Substation inspection robots in the UK: which robot suits which part of the site, and what the networks have learned

Yes, and the UK now has an operational example rather than only trials. On 4 September 2026 SSEN Transmission announced seven new inspection robots across its HVDC converter stations at Blackhillock, Spittal and Kergord and the Noss Head DC switching station, taking its fleet to eight. The robots come from UK maker Ross Robotics after three years of innovation work funded through Ofgem's Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) and Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). SSEN says the robots are expected to complete more than 5,000 autonomous inspections in the next 12 months, and that its trial captured the first thermal and ultraviolet images from energised HVDC halls on its network.

The reason is set out in SSEN's earlier NIA project, AIM High: HVDC valve halls are inaccessible to staff when energised, static cameras do not give full visibility of gauges and floor-level equipment, and condition monitoring had been periodic and required a shutdown. National Grid has trialled Boston Dynamics' Spot at its UK interconnector converter sites, including North Sea Link at Blyth, using visual, thermal and acoustic imaging and LiDAR. UK Power Networks trialled a four-legged robot in cable tunnels and shafts, starting near its Leicester Square substation. All figures here are the operators' own statements, not Forge results.

These are approaches, not named products. On an indoor hall with good floors a wheeled or tracked robot is often the simpler choice, and the platform SSEN has deployed is a tracked design rather than a legged one. Legs earn their place where the route includes gravel, kerbs, trenches, stairs or cable basements.

Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and the operator's safety rules

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require work on or near electrical systems to be done so as to prevent danger, and network operators run their own safety rules, authorisations and approach distances on top. A robot on a substation is operated within those rules, not outside them. Its route, its exclusion zones and its behaviour if it loses localisation must be set so it never enters an area a person would not be permitted to enter unaccompanied, and the person supervising it needs the right authorisation for the site. Where a site's rules would require a person to be escorted, assume the robot's operator is covered by the same rule until the safety rules owner says otherwise.

Site security

The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 set duties on network operators for the safety and security of their equipment, including substations. A patrol-capable robot can add evidence to security monitoring, but gates, fences and signage remain as they are. Where a robot patrol is part of a monitored security service, the monitoring and response are delivered through an accredited security partner under their own certifications. See robot security patrols.

Cyber security for connected robots

Electricity is an essential service under the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018, and substations are operational technology. A robot that connects to a maker's cloud from inside a substation is a question for the operator's OT security team before it is a question for anyone else. That is why we insist the robot runs without the maker's cloud in the command path and stays on its own private network. However the robot is connected, findings pass outwards only: nothing we set up sends switching or control commands to substation systems.

A radiometric thermal camera for joints, clamps, bushings, transformer bodies and cable terminations, because heat is the earliest common sign of a failing connection. A zoom camera for gauges, oil levels, SF6 density indicators, breaker position flags and signage. An acoustic imager or ultrasonic microphone for the sound signatures of discharge and gas leaks. A UV or corona camera where discharge on insulators matters, as SSEN's trial showed on HVDC equipment. LiDAR for mapping and repeat-position capture. On the industrial quadrupeds these are payloads or configurations: Spot Cam 2 on Spot with thermal and 25× zoom; the pan-tilt unit on ANYmal with zoom, thermal and an ultrasonic microphone. Every payload adds weight against the robot's rating and must be rated for the weather.

On a network, a finding is only useful when it becomes a record in the system that owns the asset: an enterprise asset management or planned maintenance system, a condition monitoring or historian platform, and sometimes the control room's alarm view. Most robots report into their maker's app, so each finding has to be noticed there and re-entered elsewhere.

Forge Anvil is the integration software we are developing for this job: carrying the robot's findings into the systems a team already uses. On a substation, the pattern we would scope looks like this:

Which systems, formats and approval steps apply is set in the integration review for the site. The general patterns are in our guide to integrating a robot with the software you already run, and how Anvil is designed to work is on the Forge Anvil page.

Start with one site and one route, ideally where equipment is inaccessible while energised or where routine rounds mean long drives and lone working. Choose the robot form from the table above, then the platform from its published ratings. Involve the safety rules owner and the OT security team before the robot arrives. Agree the measures:

Include an exit condition, for example if the robot cannot hold its route near energised equipment. That is how we structure a pilot programme, and a platform can come through a demonstration, hire, Robotics-as-a-Service where offered, or supply through Forge where that fits.

On funding: Ofgem's NIA and SIF are available to licensed network companies, not directly to suppliers or private HV site owners; suppliers take part as project partners with a licensee. For private sites, grant or innovation funding can sometimes contribute towards a suitable pilot, depending on eligibility and the schemes open at the time; it is never guaranteed and is assessed before a pilot is scoped.