The role of operation and maintenance in
the overall costs of an offshore wind farm has long been known to
account for a sizable overall percentage. The global wind operations and
maintenance (O&M) market is predicted to grow
to $17 billion by 2020, according to figures published last year by
GlobalData. Further, a report from the UK’s Crown Estate showed that 80%
to 90% of the cost of offshore operation and maintenance is generated
solely by getting to the site in the first place — in other words,
getting an engineer out to the wind turbine.
However, according to the University of Manchester, the remote
inspection and asset management of offshore wind farms and their
connection to the shore is expected to be an industry worth up to £2
billion ($2.4 billion) annually by 2025 in the UK alone.
This is not a new idea. All the way back in 2013
I reported on Helical Robotics, a robotics solutions company which at
the time put forward the idea of small robots able to traverse a wind
turbine and inspect the blades and other mechanics of the turbine.
And just last year
the TOWERPOWER project revealed it was working on ways to create
real-time wireless connectivity of a wind turbine to provide continual
remote monitoring.
The new project being led by the University of Manchester
is a £5 million-funded project set to investigate the use of advanced
sensing, robotics, virtual reality models, and artificial intelligence
in reducing the cost and effort of maintenance and operations.
To be fair, any progress in this field
will inherently mean fewer human-filled jobs — which is definitely worth
discussing. However, considering the potential danger of offshore wind
maintenance and operations, the role of remote maintenance could be
invaluable — and theoretically life-saving.
source: https://cleantechnica.com
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