sees.ai earns broad UK BVLOS drone inspection e-grid approval

Specialized drone services company sees.ai has obtained what it describes as unprecedented authorization to conduct routine beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) inspections of live overhead electricity infrastructure in the UK.

Sussex-based sees.ai says its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) permission clears the way for regular, open-ended BVLOS drone inspections of live powerlines and supporting infrastructure across two specific sites for client National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). The startup foresees that authorization being broadened to the rest of NGET’s UK assets after demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of its work at the initial locations.

Read: Skydio earns ‘unprecedented’ BVLOS authorization across Japan

Though sees.ai – which has been working closely with the CAA in its Regulatory Sandbox project since 2019 – earned initial BVLOS inspection approval of industrial sites two years ago, it says the…