Southern Company — an energy provider — in partnership with Skydio, has been granted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conditions-based waiver enabling remote-based, autonomous beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) dock operations across its system.
The BVLOS waiver allows the Southern Company system to conduct remote-based infrastructure monitoring and inspection at plant sites, substations, and other fixed site locations, which enables more efficient inspections, mapping and monitoring.
The Southern Company system will conduct these BVLOS operations using Skydio X2 and Skydio Dock. Skydio’s artificial intelligence technology enables operators to safely inspect infrastructure in close proximity to structures and in complex environments.
The Southern Company system was previously granted a waiver in November 2022, that allowed for advanced BVLOS operations using UAVs to map and inspect stacks, transmission lines and basins at Plant Barry in Bucks, Alabama. This waiver granted the company the ability to conduct recurring inspections of its system’s critical infrastructure.