owner or operator must make periodic use of that right-of-way for maintenance and vegetation pruning, leaving evidence of it. It does not specify the exact frequency (that is left to the operator’s technical judgement) but it does require the record to exist and be verifiable.
A periodic flight with geolocated, dated evidence is, literally, the kind of record that article asks for. The difference between complying with RETIE in a defensible way or not often comes down to whether that file exists and can be consulted when needed.
Why combining both matters
An energy asset rarely fails in a single domain. A reservoir with growing sedimentation changes how the turbines operate; a corridor with encroaching vegetation raises the risk of a trip in the same week demand rises. When aerial campaigns, underwater campaigns and plant sensors live in separate repositories, nobody sees the relationship.
The operational answer is to unify: one timeline per asset, with all sources and defined thresholds. When an indicator crosses its threshold, an alert with evidence is generated, not an email with attachments.
Indicators worth tracking
| Indicator | Suggested frequency | Decision it enables |
|---|---|---|
| Substation thermography | Monthly | Predictive maintenance of connections |
| Right-of-way and vegetation (RETIE art. 22) | Quarterly | Preventive pruning, evidence for inspections |
| Reservoir sedimentation | Every six months | Dredging planning and live storage |
| Submerged structure integrity | Annual | Scheduling of major interventions |
Frequently asked questions
Is it mandatory to inspect a transmission line’s right-of-way?
Yes. Article 22 of RETIE requires the owner or operator of overhead lines of 57.5 kV or more to make periodic use of the right-of-way for maintenance and vegetation control, and to leave evidence of it.
Does Colombia have a specific dam safety regulation?
There is no single technical regulation dedicated to dams as in other countries. Monitoring is done through the conditions of each project’s Environmental Licence or Environmental Management Plan, evaluated by ANLA.
How often should a substation be flown?
The regulation does not set an exact frequency. Industry practice recommends monthly thermography to detect hot spots before they lead to failure.
If you want to discuss a campaign plan for your assets, write to us at hello@bluberri.io.