Drones in energy and industry: sensitive sites, hazardous facilities and networks
Buy — €15 Contents and free extract
VAT included · secure Stripe payment · instant access: by paying you request immediate access to the digital content and acknowledge you lose your right to cancel.
C-DRONE GUIDE · 6 OCTOBER 2026
Drones in ATEX areas: zoning, certified kit and real options
"Do you have an ATEX drone?" The question comes up in almost every tender from a petrochemical site, a flour mill or a biogas plant. The honest answer is rarely yes, and that is rarely a problem. Drones certified for explosive atmospheres exist, but they are rare, limited to zone 2 and expensive; most jobs are done another way. Here is how to reason, zone by zone, and who decides what.
Published on 6 October 2026 — regulations in force as of September 2026.
Two directives, two parties: the equipment and the site
"ATEX" covers two European texts aimed at different people. Directive 2014/34/EU targets manufacturers: it sets requirements for equipment intended for use in explosive atmospheres and, for surface industries (group II), sorts it into three categories — 1 (very high protection), 2 (high) and 3 (normal). Directive 1999/92/EC targets employers: in France it is transposed into articles R. 4227-42 to R. 4227-54 of the Labour Code. The employer divides into zones the places where an explosive atmosphere can form (article R. 4227-50) and records the analysis in the explosion protection document (article R. 4227-52).
A ministerial order of 8 July 2003 details the zoning:
- Gases, vapours, mists: zone 0 (explosive atmosphere present continuously or for long periods, typically inside a tank), zone 1 (likely to occur occasionally in normal operation, around a vent or a loading point), zone 2 (unlikely, and only briefly if it does occur, on the outskirts of installations).
- Combustible dusts: zones 20, 21 and 22, on the same logic (inside a silo, around a hopper, halls where dust may occasionally become airborne).
The mapping is direct: zone 0 or 20 requires category 1 equipment, zone 1 or 21 at least category 2, zone 2 or 22 at least category 3. The practical consequence for a client: the zoning belongs to the site, not to the contractor. The pilot never decides alone that a location is "safe"; they work from the zoning plan the operator provides, within the prevention plan described in our guide on hosting a drone mission on an industrial site.
Why an ordinary drone is an ignition source
A standard professional drone packs, into a few kilos, almost every ignition source an ATEX analysis tries to exclude. Brushless motors and their speed controllers switch high currents; connectors and wiring can spark when plugged in or on impact; motor and battery surfaces heat up in flight; carbon-fibre or plastic propellers move through air at high speed and can build up static electricity. Above all, the aircraft carries a lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery with high specific energy.
The reference review by Xuning Feng, Minggao Ouyang, Xiang Liu, Languang Lu, Yong Xia and Xiangming He, published in 2018 in Energy Storage Materials, describes thermal runaway in lithium-ion cells: it can be triggered by mechanical abuse (crushing, penetration), electrical abuse (overcharge, external short circuit) or thermal abuse, with internal short circuit as the common feature (see the study). For a drone, mechanical abuse has a name: a crash. A battery punctured on impact can release flammable gases and heat far beyond the auto-ignition temperature of many hydrocarbons — exactly the scenario no classified zone can tolerate.
Dust adds a specific, rarely mentioned risk: rotor downwash. A multirotor of a few kilos pushes a strong column of air downwards; over a floor or roof covered with flour, sugar, wood or grain deposits, it can lift settled dust back into suspension and locally turn a zone 22 into an explosive cloud. On flour mills, silos and sugar plants, this issue often weighs more in the analysis than the on-board electronics.
What an "ATEX certified" drone is really worth
Drones genuinely designed for explosive atmospheres can be counted on one hand, and France produced one of the first: the LE 4-8X Dual ATEX from Xamen Technologies, a company based in Pau, presented in 2016 as the first ATEX certified drone. It is an octocopter approved for zone 2 (gas), the result of eighteen months' work with the specialist consultancy CentrExpert: wooden propellers to limit static electricity, fully reworked electronics and wiring. Other projects followed, such as the K3 drone from the European ROGER programme, designed for zone 2 and presented at the Offshore Mediterranean Conference 2023. No multirotor can currently be used in zone 0.
Three points for a buyer or a client to watch:
- Category 3 is self-certified. For equipment intended for zone 2 or 22, Directive 2014/34/EU allows internal production control by the manufacturer itself; only categories 1 and 2 require examination by a notified body. "Zone 2 certified" may therefore mean a manufacturer's declaration, which is lawful but worth knowing.
- The marking says it all. Compliant equipment bears the Ex symbol, group II, its category, the letter G (gas) or D (dust), the protection type and the temperature class. Marketing labels such as "explosion-proof" or "intrinsically safe" without an EU declaration of conformity are worthless on a European site.
- The payload counts too. An added thermal camera or gas sensor must itself suit the zone; a certified drone fitted with a standard gimbal no longer is.
On the aviation side nothing changes: an ATEX drone remains subject to the open or specific category, operator registration and airspace rules, like any other.
The four real options for a job on a classified site
In the field, the question is not "ATEX drone or not" but "which option for this asset, on that day". Four set-ups cover almost every case:
- Fly outside the zone, at a distance. ATEX zoning is often limited to a few metres around vents, flanges and loading points. A 30x optical zoom or a thermal camera can document a stack, a tank shell or pipework while staying beyond the classified perimeter, with a margin set by the HSE department. This is the default option, described for a refinery in our guide on flare stack inspection in ATEX areas.
- Temporarily declassify the zone. During a shutdown, the operator isolates, drains, degasses or inerts the equipment, then measures the atmosphere with a gas detector before and during the work. Under a work permit, and often a hot-work permit, the zone can then be treated as non-explosive for the duration of the job.
- Fit the flight into a window with no release. For a zone 2, where an explosive atmosphere only exists in abnormal conditions, some sites accept a short flight when no loading or purging is under way, with portable gas detection and an immediate stop on alarm. That is the operator's decision, never the contractor's.
- Use certified equipment. Reserved for cases where neither distance nor declassification is possible, and limited to zone 2: supply is scarce and the cost shows it.
In every case, batteries are charged and stored outside the zone in a suitable container, and the lost-link procedure must bring the aircraft out of the classified perimeter, not to the nearest point.
Who does what, and 2026 prices
The split is clear. The site operator supplies the zoning plan and the explosion protection document, chooses the option (distance, declassification, window), issues the work permit and carries out the atmosphere measurements. The drone contractor provides the flight risk analysis (paths, margins to the classified perimeter, battery procedure, lost link), the technical sheet and, where relevant, the ATEX declaration of conformity for the equipment, as well as its site access qualifications. The client, if different (insurer, inspection body), fits the job into the shutdown schedule when declassification is needed.
Ranges observed in France in 2026, excluding VAT:
| Service | Observed price (excl. VAT) |
| Remote visual or thermal inspection, outside the classified zone | €700 to €1,800 |
| Enhanced HSE preparation (ATEX flight analysis, induction, permits) | €300 to €800 |
| Work during a shutdown, declassified zone | €1,200 to €3,500 per day |
| Job with a zone 2 certified aircraft | on quote, often above €3,000 per day |
These amounts depend mainly on the number of assets, the access qualifications required and site availability. The paid guide Drones in energy and industry: sensitive sites, hazardous facilities and networks details the standard file to hand to an HSE department, with a checklist of questions to ask about zoning. For a specific job, request a quote with the zoning plan for the area and the date of the next shutdown.
Frequently asked questions
Can a standard drone fly in zone 2?
Not on its own: a non-certified drone is electrical equipment that can create an ignition source, and the site operator, responsible for the zoning, decides. The usual route is temporary declassification of the zone under a work permit, with continuous atmosphere monitoring, or flying outside the zone at a distance.
How do I check a drone is really ATEX?
Ask for the EU declaration of conformity, the full marking (Ex symbol, group II, category, G or D, protection type, temperature class) and, for category 1 or 2, the EU-type examination certificate from a notified body. A marketing label saying "explosion-proof" proves nothing.