RWE CONDUCTS GERMANY’S FIRST LONG-RANGE DRONE DELIVERIES TO OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES
Flying an automated ~80km round trip from RWE’s operation and maintenance base in Rügen, Germany, and carrying cargo of up to 10kg, Skyports demonstrated drones’ ability to help energy companies get parts quickly to hard to reach assets.
Location: Germany
Industry: Renewables
Drone used: Skyways V2
The challenge
Operating and maintaining offshore wind turbines quickly and efficiently
RWE is a world leader in offshore wind and renewable energy, operating 19 offshore windfarms globally.
Maintaining turbine uptime is critical, with each hour offline carrying financial implications.
However, conducting efficient offshore logistics for wind turbines is complex, especially in getting small, time critical parts to the turbines. These rely on daily deliveries by crew transfer vessels, which can’t be booked on demand, can take between 2-3 hours, and are inefficient for smaller parts.
The solution
On-demand, shore-to-turbine drone cargo deliveries
Partnering with Skyports, and using the Skyways V2 aircraft, RWE trialled using drones to deliver small parts direct from RWE’s operation and maintenance base in Rügen to turbines at the Arkona offshore windfarm.
Flying an automated route, the drone flew over 40kms out to the wind farm in under 30 minutes, carrying up to 10kg of cargo. Once at the wind farm, it approached a target wind turbine, locked on to the turbine nacelle and performed an automated cargo drop. With the cargo drop complete, the drone then automatically flew the return leg back to Mukran Port and its original take off point, supervised by Skyports’ pilots.
Selected for its excellent endurance and technical capability, the Skyways V2 is capable of flying up to 700km and operating in wind speeds of up to 25 knots.
The result
Essential turbine parts delivered quickly, efficiently and more sustainably
Over the course of the project, the Skyports and the Skyways aircraft flew over 2,500kms and clocked up over 65 hours of flight time.
The project validated the benefits of using drones for offshore logistics, providing an alternative for transporting small, time efficient parts that is quick, efficient and more sustainable, and could be booked on demand, helping to maintain asset uptime.
Off the back of these trials, Skyports is working to implement drone deliveries into RWE’s supply chain. Integrating with deliveries from crew transfer vessels, this would create a hybrid supply chain, which RWE sees as having game changing potential once full integration is achieved.
TESTIMONIAL
“The trial has proved that drones give us flexibility. In offshore, flexibility is power. They allow us to react faster, reduce waiting times, and optimise resources. It's a whole new dimension of efficiency. Long term, we see that drone operations could become part of a hybrid logistics model for operating and maintaining our offshore wind fleet.”
Vivek Trivedi
O&M Optimisation Manager, RWE