Offshore Wind Turbines Being Inspected By Aerial and Underwater Drones
Around the world, government, public, and private agencies are working towards increasing the use of renewable energy sources to help combat and reverse the negative impacts of global climate change. One of the more promising sources of renewable energy for large scale use is wind energy. Wind farms are being built all over the world to support the power needs of the global community. Though there are many inland wind farms, more and more, power companies are opting to build offshore wind farms.
The main benefit of an offshore wind farm is that the wind currents over water tend to be stronger than over land, thus providing a higher power percentage. Other benefits include aesthetics like reduced noise pollution. As of February 2021, there were 695 worldwide offshore wind farm projects, with 46% of them hosted in Asia-Pacific waters. While these offshore projects are proving to be excellent sources of renewable energy, they do come with some challenges. The main challenge is that accessing the farms for inspections or supply reinforcements is not as easy as with an inland wind farm.
However, with advancements in autonomous drone technologies, offshore wind farm management has become much easier. Aerial drones are being used to inspect turbines and the offshore bases that accompany them. Submersible drones are being used to inspect and handle repairs below the water surface. These drones dock in underwater charging stations so they can stay offshore for months at a time. They traverse the miles of pipes that connect the offshore wind turbines to the inland power stations, ensuring that the power operations run smoothly and profitably.
On March 3, 2022, Marco Polo Marine Lt. and F-drones, both based out of Singapore, announced that they would be entering a partnership that would establish the largest offshore wind farm drone delivery system. Originally founded in 1991, “Marco Polo Marine is an integrated marine logistics group offering ship chartering, ship building, conversion, repair & maintenance services,” as stated in the company profile. Founded by Nicolas Ang and Yeshwnath Reddy in 2019, F-drones specializes in building long-distance drones with heavy payload capacities.
F-drones has 2 models available, and a 3rd to be ready after 2023. The first model, Hypercopter, has a range of over 10miles and can support a payload up to 22lbs. The 2nd drone model is the Hyperlaunch which has a range of over 31 miles and can support a payload up to 11lbs, while the soon to be released Hyperlaunch Heavy will have a range of more than 62 miles and be able to support a payload up to 220lbs. The partnership will see Marco Polo providing the technical operations for offshore logistics and F-drones supplying drones to deliver necessities to offshore bases. “The use of the co-developed delivery drones is expected to result in more than 90% cost savings,” reads a statement from F-drones, “and is four times faster than traditional means, which rely mostly on boats and occasionally, helicopters, as the key modes of transport.” And as Mr. Ang said during the partnership announcement, “The world’s energy transition not only requires building renewable energy assets, but also the ability to service them sustainably. Our partnership with Marco Polo Marine is a case-in-point, which has the potential to transform the future of logistics across offshore wind farms globally.”
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