A new company has been set up with the aim of providing onshore and offshore wind services by leveraging robotics and other technologies to carry out blade inspections and repairs.
Tethys has been established by Mike Newman, from Pelergy, and Jamie Allan, from Allan Panthera.
The company said it aims to fill a gap in the market as a service provider to wind asset owners and operators and “only offers innovative solutions which have been independently validated and are commercially viable”.
The company said this will save wind farm owners and operators time and money that would otherwise be spent on assessing and testing multiple novel solutions from various new companies.
The start-up is in negotiations with an offshore wind turbine manufacturer and said it will provide more details on the collaboration in due course.
Tethys has already secured a partnership agreement with Aerones for blade inspection, repair and maintenance services.
The Aerones robotics technology is up to five times faster than conventional rope access, helping reduce turbine downtime, said Tethys.
The technology also removes the need for people to work at height, making it a safer approach to turbine and blade maintenance.
Tethys said: “One major gain is the ability to roll out a solution across the fleet in multiple locations or geographies to achieve quicker benefits at scale and simplified supply chains.
“This avoids each wind farm or region pulling an organisation in different directions and working with competing solutions.”
Newman has over 10 years in wind energy technology development and service delivery.
He has supported turbine manufacturers, utility companies, innovation centres and high-tech firms on product development and new technology integration.
Allan has over eight years in global energy, including over five working within the onshore and offshore wind sector, where he brought “disruptive operations and maintenance solutions” to major end users such as ScottishPower, Equinor, and SSE.
He is a mentor for the ORE Catapult Launch Academy.
Allan and Newman said in a joint statement: “Having met each other on a UK Government trade mission to China and discovering our shared skills and interests, we are excited to now present Tethys and offer the industry a trusted service providing innovative, but crucially, proven, O&M solutions.
“With our track record of validating disruptive technologies and commercialising them in the wind industry, we will take care of everything allowing the end users to be exposed to minimal risk and hassle whilst enjoying maximum benefit and cost reduction.”