Quali Drone, working with offshore wind developer and operator RWE and several partners, has demonstrated autonomous drone inspections of offshore wind turbine blades while the turbines remained in operation. The work was carried out under the AQUADA-GO project, which focuses on automated, contact-free and real-time detection of blade damage using drones. By inspecting blades without stopping turbine operation, the approach aims to reduce downtime. The partners have now completed the first successful offshore demonstration of this inspection concept.
The technology combines drone platforms with thermography and computer vision to identify surface damage and potential subsurface fractures on rotating offshore wind turbine blades. According to the project partners, this enables inspections to be carried out under normal operating conditions.
The solution has previously been demonstrated onshore by the consortium, which includes Quali Drone, RWE, Statkraft, TotalEnergies, the Technical University of Denmark and Energy Cluster Denmark. The most recent offshore demonstration took place at the Rødsand 2 Offshore Wind Farm, located south of Lolland, Denmark, and operated by RWE since 2010, where drone footage captured visible blade surface damage.
The project builds on AQUADA technology developed at the Technical University of Denmark Wind Energy laboratory. The university has developed an artificial intelligence model that allows the drone to automatically identify blade irregularities using infrared imaging and computer vision. The model is updated with data from each new inspection deployment.
AQUADA-GO runs from 2022 to March 2026 and has a total budget of DKK 17.8m. The project is supported by the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme and involves Quali Drone, the Technical University of Denmark, RWE, Statkraft, TotalEnergies and Energy Cluster Denmark.
Image source Quali Drone
