National Grid begins rollout of centralised autonomous drone inspections with sees.ai
The utility moves sees.ai drone inspections from trials into routine transmission-network operations.
National Grid announced a national rollout of centralised autonomous drone inspections on 4 September 2025, using technology from sees.ai. Drones will inspect live transmission infrastructure while pilots manage missions from a central control room. The contract follows four years of trials and moves the system into routine operations.
The drones capture images of pylons and conductors across England and Wales, supplying data for maintenance and investment decisions. The service complements helicopter inspections and field engineers’ work, allowing lineworkers to focus on tasks requiring direct physical intervention. Autonomous flight and central supervision are combined within the inspection workflow.
The rollout follows the Civil Aviation Authority’s October 2024 policy framework enabling beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights at low height close to infrastructure, where other aircraft are unlikely to operate. National Grid and sees.ai developed the capability alongside that regulatory work to support repeated inspections of geographically dispersed electricity assets.