SkySpecs has completed an automated drone inspection of blades on the 32 MHI Vestas V164 8MW turbines at Orsted’s 258MW Burbo Bank 2 offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea.
Orsted said that using drones reduced the time time taken to inspect the blades to about 20 minutes from two hours previously.
The turbines stand 195-metres above sea level and have 80-metre long blades.
Orsted senior technical project lead David-Lee Jones said: “Bigger turbines have certainly helped in the rapid cost reduction we’ve seen in offshore wind, but also means we face new technical challenges in terms of inspecting and maintaining the turbines.
“Providing consistent image quality across the largest turbines offshore requires consistency from the drone. This was the purpose of our work with SkySpecs.
“We really wanted to validate that their technology could provide the type of precise and robust inspection capabilities that Orsted expects.”
SkySpecs chief technology officer Tom Brady said: “We are pleased that we’ve helped Orsted move ahead with their goals. As an organisation, we are committed to applying robotic solutions to solve challenges faced by renewable energy.
“We’re helping owners craft their predictive maintenance strategies with a mountain of blade data and analytics tools that help them understand the health of their fleet.”
Image: Burbo 2 (reNEWS)
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