{"id":34845,"date":"2026-04-14T00:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=34845"},"modified":"2026-04-14T00:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T00:34:13","slug":"tennessee-valley-authority-selects-tecnam-p2012-smp-to-safeguard-power-grid-for-10-million-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/international-news\/tennessee-valley-authority-selects-tecnam-p2012-smp-to-safeguard-power-grid-for-10-million-people\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Valley Authority Selects Tecnam P2012 SMP to Safeguard Power Grid for 10 Million People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tecnam is proud to announce that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is successfully operating the Tecnam P2012 \u201cSentinel\u201d Special Mission Platform (SMP) to protect and maintain its vast electricity grid. Equipped with cutting-edge Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and high-resolution multispectral cameras, the P2012 SMP is transforming how TVA evaluates threats to transmission lines across its network.<\/p>\n\n\n

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LiDAR system – Credit : Megan Plotka<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The primary threat to the region\u2019s power system\u2014the backbone that allows local utility companies to provide electricity\u2014comes from large trees and vegetation. To mitigate these risks, especially ahead of severe weather seasons, TVA utilizes the P2012 SMP to conduct an annual survey of its infrastructure. The advanced onboard systems create precise 3-D models of the earth\u2019s surface and comprehensive topographical maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aerial program, fully implemented in 2025 following five years of research, has yielded staggering efficiency gains. While traditional ground crews can survey up to five miles of transmission corridors a day, a two-pilot crew in the P2012 SMP surveys approximately 450 miles a day\u2014a 90-fold increase in productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying at 120 mph, the P2012 SMP captures data at an astonishing rate of three and a half acres per second. The system\u2019s resolution is so powerful that it can zoom in on a single leaf, giving TVA unparalleled situational awareness to identify vegetation growing into the right-of-way before it causes an outage. Out of the TVA\u2019s 16,500 miles of transmission lines, more than 5,000 miles are part of this critical vegetation management cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pilot and operator at the console – Credit
: Megan Plotka<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Francesco Sferra, Tecnam P2012 \u2013 Special Mission Platforms Sales & Business Development Manager, commented on the success of the program: \u201cThe P2012 SMP was engineered exactly for this kind of demanding, high-endurance aerial work. Seeing the TVA utilize the aircraft\u2019s exceptional payload capacity, stability, and twin-engine reliability to seamlessly integrate complex LiDAR and camera systems is a true testament to the platform\u2019s versatility. We are incredibly proud that Tecnam aircraft are playing a vital role in keeping the lights on for 10 million people while significantly enhancing the safety and efficiency of TVA\u2019s operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program not only protects critical infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and nursing homes from outages, but it also significantly reduces maintenance costs, allowing TVA to reinvest in infrastructure for fast-growing regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to inspect much faster, much safer, with a great level of detail,\u201d added Will Sanders, TVA Right of Way Program Manager. \u201cWe really support our people so that they\u2019re able to get out there and make decisions on what is a real threat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tecnam is proud to announce that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is successfully operating the Tecnam P2012 \u201cSentinel\u201d Special Mission Platform (SMP) to protect and maintain its vast electricity grid. Equipped with cutting-edge Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and high-resolution multispectral cameras, the P2012 SMP is transforming how TVA evaluates threats to transmission lines across […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Tecnam-TVA.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34849,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34845\/revisions\/34849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}