Bladetracker and drones complementary

Can BladeTracker and drones be complementary?

BladeTracker can provide full coverage blade inspections, this article was written for a special case:
The BladeTracker technology differs from drone inspections as it is a ground based system positioned near the base of the turbine tower. Therefore, by definition, it inspects from a larger distance than drones do. The benefit however is that the turbine does not need to be shut down during a blade inspection as the BladeTracker is capable of following the motion of the rotor whilst capturing images. We often get the question whether the resolution of our images meets the resolution of drone images. In many cases, due to the hardware we use, we can. In some cases not. It also depends on the drone company used and the equipment they use. However, in some cases this question is less relevant. Some customers understandably like to stick to drone inspections. For these, we are proposing an alternative business case where we can achieve a considerable cost reduction. BladeTracker is used as a selecting tool: we inspect an entire windfarm without shutting down one single turbine. Based on the reporting our client can then decide which turbines require a closer inspection (if necessary at all) or to directly move to repair through rope access. This reduces the overall shutdown time of the wind farm drastically.

However short a drone inspection lasts, the turbine needs to be shut down and man hours are spent manipulating the turbine. If we assume that the gross shut down time for a fast drone inspection is 1/2 hour, production loss can mount up to 5.000 kWh per turbine. Depending on the drone company, we have seen this number increase significantly. When comparing to ground based static inspections, this number triples at least. In addition, if the pre-agreed weather window is not suitable, the entire operation and interface with the O&M department needs to be rescheduled. In case of a BladeTracker inspection, we determine the window for inspection based on season, hour of the day, weather conditions and wind direction. We will agree on an end date for the final report and simply plan around the weather. Naturally in close contact with our client.

By utilizing BladeTracker in this way, shutting down the farm is potentially fully eliminated. If really desired, only a small fraction could be pointed out for a closer inspection while at the end still achieving a significant cost reduction. In this way only a very small fraction of the turbines needs to be shut down twice: once for the drone inspection and once for the repair.

Interested in this concept or want to share some thoughts? Feel free to contact us!