This summer,
Ørsted, one of the world's largest developers of offshore wind power, is using heavy-lifting cargo drones to carry out the biggest programme of offshore equipment deliveries that has ever been attempted outside the military - and includes deliveries to Hornsea 1 and 2, the largest offshore wind farms in the world.
Ørsted and its UK-based drone operator
Skylift are using
FlyingBasket cargo drones to transport boxes of critical safety evacuation equipment which weigh up to 70kg (the weight of a washing machine). Each box is taken from a ship by the drone and delivered to the nacelle at the top of each wind turbine at a height of more than 100m – roughly the height of a 25-storey building.
The programme is pushing the boundaries of drone use in the offshore wind industry with a number of significant milestones – it is the largest drone delivery programme ever attempted to offshore wind sites with over 550 flights to more than 400 turbines. It is also the first time that drones have been used for such an extensive delivery programme so far from land, travelling out to wind turbines positioned up to 75 miles out at sea.
As a result of this groundbreaking project, more than 400 turbines will receive the safety equipment located at four of Ørsted’s offshore wind farms – Hornsea 1 and Hornsea 2 on the east coast, and Walney 1 and 2 on the west coast.
Less work disturbanceThe use of these drones to deliver cargo reduces costs and time as well as improving operational safety and efficiency. Drones mean less work disturbance as turbines don’t have to be shut down when cargo is delivered. They avoid risk, making it safer for personnel working on the wind farm and minimise the need for multiple journeys by ship, reducing carbon emissions and climate change impacts.
Nina Le who is heading the project for Ørsted’s team said: “Normally to deliver heavy loads like this, it would require two crane-lifting operations to get the box to the top of the turbine. It would also take three people and means shutting the turbine down for up to 6hr, so we could only deliver one box a day.
“Delivery by drone requires no technicians to take time out from their scheduled work, we can leave the turbines running which means no lost power generation, and each delivery takes around 5min which has meant we have been able to achieve up to 30 a day. At Ørsted we want to use our industry-leading position to help push forward innovations that reduce costs and maximise efficiency and safety in the offshore wind sector. Drone cargo delivery is an important step in that direction.”
Ørsted has used smaller drones for some time for inspections of the turbines and is now leading the industry in deployment of cargo drones on a large scale. The company is actively seeking partnerships with the best drone cargo operators and services providers to help grow the supply chain in the UK.