Ørsted is deploying heavy-lift cargo drones at the Borssele 1 & 2 Offshore Wind Farm, which the company says marks a leap forward in efficiency and safety for the offshore wind industry.
The company is using the 70 kilogram drones, each with a 2.6 meter wingspan, to transport cargo of up to 100 kilograms to the farm’s 94 turbines.
Normally, a vessel would sail from one wind turbine to the next, using a crane to lift each box containing the equipment onto the transition piece. The box would then be lifted with the nacelle’s crane to reach the nacelle and then be moved to the top of the turbine. Instead, the drone is expected to fly from an offshore supply vessel directly to the top of the nacelle.
Ørsted says it has been able to complete the tasks at Borssele 10 times faster than normal.
“Ørsted has led offshore wind’s journey from a niche technology to a cost-competitive and large-scale source of renewable power,” says Ørsted’s Rasmus Errboe.
“We’ve done this through some big leaps by for example pioneering new turbine models, but also by continuously moving a lot of new and innovative ideas from the drawing board to real life application. The drones at Borssele 1 & 2 are a great example of this. They will improve safety, bring down carbon emissions and reduce the cost of operating offshore wind farms, which all further improve the commercial fundamentals of offshore wind for investors, governments and corporations.”
