The world's first heavy-lift cargo drone operation has commenced at an offshore wind farm. Danish green power giant Ørsted has deployed a heavy-lift cargo drone (HLCD) for an operational campaign at the Borsele 1&2 offshore wind farms.
Ørsted said HLCD will transport cargo from the vessel to all 94 wind turbines at the Borsele offshore wind farm.
Using drones to deliver cargo to Borsele Units 1 and 2 will reduce costs and time, and improve the safety and efficiency of operations.
The company is now using a 70kg drone to transport cargo of up to 100kg in a real operational campaign, after the concept was tested at the Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm in the UK last year.
Drones prevent risks and ensure the safety of workers at wind farms
Drones prevent risks, ensure the safety of personnel working at wind farms and minimise the need for multiple vessel trips, reducing carbon emissions in the process.
“Ørsted has led offshore wind from a niche technology to a cost-competitive, large-scale source of renewable electricity,” said Rasmus Herbø, Ørsted's chief commercial officer and deputy CEO.
“The drones on Borsele 1 & 2 are a great example of this. They improve safety, reduce carbon emissions and lower the costs of operating offshore wind farms, further improving the commercial basis for offshore wind for investors, governments and companies.”
Typically, the ship would sail from one wind turbine to the next and use a crane to lift each box of equipment onto a transition piece, after which the box would be hoisted by the nacelle crane up to the nacelle and moved to the top of the turbine, according to Orsted.
Instead, the drones will simply fly directly from the offshore supply vessel to the top of the nacelle and back.
The drone flight from the vessel to the turbine takes about four minutes.
The company says that flying the drone from the vessel to the turbine takes about four minutes per turbine, compared with the roughly six hours it would take using traditional methods without a drone — nearly 90 times faster.
Ørsted said it was able to complete work at Borsele 10 to 15 times faster than usual, taking into account shipping to and from the turbines.
With in-house research and development capabilities, Ørsted believes it can continue to leverage cutting-edge technologies to make green energy more affordable, reliable, efficient and sustainable across the entire value chain.
The company has also recently piloted new technologies to further optimise the installation of offshore wind monopiles, deploying an autonomous vessel for offshore surveys.
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Prabhat Ranjan Mishra Prabhat is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and a technology and defence journalist. He likes writing about modern weapons and emerging technologies but also covers global politics and business. He has previously worked with reputed media houses like International Business Times (Singapore edition) and ANI.
