Remotely Piloted Aircraft Are Being Used to Transport up to 100 Kilos of Cargo
Ørsted has used heavy-lift cargo drones (HLCDs) for the first time in an operational campaign at the company’s Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind power project in the Netherlands.
The 70-kg unmanned aircraft, which boast a 2.6-meter wingspan, can carry up to 100 kg of cargo, marking “a significant leap forward in operational efficiency and safety in the offshore wind industry”, the Denmark-based wind farm developer said.
The HLCD will transport cargo from a vessel to all 94 wind turbines that make up the Borssele project, located in the Dutch North Sea. The concept was put through test runs last year at the Hornsea 1 offshore wind project in the UK.
For this specific campaign, Ørsted is updating critical evacuation and safety equipment at each of its turbines. In regular operations, a vessel would sail to each turbine and use a crane to hoist the box of equipment onto the transition piece and nacelle.
The HLCD, however, can fly back and forth from an offshore supply vessel in just four minutes, delivering the equipment directly to the top of each nacelle. Ørsted said it was able to carry out tasks at Borssele 10-15 times faster when using drones.
“The use of drones to deliver cargo to Borssele 1 and 2 will reduce costs and time as well as improve operational safety and efficiency,” Ørsted said in a statement. “Drones mean less work disturbance as wind turbines do not have to be shut down when cargo is delivered. They prevent risk, making it safer for personnel working on the wind farm, and they minimize the need for multiple journeys by ship, reducing carbon emissions in the process.”
The company said it was actively seeking partnerships with cargo drone operators and services providers to help grow the supply chain.
Read more: Cargo Drones Take on the Middle Mile
Ørsted is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network, a worldwide network of companies and executives involved in the engineering, manufacturing and production of project cargo. The next in-person meet-up for BGSN members will be at Breakbulk Americas 2024 on 15-17 October in Houston.
