Drone Volt Inaugurates its Powerline Center at Mortefontaine for HT Networks
The professional civil drone manufacturer has commissioned a facility combining testing, training, and operational deployment around its interventions on high and very high voltage electrical networks. This establishment is part of the development of its Powerline offering, just days after a series of strategic and financial announcements.
A Powerline Test Bench Installed at the UTAC Site in Mortefontaine
Drone Volt announced on September 10, 2026, the commissioning of the Drone Volt Powerline Center, located at the UTAC site in Mortefontaine (60), 30 minutes from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. The center brings together technology, testing, training, qualification, and operational preparation on a single site.
Installed during the summer, the Powerline test bench features 50 meters of line and can accommodate one to four conductors at adjustable heights reaching up to 13.80 meters. The device makes it possible to reproduce high-elevation configurations, with conductor inclination potentially exceeding 15%.
This infrastructure aims to reproduce field situations for testing, training, and demonstrations: flight in proximity to or in contact with conductors, placement of DLR (Dynamic Line Rating) sensors, use of probes, transport and positioning of equipment, or cable deployment by drone.
Training of Drone Pilots and Development of the Drone as a Service Offering
The center is also designed to train, instruct, and qualify specialized Powerline drone pilots before their intervention on operational electrical infrastructure. According to the company, this approach aims to strengthen safety, procedure mastery, and standardization of drone operations on electrical networks. Thanks to its proximity to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the site is intended to host drone pilots, network operators, and French and international partners.
The Drone Volt Powerline Center is also intended to support the development of Drone Volt Expert's Powerline Drone as a Service (DaaS) offering, by combining the LineDrone with test infrastructure, specialized drone pilots, and operational deployment capacity. The company presents this offering as integrated and designed for electrical network operators in France and internationally.
The LineDrone currently enables operations on networks up to 315 kV, with the next step being interventions on lines reaching up to 735 kV. Marc Courcelle, Chief Executive Officer of Drone Volt, indicates his desire to make this center an international reference for drone operations on high and very high voltage networks and to accelerate the deployment of the Powerline offering. The company stated that its half-yearly results will be published on September 16, 2026.
