Deutsche Windtechnik is using drone technology for periodic inspections of the rotor blades at the Butendiek offshore wind farm off Germany.
At the beginning of June, the company started to carry out a large-scale offshore inspection campaign using automated drone technology.
The deployment included the periodic inspection of the rotor blades at the Butendiek site, which is fitted with 80 Siemens SWT 3.6-120 wind turbines.
The approach was made possible by advancements in drone technology as well as new specifications from the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), which allow remote optical inspection procedures in addition to tried-and-tested rope access technology.
“Using our drone at the Butendiek offshore wind farm, we were able to verify that a drone can save a significant amount of time compared to the conventional rope access technique. This has significantly reduced the downtimes of the turbines during inspections,” said managing director of Deutsche Windtechnik’s offshore unit Jens Landwehr.
The DJI M300 RTK drone had previously been upgraded with customised camera and sensor technology during an extensive engineering process so that it could carry out the rotor blade inspections at the Butendiek offshore wind farm.
“Using drone technology to inspect rotor blades enables us to get a more complete picture of the entire exterior of the rotor blade compared to conventional rope access technology,” said rotor blades team lead Tobias Bläs.
“In addition, the ability to determine the exact location of possible damage as well as the support provided by the software help to precisely document the development of the damage, and this can be very helpful for the assessment.
“The economic advantages due to the shorter time required for the procedure and the resulting shorter downtimes make this method a suitable alternative to rope access technology in many cases.”