Offshore

Novel drone tech to inspect offshore wind turbines while spinning

Novel drone tech to inspect offshore wind turbines while spinning
(Image credit: Quali Drone)

The AQUADA-GO innovation project is developing drone technology with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to inspect wind turbine blades at sea, while the blades are still spinning.

Project partners include renewable energy company RWE, researchers from DTU Wind and Energy Systems, Danish start-up Quali Drone, and Energy Cluster Denmark.

Currently, rotor blades are inspected manually by crews sent out to offshore wind farms by vessel. The turbines have to be stopped during the inspection while the technician inspects the condition of the blade.

This new technology will allow for the inspection of offshore wind and turbine blades to be automated.

The partners have already developed the algorithms that can help the drone identify any damage on the surface of the blades, as well as potential fractures beneath it.

The drone is fitted with a thermal camera that can scan the subsurface layers for damage, which is not possible through the current industry practice of manual inspections.

AQUADA-GO has a total budget of DKK 17 million ($2.3 million) and has received DKK 7.3 million ($1 million) in funding from the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme (EUDP). The project is expected to run from 2023 until the end of 2025.

The drone technology will be tested on land to see if the drones will be able to follow the blades around as they rotate. The technology will then be tested offshore at Rødsand 2 offshore wind farm, operated by RWE since 2010 and located south of the Danish Island of Lolland.

Jesper Smit, CEO of Quali Drone said, “For us, the project is about changing the whole perception of how to inspect wind turbine blades. We expect that artificial intelligence and drones can prevent the need for downtime of the turbines, by fully automating the inspection. This means greener energy for the benefit of the climate and less ships with technicians needing to be sent offshore. It’s a complex task, but we expect to solve it through this project, and we anticipate that the demand for our concept will be very high.”

Xiao Chen, associate professor at DTU Wind and Energy Systems and technical project manager for the AQUADA-GO innovation project believes this technology could help save at least 50% of the cost of inspections in the future, as well as reduce the carbon footprint for the wind industry’s inspection work.

Originally published by Kamogelo Motse in Power Engineering International.

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