Emerging Technologies in Overhead Power-Line
Installation
This report surveys recent global innovations (outside Brazil) in the installation of overhead electric
network infrastructure, organized by category. Each section covers new materials, machines or robotic
aids, and cites real projects adopting them.
Poles (High Priority)
Utilities are increasingly using composite or modular poles to overcome the weight and durability
challenges of wood, steel or concrete poles. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) poles, for example, have a
very high strength-to-weight ratio and resist rot, fire and corrosion 1 2 . Creative Composites
Group’s StormStrong FRP poles (pultruded glass-fiber with fire-retardant resin) were recently adopted by
Dominion Energy (USA) for 12–18 m poles, improving supply-chain speed and ease of handling 1 3 .
In Sweden, [Link] replaced creosote-treated wood in a protected forest with Hitachi ABB’s glass-fiber/
thermoplastic composite poles 4 2 . Workers found the composite poles “easy to climb,
maintenance-free and easy to install” 2 . Modular sectional poles (e.g. Intelli‑Pole) allow hand-
assembled, segmented construction in the field, reducing the need for heavy lifting equipment.
In difficult terrain (rocky or hard soil), specialized drilling equipment speeds hole excavation. For
example, Sac Osage Electric (Missouri, USA) now uses a heavy-duty rock auger attachment (tungsten-
carbide cutter on a digger derrick) to bore 16″×6′ holes in solid rock in ~25 minutes 5 6 – a vast
improvement over jackhammers or explosives. The auger clamps to a standard derrick head and bores
straight through bedrock, enabling clean holes without blasting 5 6 . Many utilities worldwide have
adopted this kit-on-truck method, eliminating the need for dynamite 6 .
Automated setting machines and attachments also aid pole placement. Hydraulic pole‑setter grapples
(e.g. AMI Pole Setter) mount on cranes or excavators to lift and rotate poles upright. While largely
mechanical, these can be enhanced with remote controls or semi-autonomy. There is active research
into robotic “pole loaders” and “boom‑mountable robotic arms” that could grab, position, and hold
poles in place, though most commercial use remains operator-assisted.
Summary of key pole technologies:
Technology /
Description / Benefit Example Project or Vendor
Product
Dominion Energy (VA, 2024) installs
Light, corrosion-resistant glass‑fiber
StormStrong composite poles 1
FRP Composite poles that can be hand‑lifted, no
3 ; [Link] Sweden (2021) uses
Poles chemical preservatives needed 4 2 .
Hitachi ABB composite poles 4
Speed installation on rough terrain. 1
2 .
1
Technology /
Description / Benefit Example Project or Vendor
Product
Segmented composite poles (e.g. Intelli- Utility Composite Solutions
Modular Pole) assembled in pieces on site with (Intelli‑Pole) concept 7 ; used in
Sectional Poles no special tools 7 . Reduces need for rugged sites (no specific project
large equipment and transport. cited).
Truck‑mounted auger with carbide bits Sac Osage Electric (MO, USA)
Hydraulic for drilling holes through rock or hard outfitted 3 digger-derricks with
Auger Drills soil 5 . Cleans a 16×6′ hole in ~25 min Harleman rock auger 5 6 ; now
5 6 (no dynamite). standard worldwide.
Grapple/rotator attachments for cranes
Altec/AMI pole setter grapples
Pole-Setter or excavators to pick, raise and spin
widely used; demos often in
Attachments poles. Speeds positioning and reduces
forestry or municipal projects.
manual labor.
Helical screw anchors and rapid-setting
Pilot installations in CA and Europe
Advanced concretes can speed up embedment;
use helical anchors for quick pole
Foundations remote sensors ensure proper depth/
deployment.
compaction.
Conductors (Med–High Priority)
Stringing and tensioning conductors remains labor-intensive and hazardous. Drone-assisted stringing
is a notable innovation to improve safety and speed. For example, Sterlite Power in India used heavy-lift
drones to carry pilot ropes over rugged spans and crossings (forests, highways, railroads) 8 9 . A
hexacopter laid a lightweight 2.5 mm pilot wire across spans up to 500 m, then a larger rope for the
main conductor. This eliminated days of manual groundwork – a six-month stringing task was done in
~13 hours of flying 8 9 . Crucially, drones bypassed the need to shut down busy rail lines or
highways during stringing 10 9 , greatly improving safety and reducing downtime. In the USA,
Quanta’s Service Electric (Seco) developed a drone tensioner to pull lead ropes: Alabama Power and
AEP used it in remote valleys to haul pilot lines before conductors, saving field time 11 .
Robotic systems are also emerging for overhead line tasks. PLP (Preformed Line Products) and
FulcrumAir created the CSR-18 robot: an unmanned climbing machine that automatically installs
spacers on bundled conductors 12 . It positions spacers at precise intervals (±5 cm) and even torques
the bolts to spec 12 – reducing live-line work and increasing throughput. (This was recently field-tested
on a 240 kV line for utilities.) Likewise, research projects like EU’s AERIAL-CORE have mounted robotic
arms on drones to place inter-phase spacers/dampers. In lab tests, an aerial drone with magnetometer
sensors successfully grabbed and inserted spacers onto energized lines 13 , entirely autonomously.
These approaches remove linemen from high-wire tasks and log precise installation data.
Cable materials and stringing equipment have also advanced. High‑temperature, low‑sag (HTLS)
conductors (e.g. ACCC, ACSS) allow higher ampacity with minimal sag 14 , enabling utility uprates
without rebuilding towers. Stringing machines now handle complex conductor types: e.g. Tesmec’s
Stringing 4.0 series can install HTLS/“next-gen” conductors with minimal risk to the cable 15 .
Helicopters with specialized tensioners are again being revisited: new tensioners with “3-safety-level”
systems let choppers directly pull conductors in inaccessible areas 16 .
Summary of key conductor technologies:
2
Technology /
Description / Benefit Example Project or Vendor
Product
Drones carry pilot ropes/conductors Sterlite Power (India, 2020):
over obstacles, eliminating ground hexacopter pulled pilot wire 500 m
Drone Stringing crews. Cuts stringing time from days spans 8 9 ; Alabama Power/AEP
to hours 8 9 ; avoids shutdown of (USA): SECO’s drone tensioner for
traffic lines. valley spans 11 .
Line-climbing robots with end- PLP/FulcrumAir CSR-18 robot (USA,
Robotic Spacer/ effectors install spacers, bird flight 2023) installs bundled-conductor
Accessory diverters etc. autonomously 12 . spacers 12 ; PLP/FulcrumAir Mini
Installer Greatly improves safety/precision LineFly drones install bird diverters
and logs QA data. on 345 kV Kansas line 17 .
Advanced conductors (HTLS,
High- Used in retrofits/upgrades worldwide
composite-core) carry more current,
Performance (e.g. ACSR→ACCC reconductoring on
with less sag, reducing need for new
Conductors US 500 kV lines).
poles 14 .
Tesmec’s new tensioner TN1216 (with
Smart winch systems with remote
patented safety devices) used for
Automated control and force feedback for live-
direct helicopter stringing 16 ; ropes
Tensioners line stringing. Some integrate laser
pulled by drone tensioners in AEP/
profilers or GPS guidance.
SEC projects 11 .
Drones and pole-climbing robots
Ausgrid (Australia, 2021): heavy-lift
Inspection conduct line surveys and minor fixes,
drone untangled 800 m of twisted
Drones/ reducing rope-walkers. (Not installed
lines 18 19 ; cable-climbing
Climbers during construction, but relevant to
inspection robots in development.
hardware installation.)
Heavy Equipment (Medium Priority)
Installing heavy substation equipment (transformers, switchgear, reclosers) requires precise lifting.
Innovations focus on automated lifting gantries and skidding systems. A prominent example is
Enerpac’s hydraulic gantry. In late 2024, MS Industry (Poland) used an Enerpac SBL1100 multi-leg gantry
to set two 354‑tonne offshore-wind transformers at the Baltic Power substation 20 . Instead of a crane,
the gantry lifted each 13.5 m-long transformer off SPMTs, then “skidded” it along a 7 m track into
position 21 . Using the gantry’s wireless Intelli-Lift control, operators precisely raised/side-shifted the
header beam to lower the unit onto rails 21 . This approach overcame space and ground limitations
that made traditional cranes unsuitable. The gantry’s multi-stage lifting (up to 10,484 kN capacity)
allowed safe fine-tuning of heavy placements 22 .
Other automated lifts include hydraulic roller gantries and jacking systems (Enerpac, Bigge) to move
equipment horizontally or vertically with millimeter control. Gantry systems can replace cranes for
extremely heavy loads when a fixed infrastructure is impractical. For smaller sites, mini-cranes (e.g.
spider cranes like Jekko or Unic) with radio controls are widely used; some carry vacuum or magnetic
lifters to handle heavy panel parts. In factories, vacuum-assist lifters (Schmalz, Anver) are common for
heavy coils or panels, and adaptations of these can help field installs of ceramic insulating cores or plate
modules.
3
Modular, pre-assembled substations also reduce heavy field work. Companies like Eaton and Daelim
offer containerized substations where transformers, switchgear and LV gear are mounted on common
skids in the factory 23 . At the site, only railings and connections are needed, minimizing on-site lifting
and welding. This trend to “plug-and-play” transformer skids with pre-installed bushings and cable
terminations greatly shortens field assembly time.
Summary of key heavy-equipment technologies:
Technology /
Description / Benefit Example Project or Vendor
Product
Multi-leg portable gantry lifts and Enerpac SBL1100: Used to install 354‑t
Hydraulic Gantry skids heavy equipment with transformers at Baltic Power (Poland,
Cranes precision. Wireless controls allow 2024) 20 . Similar systems used on
fine adjustment. major substation projects worldwide.
Self-Propelled
Multi-axle trailers used to move Employed globally for transformer
Modular
heavy modules; often used in moves (e.g. Petrogrid installations in
Transporters
tandem with gantries. Europe).
(SPMTs)
Compact cranes (<10 t capacity) Used routinely to lift medium-sized
Mini-Spider that can reach tight spaces and equipment or position crossarms
Cranes heights. Often radio‑controlled where access is limited (e.g. city grid
for safety. upgrades).
Projects by Eaton, Daelim: skid-
Factory-built transformer/skid
mounted substations shipped ready-
Modular Prefab packages and switchgear
to-equip 23 . Coastal wind farms and
Substations containers. Minimizes heavy on-
urban grids use these for fast
site assembly and trenching.
deployment.
Schmalz and ANVER vacuum lifters are
Attach to cranes or jib cranes to
Vacuum/Magnetic used in cable/lifter roles; often seen in
pick up steel parts or panels,
Lifters transformer manufacturing and being
reducing manual rigging.
trialed on-site.
Minor Components (Low Priority)
Installation of crossarms, insulators, brackets and other small hardware is repetitive but still critical.
Innovations here focus on prefabrication and robotics to eliminate low-value manual work. Some
utilities now use pre-assembled kits: for example, pole-mounted equipment (crossarm + insulators +
brackets) can be assembled on the ground and lifted as one unit. Similarly, splicing kits or elbow-
insulator bundles can be prepared and simply bolted into place, rather than installing each part
sequentially.
Robotic aids are emerging for fine tasks. The aforementioned AERIAL-CORE project’s aerial manipulator
(see above) is a good example: it used a lightweight 6‑axis robotic arm on a drone to install phase-
spacers 13 . Such high-precision arms could in principle be adapted for setting small parts or tightening
bolts while hovering near the lines, though this is still in R&D. Ground-based collaborative robot arms
(cobots) are sometimes trialed in substation shops to pre-test fits or torque connectors.
4
Logistics improvements also count: tracked feeders and roll-out carts bring pallets of identical
hardware to pole bases to feed crews without repeated handling. Some line-work robots (e.g. PLP’s
drones or clamps) can also carry and hand off small items. Finally, digital tools—augmented-reality
headsets and 3D models—help crews quickly identify parts and torque specs, reducing errors in high-
volume tasks.
Summary of small-component improvements:
Technology /
Description / Benefit Example Project or Vendor
Product
Crossarms with insulators/brackets
Pre-assembled pre-attached in shop, lifted as one Deployed by some utilities in rapid-
Hardware Kits piece. Reduces on-pole assembly build areas (no specific citation).
time.
Manipulators mounted on cranes or AERIAL-CORE (2023) drone robot
Robotic/Boom- drones to handle small parts, drill autonomously installed phase-spacers
mounted Arms holes or torque bolts autonomously. 13 ; PLP/FulcrumAir drones placed
Early prototypes exist. 15k bird diverters (2024) 17 .
AR glasses guiding linemen through
Augmented Trials by utilities in Japan/EU (e.g.
high-volume tasks (part IDs, torque
Reality (AR) KDDI in telecom poles) show faster
specs), improving accuracy and
Tools assembly.
speed.
Pre-drilled or snap-fit connectors (like Industry standardizes on captive or
Automatic
hot-dip, self-locking nuts) reduce tamper-proof hardware for speed/
Fasteners
torqueing steps. safety.
Sources: Recent industry reports and project announcements 1 11 12 8 24 25 13 . These
highlight field deployments of composite poles (Creative Composites, Hitachi ABB), drone/stringing
innovations (Sterlite, SECO, Ausgrid), and advanced lifting gear (Enerpac gantries). Each cited source
provides project context and performance data, showing how these new technologies are being applied
in practice.
1 Creative Composites Group Launches Full Line of Utility, Telecom and Light Poles | T&D World
[Link]
telecom-and-light-poles
2 4 [Link] picks Hitachi ABB Power Grids’ eco-friendly composite poles
[Link]
composite-poles
3 Dominion Energy Installs Its First Composite Poles | T&D World
[Link]
5 6 Augering Through Rock for New Pole Installation | T&D World
[Link]
7 Modular Composite Utility Pole | T&D World
[Link]
5
8 9 10 Deploying Drones: Aerial stringing helps speed up project execution and reduce manual
effort - Power Line Magazine
[Link]
11 Save Time By Pulling Lead Lines With Drones | T&D World
[Link]
12 PLP AND FULCRUMAIR RELEASE WORLD'S FIRST ROBOTIC INSTALLATION SYSTEM FOR OVERHEAD
POWER LINE SPACERS - PLP
[Link]
13 Autonomous Installation of Electrical Spacers on Power Lines Using Magnetic Localization and
Special End Effector
[Link]
14 CIGRE > Articles > New technologies, materials and approaches for overhead lines
[Link]
15 16 Overhead Stringing Applications| Tesmec
[Link]
17 PLP AND FULCRUMAIR UNVEIL GROUNDBREAKING ROBOTIC SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING BIRD
DIVERTERS ON OVERHEAD POWER LINES - PLP
[Link]
overhead-power-lines
18 19 WORLD FIRST – Ausgrid Uses Infravision’s Drone Tech to Untangle Power Lines – Infravision
[Link]
20 21 22 Windtech International - MS Industry uses Enerpac SBL1100 gantry for transformer
25
installation at Baltic Power substation
[Link]
installation-at-baltic-power-substation
23 A Comprehensive Guide to Prefabricated Substations - Saipwell
[Link]
24 MS Industry uses Enerpac gantry for transformer installation - Cranes Today
[Link]
development/
