Tuesday 30th April 2024, Heimdall Power reached another important milestone in the company’s history.
Since conducting our first-ever customer installation by drone on a freezing winter day in December 2022, we have done a fast-growing amount of drone installations for multiple customers, taking it to point where most of the units we now sell are installed by drones.
To kick-off of our groundbreaking Dynamic Line Rating project with Great River Energy, the largest Dynamic Line Rating project in the U.S. to date, the first sensor of the project was this week installed by our unique Autonomous Drone System, on a live 115kV line located nearby the headquarters of Great River Energy in Maple Grove, MN.
Building on our solid European track record, the whole process went smooth from start to finish, with the installation completed in less than three minutes.
More than 20 people from media, Great River Energy, Heimdall Power and two Minnesota PUC staff members witnessed the installation, which concluded to rounds of applause following the successful completion. The installation has already been covered by multiple Minnesota media outlets like KARE11, WCCO and Star Tribune, who were present on-site.
Read more: Heimdall Power launches largest Dynamic Line Rating project in the U.S. with Great River Energy
Great River Energy’s Vice President and Chief Transmission Officer Priti Patel said:
“Great River Energy is optimistic about the benefits these sensors can provide for us and the 1.7 million customers served by our 27 member-owner cooperatives. Using innovative technologies like this will help us meet our clean energy goals cost-effectively and continue to provide low-cost electricity to Minnesota and the region.”
Jørgen Festervoll, CEO of Heimdall Power, was also present at the installation site, and shared the following remarks:
“This is a landmark moment for Heimdall Power, and I am super proud and happy to see that we are now bringing the European success of our drone installation system to the U.S. market. Drone installations are the fastest, safest and most cost-effective way to deploy Dynamic Line Rating sensors. Making it available for our customers here in the U.S. is a big step forward to ensure easy roll-out of our Grid-Enhancing Technologies.”
Right after conducting this initial installation, our drone-team went on to install another Neuron for Great River Energy on a 230kV live line.
Interested in learning more about our autonomous drone installation system, and what makes it unique? Click here!
