Project Overview
Approved for funding through ERA’s Reshaping Energy Systems call in 2024, the project focused on the implementation of Condition Recognition Wireless Network (CRWN), a technology that provides continuous, real-time monitoring of transmission line defects using Internet of Things (IoT) devices. At completion in 2025, the project deployed 100 devices CRWN developed, monitoring approximately 10 km of transmission line in total, enhancing the reliability and efficiency of Alberta’s power transmission system.
Utilizing AI to Monitor Transmission Lines
The CRWN system utilizes AI-driven ultrasonic sensors mounted on transmission line structures to detect and classify defects related to electrical discharge, which contribute to power transmission inefficiencies and wildfire risks. Currently, the industry has no cost-effective way to monitor transmission lines in real time, so detailed inspections are limited to once every 8 years and rely on sparse weather-dependent estimations over large segments of their networks. Because inspections are so infrequent, efficiency losses and deteriorating equipment that are at high risk of causing a wildfire may go undetected and unmitigated for years. CRWN mitigates this challenge because it operates autonomously, offering utilities improved situational awareness of critical infrastructure. By applying machine learning to the sensor data, CRWN enables utilities to make proactive, data-driven maintenance decisions, reducing outages and improving the reliability of the grid.
Adapting Technology to Address Real-World Needs
While CRWN.ai initially set out to address electrical leakage caused by dirty or damaged insulators, collaboration with the utility partner revealed that the far greater operational and safety concern was wildfire risk resulting from insulators. As a result, the project pivoted to focus on detecting and predicting insulator degradation, leading to the deployment of 100 CRWN devices across two transmission lines and demonstrating strong value in real-time monitoring. Throughout the deployment of 100 CRWN devices — first Cricket 1.0 on 30 poles in September 2024 and then Cricket 1.2 on 70 poles in December 2024 — the technology was tested across a diverse set of insulator types, manufacturers, ages, and conditions, allowing meaningful comparisons and demonstrating its value in detecting conditions linked to wildfire ignition. The utility partner to the project expressed enthusiasm at CRWN’s ability to define new engineering standards and justify maintenance investments with quantitative data. Through this work, the organization learned the importance of adapting its technology to meet actual utility priorities and uncovered a significant market need for predictive capabilities.
What’s next?
At the end of the ERA project, CRWN was awarded a $1.5 million project in partnership with NorthX (formerly CICE) and Powertech to study the patterns and trends that lead to degradation of assets in a lab setting, effectively advancing CRWN’s capabilities from situational awareness to prediction. CRWN is refining its system for commercial readiness by enhancing sampling rates, improving hardware ruggedness, and expanding deployments with major utilities such as AltaLink, National Grid, and BC Hydro. Its future commercial product, PULSE, aims to scale this solution, delivering a powerful tool for grid modernization, operational efficiency, and substantial GHG emissions reductions.