Ørsted deploys drones for wind farms

The boxes, which weigh up to 70kg, around the weight of a washing machine, are taken from a ship by the drone and delivered to a height of more than 100 metres in what Ørsted says are the first such deliveries done outside the military.

The FlyingBasket cargo drones will deliver safety equipment in more than 550 flights to more than 400 turbines some 75 miles from land at the Hornsea 1 and 2 sites on the east coast of England, and Walney 1 and 2 on the west coast.

“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  and it is also the first time that drones have been used for such an extensive delivery programme so far from land, going to turbines up to 75 miles to sea,” Ørsted says.

Drone use cuts costs and is more efficient because as well as reducing vessel transport, turbines do not have to be switched off during cargo delivery. 

“Normally to deliver heavy loads like this, it would require two crane-lifting operations to get the box to the top of the turbine,” Nina F. Le who is heading the project for Ørsted’s team, said. “It would also take three people and means shutting the turbine down for up to six hours, so we could only deliver one box a day. Delivery by drone takes no technicians from their scheduled work, we can leave the turbines running which means no lost power generation and each takes around five minutes, which has meant we’ve been able to achieve up to 30 deliveries 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 turbine inspections and is now seeking partnerships with the best drone cargo operators and services providers to help grow the supply chain in the UK.