Giant autonomous drones now lifting cargo to offshore wind turbines

Danish offshore wind energy giant Ørsted has become the first offshore wind company to begin trialling large autonomous drones to transport cargo to giant wind farms.

Wind energy companies have spent the last decade trialling all sorts of technologies designed to increase safety and efficiency at their wind farms, helping to clean, repair, and monitor turbines.

Ørsted is trialling a 58-kilogram autonomous drone with a wingspan of 2.6 metres to transport cargo weighing up to 68 kilograms. See video here.

The trial took place at Ørsted’s 1.2GW Hornsea 1 offshore wind farm in partnership with SkyLift, a UK-based drone operator.

Ørsted hopes that the use of these huge drones in delivering cargo to wind turbines will help to reduce costs and time, while also improving operational safety and efficiency.

Using a drone means that the wind turbine does not need to be shut down for delivery, is safer and minimises the number of journeys by ship to reach the turbines, so reducing costs and emissions.

“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,” said Mikkel Haugaard Windolf, who is heading the project for Ørsted’s offshore logistics team.

“Drone cargo delivery is an important step in that direction.