Nigeria to deploy drones to protect electricity transmission equipment

A drone used to illustrate the story
A drone used to illustrate the story

The Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, says it will deploy drones to check vandalism of its transmission lines and equipment  in the country.

The TCN Managing Director, Atiku Abubakar, said this why fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday.

“We still have issues of vandalism and as a company, we have gone to the extent of proposing the use of modern technologies, to help us monitor and know the status of our lines, who is interfering with our line?

“We have just considered in our last tender board meeting, the use of drones to ply our lines, where we feel there are issue of vandalism.

“That is a technology we are going ahead with and we believe it will   help  to alert us on  any possible case of vandalism that is likely to  happen on to our line.

“We are also looking forward  to the cooperation  of  the  National Assembly  so that they can promulgate  laws  to  deal with  vandalism of critical infrastructures, I know that  is being contemplated.”

He said the vandalism of transmission equipment and lines was responsible for the collapse of some of its transmission lines in the country.

On the utilisation of the released stranded containers at the port, comprising transmission equipment, Mr. Abubakar said that the first batch of the equipment had been deployed to sites for the completion of the projects.

He said that efforts were being made to secure the releases of stranded TCN containers at the ports.

He said that the release of the containers would facilitate the speedy completion of the critical transmission projects in the country.

(NAN)

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  • Rommel

    There is a better and cheaper way of monitoring pipelines and that is costs of the drones and repairs on vandalized national assets should henceforth be deducted from the funds due to each state where such damage occurs

  • VERITAS_ the rock of ages_

    There are better ways. This wont work because the drones they plan to use have a 20 minutes operating power and a short signal range.

    • Rommel

      And how do you know this,is it because PT has shown you the picture of what verticopter drones look like that you assume it must be this? typical of most Nigerians who see the world only in binary concepts,sad. Surveillance drones are exactly what they are called, surveillance drones and many can be airborne for more than 24hrs

      • VERITAS_ the rock of ages_

        i knew about this because my brother proposed this to them about two years ago. He’s a pilot and was Nigeria’s youngest pilot when he graduated from aviation school at 16+. but we dont like fame in our family so we never told nigeria. did you know they wanted to use helicopters before? and How i know the drones they will use wont last long. they will probably go for the drones made by the NAF. now let me tell you all a secret. NAF didnt invent shit. They assembled a drone costing about $78k you can buy from robot shop which is same place i buy my actuators, micro-controllers and electric motors for many robots i build. NAF drone flight flight time is 3 hours only. yes there is only one private drone company in the world with a UAV for non military use that flies for over 55 hours and has a range of over a 100km. i know because i have Nigeria dealership rights. other drones that fly longer are called UAV and these class are The predator etc. Right now i have a mini drone i am building on my table as we speak. so Rommel i am not talking shit. You meant to ask me how do i know the drone they plan to use wont work? rather than just attack me. Rommel there are areas you know more than me and if you check i upvote you when such areas appear in reports here, but i doubt you know about robotics more than me. That was my 1st degree. and its what my company does. Ps drones are not UAV’s. UAV’s has longer flight time and operators signal distance.

        • Rommel

          You are right,I cannot ascribe all knowledge to myself and have not attempted to, I only try to be rational so I imagine that it would make no sense to deploy the kinds of drones you described earlier and I also know that we do have some smart asses in some govt departments,only problem is corruption

        • Impulse400

          You dont like fame… but you can boast. I am jealous shaaa. I only have a plate of amala, abula and ogúfe on my table as we speak.

          Demmit…!!!

          • VERITAS_ the rock of ages_

            Worry not. All will be well and Nigerians will eat well. Many of us are working hard on things we know will reduce poverty yearly by 20%. I dont boast i just talk about things i do so people can have hope knowing there are many Young Nigerians like me working to assist diversify our economy. You guys should join us. Dont be jealous ok its a big sin.

          • Impulse400

            Joining you will mean crossing a gap. I am not ready to take bullshit from USA embassy.

            Not that I wont love to join your activities by replicating same here, its just that, at N500-$1… “I do notice that I am not my father and its hard for me.” (lol)

          • VERITAS_ the rock of ages_

            I am in Nigeria. I travel out and back, but mostly here is where we are setting up our chop shop and R&D lab.

  • Please, let TCN avoid another white elephant project by using drones to protect Transmission Lines. These devices are better used for maintenance purposes to make the work of linemen safer, more efficient and less expensive, according to the Electric Power Research Institute.

    If we adopt drones for protection, they don’t guarantee 24hours surveillance as they have less than an hour operating time.

    Please let TCN improve Power quality to distribution companies, address the aggregate technical and commercial losses on our network.

    Thank you.

    • VERITAS_ the rock of ages_

      Gbam. Please can you help me tell Rommel this too. I said same thing and he attacked me.