Key Point of President's Regular Press Conference

May 2026 Regular Press Conference : President Hayashi's Message

May 26, 2026
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.

I will be discussing the following matters today:
- Chubu Electric Power Grid's Digital Transformation Initiatives

Chubu Electric Power Grid's Digital Transformation Initiatives

Centered on our energy business, our group is vigorously and flexibly advancing digital transformation (DX) to address social challenges through the sustained implementation of cutting-edge technologies across the entire group.
By leveraging digital technologies and data to simultaneously advance "business transformation" and "customer service transformation," and by creating new value and transforming our business structure, we aim to contribute to our customers' sustainable development—including the enhancement of stable power supply and the realization of a decarbonized society—and to grow together with society.
Today, we will introduce how Chubu Electric Power Grid is utilizing DX in the maintenance of its power distribution facilities to enhance operations, improve efficiency, and increase resilience.

Background of Our DX Initiatives

Much of the power distribution infrastructure that provides a stable daily supply of electricity to local communities was constructed during the period of rapid economic growth. As this infrastructure ages, there is growing concern that the risk of equipment failure will increase.
At the same time, the labor shortage caused by a shrinking workforce has become a major social issue. Within the power industry, securing personnel to maintain the equipment that supports a stable power supply has become a serious challenge.
Under these circumstances, to continue ensuring a stable power supply, it is essential not only to systematically replace aging equipment but also to carry out current maintenance operations reliably and efficiently. Consequently, there is a need to secure new talent and streamline maintenance operations.

Development of Automated Transmission Facility Inspection Technology (POWER GRID Check)

Since 2020, in collaboration with Senshin Robotics Co., Ltd., we have been developing "POWER GRID Check," an application that utilizes drones to perform automated inspections of overhead transmission facilities.
This application enables an end-to-end process, from capturing images of overhead power transmission facilities via automated drone flight to automatically analyzing the images for abnormalities and managing the data. We are currently implementing this system in the maintenance operations of Chubu Electric Power Power Grid.

Benefits of Introducing Automated Power Transmission Facility Inspection Technology

In conventional inspections, for example, it took five workers approximately four hours to inspect a single transmission tower. However, by using this application, the inspection can be completed in about 40 minutes by just two people—a drone operator and a supervisor—resulting in significant labor savings.
Furthermore, since workers can perform inspections without climbing the towers, safety during inspection operations is improved.
Additionally, this enables highly reproducible inspections regardless of the worker's experience level.
Going forward, we plan to expand the scope of application beyond overhead transmission facilities to include distribution facilities, thereby realizing autonomous and consistent inspection operations for the entire power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Drone-Based Substation Inspections

Currently, all approximately 1,000 substations within the Chubu Electric Power Grid service area are operated and managed unmanned.
As a result, it used to take considerable time to verify on-site conditions in cases such as when a failure occurred at a remote substation or when large-scale disasters prevented access to the site.
To address this, we aim to install automated drone takeoff and landing ports on the rooftops of substation buildings and other locations, enabling remote operation of drones from headquarters, branch offices, and other distant locations to conduct inspections.
Furthermore, in emergencies such as large-scale disasters, we will obtain permission from the Civil Aviation Bureau to conduct beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights day and night, enabling a rapid response.

Benefits of Drone Utilization

This initiative enables rapid response using drones to conduct on-site inspections of remote substations during emergencies, thereby contributing to enhanced resilience.
It can also be utilized for routine inspections, reducing the need for field personnel to travel to the sites.
Starting in the second half of this fiscal year, we will begin a pilot program for routine inspections at the Nishi-Nagoya Substation, and we are considering expanding operations to major substations—specifically transmission substations—in each area starting in fiscal year 2027.

"Condition Monitoring and Maintenance System" for Substation Equipment

Substations house equipment such as "transformers," which convert electricity sent from power plants to the appropriate voltage for customer use, and "switchgear," which safely cuts off the power in the event of a disaster or accident.
Inspections of this equipment must be conducted periodically by shutting down the equipment, and until now, there has been no way to prevent sudden failures before they occur.
Chubu Electric Power Grid has developed a "Condition Monitoring Maintenance System" designed to monitor equipment status in real time, detect early signs of failure, and prevent sudden failures before they occur. This system has been installed on approximately 27,000 circuit breakers at the company's transmission substations.
The introduction of this system has made it possible to perform necessary inspections at the optimal time, thereby preventing sudden failures before they occur.
In addition, by reducing maintenance workloads, the company has achieved annual cost savings of approximately 200 million yen.
We plan to complete the installation of this system on all switchgear units at distribution substations by the end of this fiscal year.
Furthermore, we plan to expand the scope of application to transformers and aim to install the system on all transformers at grid substations by fiscal year 2027.

Conclusion

The drone applications and DX technologies for equipment condition monitoring described above are currently being provided to customers through "&Conote," a consulting service designed to solve customer equipment-related challenges.
Our group will continue to actively leverage DX to ensure a stable power supply, advancing the social implementation of new technologies, including the advancement of equipment maintenance operations.
This ends my presentation.