In June 2020, SICAE de la Somme and the Nantes-based startup Sterblue, who builds the central platform for energy infrastructure inspections, signed a collaboration agreement.
This agreement will allow SICAE de la Somme to launch a drone inspection program to better monitor its assets. Sterblue Cloud platform and its artificial intelligence algorithms will also be deployed in order to easily manage the tens of thousands of data and images generated daily by these inspections.
Thanks to this program, SICAE de la Somme plans to set solid foundations for the digitalization of its entire inspection process (including by helicopter or walking tour for example).
“We are extremely happy to support SICAE de la Somme in this structured and ambitious project. Our software solution have shown significant gains in the safety and performance of electrical networks in the past, and SICAE de la Somme is on the way to becoming one of the most advanced electrical network managers on these aspects ” Geoffrey Vancassel , CEO at Sterblue
By combining the aggregated inspection results from Sterblue Cloud with other existing data and tools (weather, network load, vibration, Scada, etc.), SICAE de la Somme expects a leap forward in the management and security of its distribution grid network in order to limit as much as possible the outages for its customers.
"The vast drone inspection and centralized management of inspection data programs will enable us to gain efficiency and strengthen the quality of the services we offer our customers. We have initiated an effective collaboration with Sterblue and have noticed the clear differentiation of their centralized inspection platform for distribution networks. So it seemed natural to move forward with them through this agreement between our 2 companies.” Christophe Dufour, Network and Strategy Director at SICAE de la Somme
The program was launched at the beginning of summer 2020 (with 100km to inspect, planned for the month of July alone) and should gradually increase in load over the next few months with additional modules offered by Sterblue, such as the management of vegetation around the lines with the use of satellite and drone imagery.
"Remarkably the project was validated and ratified during the confinement period, with a real desire from SICAE de la Somme to continue exploring more ambitious projects" concluded Geoffrey Vancassel.
