Tools, materials and perhaps even maintenance personnel can be transported quickly and safely by air cab to the wind farm at sea! In future, this will be made possible by "Offshore Logistics Drones" - automated heavy-duty drones that are to be developed for the efficient operation and uncomplicated maintenance of offshore wind farms. Offshore wind farms play a key role in achieving our climate targets and are designed for a service life of over twenty years. The challenge is that they are often located far from the coast. We rely on innovative technologies to optimize the operation and maintenance of these turbines. A key element here is drone technology, which enables us to make logistics processes more flexible and environmentally friendly. With the "Upcoming Drones Windfarm" research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, we are aiming to optimize the operation and maintenance processes of offshore wind farms and thus make a contribution to achieving our climate targets.
About the research project
Drone technology will play an even larger role worldwide, particularly in the area of logistics. Many sectors see real potential for the transportation of people and materials. The EnBW research project will examine whether the use of drones is promising for the offshore wind sector and especially establish which requirements will need to be met.
Logistical challenges associated with ever larger offshore wind farms are expected to be met by automated transport drones in the future to reduce operating costs.
Let´s take off for future
Technology and investments around Urban Air Mobility are in a steep development curve - we use this commitment for our use case by directly connecting the mental step out to offshore wind farms. We are working on a new business segment for Urban Air Mobility, which will bring in volumes that can be planned in the long term.
Logistics drones can make the maintenance of offshore wind farms more efficient while also cutting carbon emissions.
Landing pads will be needed so that drones can land on individual wind turbines.
The offshore conditions place unique demands on the drone technology.
Manufacturers will demonstrate their drones live in the Offshore Drone Challenge. A jury will evaluate the flights.
A look into the future: This is how tools and spare parts may reach their destination in the wind farm.
Our approach
In the research project, business models are being developed and the efficiency of drone operations analysed. Technologically, the transport drones should be able to transport payloads in the form of tools, consumables for maintenance and spare parts, and later also personnel, to and from their deployment locations in the wind farm. For this application, the project will evaluate suitable configurations for the drone and payload systems and design the interaction between the offshore wind farm and the drone.
Interfaces must be created at both hardware and software level to enable the use of transport drones. Legal framework conditions are also incorporated into these concepts. How will drones and wind farms be certified for this purpose in the future? What international conditions will have to be taken into account for such offshore wind farms in the future? The development and validation of the automation concept and operational aspects of the transport mission will be carried out in a simulated environment, which will be set up as part of the project. The aim hereby is to achieve high efficiency and maximum operational safety.
True to our motto "Knowledge for Tomorrow", we are happy to be challenged by the topic of "Offshore Logistics with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles": We see reimagined aircraft, uncomfortable environmental conditions and regulation, and high autonomy requirements as an opportunity to conceptualise drone technology to enable low-cost green energy.
Our partners
- The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is involved in the research project.
We are also pleased to have associate partners on board:
- The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) is supervising our project in its role as the licensing authority for wind farms in the German exclusive economic zone.
- The global full service provider Hellmann Worldwide Logistics is developing a logistic concept for offshore delivery via drones.
- TenneT, as a leading European transmission system operator, is investigating the use of heavy-duty drones as an addition to its portfolio of transport means for its growing network of offshore transformer platforms and is preparing the concept for their use.
Offshore Drone Challenge
The Offshore Drone Challenge 2024
Test flights took place as part of the research project. We invited drone manufacturers and service providers to demonstrate their technology for transporting heavy loads. In Summer 2024, on 19 and 20 June, EnBW and DLR therefore held the Offshore Drone Challenge. The event was held at the DLR site in Cochstedt, National Experimental Test Center of Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
At the Offshore Drone Challenge 2024, four international drone companies competed against each other in a multi-stage course. The course covered the use case of material transportation in offshore wind energy, from the start of the drone to the final precise placement of the payload. The companies ADLC, Flowcopter, Solectric and Stromkind were selected to present their solutions. The flight demonstrations were judged by a high-ranking jury – a panel of experts from business and science – and were embedded in a programme with panel discussions, keynote speeches and evening get-togethers.
The Timeline
Your contact
The participants
One course, two flight days and numerous flight manoeuvres: the Offshore Drone Challenge (ODC) took place at the National Experimental Test Center of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Cochstedt, Saxony-Anhalt in Summer 2024. From a total of 13 applications, four drone manufacturers and service providers were awarded an ODC place to demonstrate their technologies for transporting maintenance equipment to offshore wind farms. The selection criteria included the technical data of the aircraft, the completed flight programme and the suitability and strategic orientation in relation to the offshore wind energy use case.
The following companies were able to present their developments live at the ODC in June 2024:
*In alphabetical order
- head office: Belgium
- ADLC has set itself the goal of leading the global market for drone delivery services. Focusing on the B2B industrial sector, the company aims to increase operational efficiency through fast delivery and reduce time, costs and emissions. ADLC is building extensive drone delivery networks with specialised infrastructure and advanced drones. ADLC was participating in the ODC together with the German drone manufacturer Phoenix-Wings, which provides a highly automated cargo drone for first-mile/last-mile freight applications.
- Website ADLC
ADLC
- head office: Scotland
- Flowcopter was born out of the need for robust VTOL platforms with high payloads and long endurance for markets that traditionally require helicopters, such as offshore logistics and humanitarian aid. Running on net-zero E100 or synthetic fuels, Flowcopter’s hybrid FC100 platform can carry a payload of 120kg for 200km with the ability to replace helicopters at a fraction of the cost.
- Website Flowcopter
Flowcopter
- head office: Germany
- These days, Solectric GmbH is one of the leading European partners of Da-Jiang Innovations Science and Technology, known as DJI. DJI is globally famous for the development and production of drones used in private and professional aerial photography and videography and is considered the industry leader in the field of drones for both private and commercial use. Since 2016, Solectric GmbH has been specializing in industrial solutions and has since been a highly reliable partner for authorities and companies in the acquisition and consulting of individually adapted drone solutions based on DJI technology.
- Website Solectric
Solectric
- head office: Austria
- In a consortium with partner companies Booxit and Kymati, Stromkind brought a fully automatable, integrated logistics solution to the Offshore Drone Challenge. While Stromkind is providing the autonomous flying UAV system with the STR-35, partner Kymati is supplying a high-precision, radar-based 3D positioning system.
Partner Booxit is providing a digitalised reusable box system for a continuous supply chain from the supplier to the wind turbine. The spare parts inventories of the automated container spare parts warehouses in the home ports can be fully integrated into ERP systems and apps. The splash-proof boxes are picked up automatically and therefore safely and placed on the wind turbine just as automatically and precisely. The 100% recyclable reusable boxes are particularly stable and sustainable. - Website Stromkind
Stromkind
The Tasks
The jury
Latest news
A review of the "Offshore Drone Challenge 2024"
Together with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), we recently held the Offshore Drone Challenge at the DLR's National Test Centre for Unmanned Aerial Systems in Cochstedt. In this competition, international drone companies competed against each other in a course on 19 and 20 June 2024. The flight tasks were modelled on material transport in offshore wind energy, from launching the drone to setting the load down on the wind turbine - flight manoeuvres that play a key role in the operating and maintenance logistics of offshore wind farms. The event was accompanied by two forums that discussed the future use of drones in the offshore industry and examined it from different perspectives, such as from a technical, regulatory or financial point of view.
Peter Heydecker, EnBW Board Member for Sustainable Generation Infrastructure, emphasised the overarching goal of the event: “EnBW relies on innovative technologies to operate its offshore wind farms. As an experienced operator of offshore wind farms, we wish to play our part in turning this new logistics approach into a standard service worldwide. In the future, transport drones will play a key role in reducing the operating costs of offshore wind farms, increasing safety and guaranteeing the reliability of energy generation from offshore wind turbines.” The four companies ADLC (as operator of Phoenix-Wings), Flowcopter, Solectric (as operator of DJI) and Stromkind presented their drone technologies as part of the competition. A jury assessed the execution of the seven flight tasks live. The company ADLC won first place: It operated the "Orca" drone from the manufacturer Phoenix-Wings, which mastered the complex flight manoeuvres best.
Speakers
Impressions of the "Offshore Drone Challenge 2024"
Dr Michael Splett (EnBW) and Johann Dauer (DLR) opened the two-day event.
Flowcopter exhibited the largest of the participating drones.
Stromkind during the final preparations for the upcoming competition flight.
Presentations and panel discussions formed the supporting programme, here: Wings for Aid.
Peter Heydecker (Member of the EnBW Executive Board) and Prof Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla (Chairwoman of the DLR Executive Board) in dialogue with drone companies.
The winning drone ‘Orca’ from ADLC/Phoenix-Wings shortly before take-off.
Solectric completed its competition flight with a DJI drone.
Joint final photo of representatives of the four drone companies.
Communication between wind farm system and unmanned helicopter successfully demonstrated at Schwienau onshore wind farm
In October 2023, the unmanned DLR superARTIS small helicopter took off from the EnBW Schwienau II and III wind farms in Lower Saxony/Germany.
The aim was to test the communication between the drone and the wind farm, which had previously been worked out in theory and programmed at DLR and EnBW. The communication interface created enabled the superARTIS to receive data such as wind speed, wind direction, wind turbine orientation and rotor speed and then select its flight route.
During the test, the superARTS first made sure that the rotor of the wind turbine to be approached was stationary. The helicopter then safely approached the wind turbine from the side facing away from the wind until a predetermined distance was reached. If the drone had not received clearance for this, it would have automatically flown into a holding pattern.
The test did not take place at sea, but on land to make the experiments safer and easier to carry out. For a realistic scenario, the researchers attached a payload to the drone. The results can be transferred to offshore installations. The communication between superARTIS and the wind turbine was designed for offshore operation and is being analysed in simulations.
A look back at “Amsterdam Drone Week 2023”
“Drone industry meets wind energy”. We continued the dialog at Amsterdam Drone Week on Wednesday, 22 March 2023. The Offshore Drone Forum #2 organized by the project partners DLR and EnBW focused on the use case of offshore logistics drones from the perspectives of technical and commercial feasibility, regulatory requirements and potential business models for operations.
The forum brought together the various viewpoints of the offshore wind industry, the drone sector and investors. “Together with our partner the DLR and other speakers, we used the forum to discuss the framework conditions that appear particularly promising for the use of transport drones in offshore wind energy and also saw practical examples,” says the host of the forum, Marcus Ihle. “We were particularly pleased that our event was able to strengthen the network of players. We hope it will also promote innovation and provide a better understanding of the use case.”
Speakers
A review of the “EnBW Offshore Drone Forum #1”
As part of WindEnergy Hamburg 2022, EnBW held the “EnBW Offshore Drone Forum,” bringing together experts from the wind energy industry with those from the drone industry for the first time. The “EnBW Offshore Drone Forum” provided an intensively used platform for promoting dialogue between engineers, the business world, scientists and regulators. Together with high-level speakers from the industry, people were given the opportunity to discuss how advanced air mobility technologies can be used to transport people and materials to and from offshore wind farms.
“There were numerous opportunities at the event for people to chat with the EnBW and DLR teams as well as other experts and familiarize themselves with this valuable use case. This opportunity was seized with considerable interest, which makes us very happy,” says EnBW project manager Jonas Janke. “For us, it is about embracing interdisciplinary thinking within a network and creating synergies that will enable us all to take another important step toward innovation and sustainability.”
Speakers
FAQ
Do you have any questions about the research project on offshore logistics drones? You can find the answers here!
Ships used today generally not only have to be a means of transport, but also a hotel and material store at the same time. The reason for this is the long distance between the work location and the coast. Transfer by ship takes several hours, which is why daily transfer by ship to the wind farm is generally not economical. Engineers are accommodated and fed on the ship during their shift. Accordingly, personnel are also constantly needed to keep the ship running. The ship must also have the right equipment to enable the workers to cross over to the turbines in the wind farm even in heavy seas. This high degree of specialization makes the ships that are used very expensive. Nevertheless, ships currently remain the cheapest alternative in terms of logistics.
Helicopters are already available for transporting material and tools. They can be used very flexibly. Engineers and material can be dropped off directly at the work location – on the nacelle of a wind turbine, for instance. Transfer by helicopter to the wind farm takes a fraction of the time of transfer by ship due to the high speed of travel. The biggest drawback of helicopters is the cost. High fuel consumption and maintenance work are significant cost drivers.
Drones offer advantages in terms of cost and flexibility compared to the logistics options currently used. The high speed of travel means transfers are as fast as those involving helicopters. By switching to transport drones, it would also be possible to service offshore wind farms located a long distance from the coast without the need for accommodation in the wind farm. The anticipated operating costs of drones are lower than those of helicopters because drones are less complex. This has a significant impact on the amount of maintenance work needed for the drones. It is likely that drones will become more and more automated in the future, thereby cutting operating costs. The transport of materials in particular offers considerable potential for automation.
What advantage do drones have over today’s logistics services with special ships and helicopters?
Many drone manufacturers have set themselves the goal of starting commercial operation of their drones within the next few years. The offshore wind farms must first be upgraded before drones can be used. Since the necessary framework conditions will only be determined in the course of the research project, it is difficult to estimate the timescale. Once the framework conditions have been established, they must be incorporated into the development of a new offshore wind farm. Such developments generally take several years.
When will the drones be ready for service and when can they be used in offshore wind farms?
It is not sufficient for drones merely to be available for use as transport drones in offshore wind farms. The relevant offshore wind farm must have the right equipment to enable the use of transport drones. Furthermore, the developed drones may require modifications to make them suitable for such use. It is therefore also necessary to familiarize manufacturers with the circumstances of the use case involving offshore wind energy.
Why is the research project being carried out when there are already manufacturers developing heavy-duty drones and air taxis?
The drone must have a high load-bearing capacity and long range for transport operations between the offshore wind farm and the coast. There are concepts from different manufacturers that promise to meet these criteria. The kind of drone required is not yet available.
What could be an obstacle to the use of drones in the offshore sector? Where do the difficulties lie?
The European Union Aviation Security Agency mandates high safety standards for drone flights that carry passengers. Drones used for transporting people must undergo certification similar to that used for aircraft.
Almost all of the currently available drone models are equipped with redundant power systems. In the event of a failure in the drone's power system during the flight, the remaining power systems can compensate for the failure. With many drone models, the flight to the planned destination can even be continued in such cases.
Are drone flights safe?
The drones used for transporting passengers are controlled by on-board pilots. It is conceivable that drones used for transporting materials may be controlled by a remote pilot rather than an on-board pilot.
How are drones controlled? Is there a pilot?
The aim is to purchase drone flights as a service. The drones will be optimally utilized by also being used for other purposes. Idle time can thus be kept to a minimum, which in turn has a positive impact on operating costs.
Who will operate the drones? Will EnBW become an aviation company?
Preliminary considerations on economic efficiency were discussed in the run-up to the research project. There is considerable potential for transport drones to be used economically in offshore wind farms. However, the use of transport drones does not make sense in every scenario.
Does the use of drones make economic sense?
Most currently available drone models are electrically powered. In terms of sustainability, this offers advantages over the currently used logistics options. If the drones run on renewable power, emissions can be reduced when operating the offshore wind farms.
Is the use of drones in offshore wind farms sustainable?
More on the topic
- EnBW und DLR organize drone competition for offshore wind farm use (press release, June 19, 2024)
- The participants of 'Offshore Drone Challenge 2024' are announced (press release (GERMAN), Nov 9, 2023)
- EnBW and DLR announce jury members for the Offshore Drone Challenge 2024 (press release, Apr 25, 2023)
- EnBW and DLR invite drone manufacturers and service providers to enter the Offshore Drone Challenge (press release, Mar 22, 2023)
- EnBW and the DLR present research project on the use of transport drones for wind farms at the Offshore Drone Forum #2 (press release, Mar 20, 2023)
- Professional Drone Operations Publication (Source: Airtaxi to a windfarm – article from: Professional Drone Operations, 3rd edition, January 2023, page 48-49)
- EnBW to present its on- and offshore projects at WindEnergy Hamburg 2022 and hold the “EnBW Offshore Drone Forum” (press release, Sep 28, 2022)
- Using drones to service offshore wind farms (press release, Apr 11, 2022)