How can Cyberhawk help you to achieve your ESG goals?

We share, manage and analyse visual data with our customers to help them achieve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals:

• Keep people safe
• Prevent wildfires
• Reduce carbon emissions
• Manage renewable infrastructure

Cyberhawk is the world leader in visual data collection and inspection for the management of critical infrastructure and capital projects.

We combine visual data, collected from drones, with cloud-based analytical software, called iHawk. Together, the powerful visual intelligence solution can optimise asset reliability, and ultimately protect people and the environment.

Keeping People Safe

Traditional asset inspection was reliant upon technicians working in hazardous areas. Today, robotics and autonomous systems are being deployed into these high-risk environments - instead of the technician taking a calculated risk.

In 2021, Cyberhawk saved their customers over 84,000 manhours of working in hazardous areas* by using drones. It's clear that drone inspections can capture more in-depth data, safely, and in considerably less time, than conventional methods.

Our approach reduces the need for rope access technicians working at height, onshore and offshore. For example, drone teams can inspect structures, such as overhead electricity powerlines and flare stacks, without the need for anybody to work at height. Our skilled drone pilots can even safely inspect the underdeck of an offshore platform, without the need for rope access technicians to rappel into the dangerous ‘splash zone’.

"It’s not just about preventing people from working at height.
Drone inspections can prevent technicians from entering confined spaces."

Drone inspections can keep technicians from entering confined spaces and Cyberhawk has conducted countless inspection work scopes inside industrial storage tanks, onboard FPSO tanks and even inside wind turbine blades.

Furthermore, drones offer the capability to survey environments that are too high risk for technicians to approach. For instance, Cyberhawk’s drone teams have captured topographic information to assess coastal erosion and landslide risks in the aftermath of severe storms. Our pilots fly the drone from a safe location and gather data on the vulnerable area out of harm's way.

Wildfire Prevention

Electricity networks are increasingly vulnerable to adverse weather conditions due to climate change. In particular, aging infrastructure can degrade, and storm debris can damage overhead powerlines, which increases the likelihood of a wildfire if left undetected.

"Cyberhawk has been awarded for public safety and
wildfire prevention in the US."

In California, Cyberhawk inspected over 30,000 transmission towers in 2021. High volumes of inspection data are analysed using iHawk to support hazardous object detection and vegetation management. Identifying damaged components across their network and encroaching vegetation can help power grid operators to manage effective wildfire mitigation plans.

Do you want to learn more?
Read our blog which explores the adoption of drone-based inspections for wildfire prevention:

Reduce Carbon Emissions

Cyberhawk’s visual intelligence solution offers huge potential for carbon emissions reduction. Traditionally, power grid operators use helicopters to monitor the condition of transmission and distribution lines. However, drones capture more detailed visual inspection data than helicopters, often from unique angles, and the technique produces significantly fewer carbon emissions. It’s estimated that a helicopter would produce approx. 99,700 kg of carbon dioxide emissions, compared with 4,491 kg from a drone (during an inspection of 1,000 overhead transmission towers). In addition to this, Cyberhawk has introduced electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions even further when travelling to a site. 

"Emissions from helicopters are approx. 2,000% higher
when compared with drones."

Our cloud-based software can also drastically reduce carbon emissions on behalf of the customer. For example, iHawk is used to report on the status of major CAPEX construction projects and manage large geographically dispersed assets. In both cases, the ability to view the progress of a construction project, or the condition of an asset online, hugely reduces the need to travel for a site visit.

"Sharing information in this way removes carbon emissions associated
with travel and reduces what we call Site Tourism."

This has been achieved for one of the world’s largest capital projects with the construction of a giant chemical plant in Pennsylvania, USA. Globally dispersed teams at Shell were able to review project status online without the need to travel. In this short video, senior representatives from Shell discuss how iHawk has supported project teams to manage this mega construction project:

Manage Renewable Infrastructure

There is a global shift towards sustainable energy. Asset owners are investing more in renewable power generation and the associated infrastructure it requires.

Cyberhawk has unrivalled experience in inspecting wind turbines, externally and internally, both onshore and offshore. Drone inspection is considerably safer and faster than conventional rope access techniques. In one example, Cyberhawk was approached by SSE Renewables to carry out an internal blade inspection on over 60 onshore wind turbines. A work scope of this scale would normally take rope access technicians months to complete, however, Cyberhawk’s drone team completed the internal inspection in just 12 days.

In addition to working at height, internal blade inspections occur in very tight and often poorly lit conditions. Together, these factors pose a real threat to technicians if they were to suddenly require urgent medical attention, after entering the crawl space.

Cyberhawk supports the infrastructure required to transport renewable energy, generated from remote areas to its urban destination. We use drones to record the topographic information and help to plan the construction of new substations and overhead powerlines. Drones are used to monitor these massive construction projects on a regular basis, including monitoring their condition after completion in iHawk, and ensuring they remain fully operational.

Learn more about how we can help you to achieve your ESG goals:

*SOURCE: Cyberhawk ESG Report 2022.