How Axpo Group is Enhancing Hydropower Plant Monitoring using Autonomous Drones in Swiss Alps

Axpo Group manages numerous hydropower facilities throughout the Swiss Alps, operating in challenging mountainous terrain where traditional inspection methods involve sending personnel on foot into hazardous environments. The company serves as an essential pillar of Switzerland's renewable energy infrastructure, producing over 60% of its electricity from hydropower sources.

During one of the NextGen '25 sessions, we spoke with Klaus Liedtke, Project Manager, and Anna, Digital Innovation Trainee at Axpo Group, Switzerland's largest sustainable energy producer with over a century of experience operating power plants. As pioneers in the Swiss energy sector, Axpo established the country's first hydropower plant and continues leading in innovation with their Hydro 4.0 initiative to digitalize hydropower operations.

Here's what they had to say about transforming their inspection operations with autonomous drones 👇

"Traditionally, our inspections involved sending people by foot into harsh environments. This was time-consuming, risky, and inefficient," said Klaus Liedtke, Project Manager at Axpo Group.

Operating hydropower facilities in the Swiss mountains presents several significant challenges:

• Hazardous Terrain: Regular inspections require personnel to navigate snowy, steep, and remote mountain areas, creating significant safety risks.
• Resource Intensive Travel: Remote water catchments and reservoirs are located up to half an hour's drive from main facilities, with additional hiking required, making inspections extremely time-consuming.
• Weather Vulnerability: Harsh Alpine conditions including heavy snowfall and avalanche risk can prevent timely inspections during critical winter months.
• Data Consistency: Traditional visual inspections lack standardization and don't create persistent records for comparison over time.

While drone technology offered potential solutions, implementing it across Axpo's operations presented its own hurdles. "Drone flying seems easy, but when you integrate it into health and safety protocols, you need to ensure pilots are trained, regulations are followed, permits are secured, and technical innovations are evaluated," explained Liedtke.

After evaluating various options, Axpo implemented a drone-in-a-box solution that could operate autonomously in remote mountain locations. The system includes:

• DJI Dock 2 base station positioned next to a water reservoir in Graubünden, Switzerland
• DJI Matrix 3DT drone equipped with high-resolution cameras
• FlightHub 2 software platform for mission planning and execution
• FLARM air traffic awareness system for aviation safety
• Mobile data connectivity via nearby Swisscom antenna

The solution enables fully automated drone missions to inspect water catchments, monitor snow levels, and provide real-time situational awareness during emergencies such as avalanches—all without requiring personnel to travel to these remote locations.

The autonomous drone system follows a streamlined operational workflow:

• Mission Planning: Operators remotely program inspection routes targeting specific water catchments, snow stakes, or other infrastructure.
• Automated Deployment: The drone automatically exits its dock, performs pre-flight checks, and begins its mission without requiring on-site personnel.
• Safety Monitoring: Throughout the flight, the system monitors:
  • Air traffic via FLARM integration with SafeSky platform
  • Weather conditions through onboard sensors
  • Mobile data connectivity for maintaining control link
• Data Capture: The drone collects high-resolution imagery from multiple angles of water catchments and other critical infrastructure.
• Autonomous Return: Upon mission completion, the drone returns to the dock, where it recharges and transmits collected data.
• Data Analysis: Images are analyzed by hydropower plant operators, with critical findings entered into Axpo's inspection management system.

Axpo approached the implementation through a structured proof of concept starting in October 2024, focusing on four evaluation criteria: usability, technological capabilities, regulatory compliance, and economic feasibility. The implementation team installed the drone dock at a strategic location overlooking a valley with multiple water catchments in the Graubünden region, approximately half an hour's drive from the main power plant. The regulatory process required creating a specific operations risk assessment and obtaining permits from Switzerland's Federal Office of Civil Aviation. A key requirement was monitoring 50% of air traffic participants in the operational area, which led to the implementation of a FLARM-based air traffic awareness system integrated with the SafeSky platform used by helicopters and paragliders operating in the region. ‍

"We wanted to gain hands-on experience with drone-in-a-box solutions at hydropower plants, so we decided to directly install a dock at a power plant throughout the winter," said Anna, Digital Innovation Trainee at Axpo Group. "During this winter, the hydropower plant fully operated this dock on a regular basis."

The implementation of autonomous drone technology has delivered several significant benefits for Axpo's hydropower operations:

• Time Efficiency: Eliminated half-hour drive times and hazardous hiking required for routine inspections of remote water catchments.
• Enhanced Safety: Reduced personnel exposure to harsh winter conditions and avalanche risks by enabling remote visual assessments.
• Emergency Response: Provided nearly instant situational awareness during critical events like avalanches without risking worker safety.
• Improved Data Quality: Established consistent, high-quality visual records of infrastructure conditions, enabling better trend analysis and predictive maintenance.

"The biggest benefit comes from saving time-intensive and tedious travel distances," noted Anna. "This goes hand-in-hand with saving important time in case of an emergency. If there's an avalanche and the dock isn't covered, we can get almost instant first insights into the situation."

With the proof of concept nearing completion in March 2025, Axpo is finalizing its evaluation to determine next steps for deploying drone-in-a-box solutions more broadly across its hydropower infrastructure. The team is exploring alternative software platforms with enhanced user friendliness and data security features. Future expansion plans include:

• Evaluating drone-in-a-box implementations at Axpo's nuclear power plants, which present different regulatory and operational requirements
• Testing applications within Axpo's grid infrastructure division
• Developing solutions for the dock's winter operation, including heating mats or metal barriers to prevent snow ingress
• Working with software providers to improve return-to-home functionality for regulatory compliance in mountainous terrain

"We are open to any kind of proof of concepts throughout Switzerland," said Anna, highlighting Axpo's commitment to continue advancing drone technology across their operations.

Axpo Group's implementation of autonomous drone technology demonstrates how traditional energy infrastructure can be modernized through digital innovation. By deploying drone-in-a-box solutions in challenging Alpine environments, Axpo has improved operational efficiency, enhanced worker safety, and created a more consistent approach to critical infrastructure monitoring.

‍"If you want to implement a solid proof of concept for drone or drone-in-a-box solutions, we now have significant expertise in this area," said Klaus Liedtke. "The main best practice is to go on-site and observe how people actually use the technology—don't tell them how they should use it. See how they use it, and then you can explore improvements."

Q1. How does a drone-in-a-box solution improve hydropower plant monitoring in mountainous regions?

Drone-in-a-box systems eliminate the need for personnel to travel to remote, hazardous locations by providing automated aerial inspections of water catchments, reservoirs, and snow conditions. This reduces travel time by hours per inspection while increasing personnel safety in avalanche-prone areas.

Q2. What regulatory requirements must be addressed for autonomous drone operations in Switzerland?

In Switzerland, drone operations follow European aviation laws and require a specific operations risk assessment (SORA) and location-specific permits from the Federal Office of Civil Aviation. For Axpo's implementation, they needed to demonstrate 50% monitoring of air traffic participants and compliance with altitude restrictions.

Q3. How do autonomous drones operate in harsh winter conditions like heavy snowfall?

Axpo's implementation includes mounting the drone dock on a pedestal to prevent snow buildup around the dock doors and is exploring heating mats to prevent snow accumulation. The drones operate within manufacturer-specified temperature and wind limitations, with missions scheduled around favorable weather windows.

Q4. What is the return on investment for implementing drone-in-a-box solutions at hydropower plants?

While exact ROI figures are still being finalized in Axpo's proof of concept, the primary returns come from reduced personnel travel time (saving hours per inspection), improved worker safety (reducing accident risks and associated costs), and faster emergency response capabilities that can prevent infrastructure damage during avalanches or other weather events.