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Use case · Grid

Drone security for electrical substations and grid assets

At a large transmission or distribution substation, a drone-in-a-box can patrol the perimeter on a schedule and fly to an alarm location on command, so the control room sees the scene before a crew is sent. Geofences keep it away from energised equipment, and everything runs on site without internet.

Substations are usually unstaffed and fenced, and they are full of valuable copper. Many sit on the edge of towns or in open country. Grid operators face metal theft and, increasingly, deliberate attacks. A drone-in-a-box adds a mobile camera that can check an alarm from above without sending someone into the yard. Nestua's software platform is functional in development builds; the drone and base station are still being built.

  • Theft from substations is dangerous as well as costly: Irish network operator ESB reported injuries and deaths among intruders.
  • The CER Directive asks critical entities to consider perimeter monitoring and detection as part of physical protection.
  • A drone suits larger sites and clusters of sites, not every small secondary substation.
  • Polygon geofences keep the drone off busbars, lines and neighbouring land.

What security threats do European substations face?

Metal theft. Earthing straps, cable and transformer parts are stripped for scrap. In Ireland, ESB reported 43 break-ins at its substations in 2019, about double the level of 2017 and 2018, with around €100,000 of material taken. Several break-ins cut supply to an area. ESB also said some incidents caused serious injury and deaths among the intruders. Gardaí linked the rise to international gangs moving between countries.

Sabotage. On 9 September 2025, a targeted attack on pylons damaged two 110 kV lines feeding a substation in south-east Berlin. According to Stromnetz Berlin, about 50,000 customers lost power, and supply was fully restored on 11 September, around 60 hours later.

Regulation. The Critical Entities Resilience (CER) Directive (EU) 2022/2557 covers the energy sector. Article 13 requires critical entities to ensure adequate physical protection of their premises, "duly considering, for example, fencing, barriers, perimeter monitoring tools and routines, detection equipment and access controls". Member States must identify their critical entities by 17 July 2026.

Why do fixed cameras and patrols leave gaps at substations?

  • Many sites, few people. A network operator may run hundreds of substations. Mobile patrols visit each rarely, and a crew sent to every alarm is expensive.
  • Blind spots in the yard. Transformers, gantries and control buildings block fixed camera views, and cable trenches run outside the fence.
  • Safety. After a break-in, the yard may contain damaged, live equipment. Sending a person in before anyone knows what happened is risky.

How would a drone-in-a-box patrol work at a substation?

One Nestua edge node controls one drone. The control room or a local operator uses the browser cockpit, which shows a live map with the drone's position, heading, flight trail and satellite view, plus mission and geofence overlays.

  • Patrol routes. The mission editor builds waypoint routes around the fence, over access roads and along cable routes outside the yard. Missions are uploaded, started and stopped from the browser, and every action is audited.
  • Alarm verification. When the intrusion system alarms, an operator sends the drone to that location with a go-to command and watches low-latency WebRTC video, with HLS as a fallback. A command counts as executed only after the drone's MAVLink acknowledgement, with retries and timeouts. Integration with your specific alarm system is a project question.
  • Geofences near HV equipment. Polygon or circle no-fly zones can exclude the energised yard, overhead line corridors and neighbouring property. A breach blocks the command or triggers return-to-launch.
  • Detection rules. YOLO-based person and vehicle detection runs on the NPU of the on-site NXP i.MX 8M Plus edge computer. AI rules can notify, record, hover or return to launch. All rule actions respect safety policy and geofences, are rate-limited and are logged. The system does not identify individuals.
  • Command discipline. Admin, operator and viewer roles; typed confirmation for critical commands; a time-windowed or emergency-only policy if you want the drone used only in defined situations.
  • Evidence. Local ring-buffer recording with clip export, telemetry history with admin-set retention, and an exportable event journal for incident reports.

Why does offline-first matter for grid assets?

Grid operators are cautious about connecting operational sites to third-party clouds. The NIS2 Directive (EU) 2022/2555 lists electricity distribution and transmission system operators in Annex I. Its recitals call for an all-hazards approach that includes theft and unauthorised physical access.

Nestua's offline-first architecture runs flight control, video, detection and audit on the edge node, inside the site. Recordings are not uploaded off-site unless you enable it. If you do want remote monitoring from a central control room, the optional cloud uses a WireGuard tunnel with HMAC-signed commands per node, and MFA or SSO for users. Remote control stays off until an admin re-authenticates to enable it. A confirm-local mode can require someone on site to approve remote commands. These controls are designed to support NIS2 and CER obligations; they are not a certification.

What drone rules apply near substations and power lines?

  • Specific category. Automated beyond-visual-line-of-sight patrols fall outside the EU open category. They normally require an operational authorisation based on a risk assessment under Regulation (EU) 2019/947, Articles 5 and 11.
  • Geographical zones. Member States can restrict or condition flights in defined zones (Article 15). In Germany, § 21h(3) LuftVO covers the area over and within 100 m of central energy generation and distribution facilities, and flights there generally need the facility operator's consent. Other countries set their own zones; check with the national authority.
  • Electromagnetic effects. Strong fields near HV equipment can affect compasses and radio links. Your risk assessment should cover them, and route planning should keep sensible distances.
  • Privacy. Substations next to homes or roads need care. The EDPB advises filming only your own premises where possible and keeping footage only as long as needed.

See EU drone regulations for more detail. This page is general information, not legal advice.

What should a grid operator evaluate?

  • Which sites justify a resident drone (large or remote substations, hubs near several assets) and which do better with fixed detection.
  • Drone behaviour near HV fields, and the separation distances in your geofence plan.
  • Flight time, night imaging, and wind and temperature limits. Ask for evidence.
  • Integration with your SCADA-adjacent alarm systems and control room, and network segregation.
  • The authorisation route with the aviation authority, and who acts as UAS operator.
  • Your remote-access policy: local-only, remote-view or remote-control, and who approves.
  • How the system fits your CER risk assessment and resilience plan.

Sources

FAQ

Substation drone security questions

Can a security drone fly inside an energised substation?
It is generally safer not to. Geofences can exclude the energised yard and overhead line corridors, so the drone observes from the perimeter and access routes. Any flight plan near HV equipment belongs in the operator's risk assessment and authorisation.
Does the CER Directive require drones at substations?
No. Article 13 of Directive (EU) 2022/2557 asks critical entities to ensure adequate physical protection and gives examples such as fencing, perimeter monitoring tools and detection equipment. A drone is one possible tool, not a requirement.
Can the system run without any connection to the internet?
Yes. In Nestua the full control plane, video, detection and audit log run on an on-site edge node. The cloud is optional and only adds remote monitoring and fleet features, and remote access is disabled by default.
Does the drone identify the people it detects?
No. The edge AI detects the object classes person and vehicle so an operator can verify an alarm. It does not do face recognition or biometric identification.
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