Kazakhstan continues its large-scale digital transformation of the energy industry. The Ministry of Energy is deploying artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor energy facilities. These new digital solutions have already accelerated infrastructure inspections, automated defect detection, and enhanced industrial safety without risking personnel, reports infohub.kz.
The work is part of the Year of Digitalization declared in Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Energy is prioritizing modern technologies to boost the reliability of energy infrastructure, production efficiency, and worker safety.
"One of the key areas of digital modernization is the use of artificial intelligence and drones," the ministry said. "These new tools are employed for automated inspections of power lines, transformers, chimneys, coal yards, and hydraulic structures."
The ministry explained that AI analyzes drone-collected data, detects potential defects early, and provides recommendations for remediation. This approach allows for rapid identification of problems before major failures occur.
"Digitalization has a particularly noticeable effect on inspections of power lines and energy equipment. Using drones reduces inspection times by a factor of 5 to 10 compared to traditional methods," the ministry noted.
Another example is chimney inspections. What previously took several days now takes about two hours, eliminating the need for dangerous high-altitude work and significantly improving personnel safety.
Digital technologies are also applied to coal stockpile management. Aerial imagery generates 3D models of storage yards, and AI automatically calculates fuel volumes with up to 99% accuracy.
"Thanks to automation, data processing time has dropped from several days to just 20 minutes, enabling much faster access to up-to-date information and more agile decision-making," the ministry shared.
A separate digitalization focus is monitoring hydraulic structures. This uses aerial photography and thermal imaging data to detect structural integrity issues early and take preventive measures against technological risks.
The Ministry of Energy notes that deploying AI and digital monitoring enhances the reliability of energy infrastructure, production efficiency, and industrial safety.
The development of such solutions aligns with the ministry's push for digital transformation. Further implementation of intelligent systems is expected to make energy facility operations more efficient, safer, and more technologically advanced, strengthening the resilience of Kazakhstan's entire energy infrastructure.