It’s difficult to inspect a massive wind turbine, whether it’s on land or at sea. Nevertheless, drones give us the chance to approach these monolithic-type structures up close. Being able to check a turbine standing 80ft+ is a job that almost nothing other than a drone could do. And from the bolts at the base of the blade to the leading edge of the tip, a high-quality camera mounted on an aerial platform is simply the only solution to maintaining these giants.
Turbine components are constantly exposed to hail, snow, lightning, rain, salt, and dust. There are other causes of turbine blade damage, including extreme load buckling or manufacturing defects that cause blade debonding. Using drones, operators can fly anywhere on a turbine to assess its functionality, damage and ways to improve its performance.
In the energy industry, drones provide practical solutions for everyday problems and support business efforts to avoid hazardous man-hours, reduce maintenance, inspections, and repairs costs, and increase efficiencies.