Wind Turbine Blade Inspections with the Elios 3

Discover how the Elios 3 was used to showcase the advantages of drone-based wind turbine blade inspections, delivering results in just one day instead of five!

Key Benefits at a Glance

According to the Global Wind Energy Council, there are over 341,000 wind turbines installed globally. These massive structures are highly efficient, with the average turbine from 2020 capable of powering a household for a month in just 46 minutes. However, maintaining them is no small task.

Wind turbines are located high above ground, often in confined spaces. Accessing them requires specialized training, such as that provided by the Global Wind Organization, which teaches workers how to safely enter and exit turbines, rappel out if needed, and handle emergencies. Finding qualified personnel for these tasks can be difficult, especially when factoring in the risks involved in working at height and in tight spaces.

Why Use Drones for Wind Turbine Inspections?

In February 2024, Swedish service provider Drone Solution partnered with a wind turbine management company to test whether drones could inspect the inside of wind turbines. While they already used drones for external inspections, this was the first time they attempted internal blade inspections. Drone Solution is among the few operators worldwide who have the expertise to do so.

The sheer size of wind turbines makes them difficult to inspect

Blade inspections typically focus on identifying manufacturing defects or damage from lightning strikes. A lightning strike may only leave a small mark on the outside, but the internal damage could be severe, posing a risk to the entire turbine. In some cases, the blade might even explode if the lightning protection system is faulty or damaged. Regular inspections are essential to prevent costly failures. Repairing a single blade can cost up to $1 million, and building a 4.6 MW turbine can cost around $4.6 million. This makes effective and frequent inspections crucial.

Drone Solution uses drones like the Elios 3 for complex inspections, including confined space assessments. They wanted to show how drones could make internal and external inspections faster, safer, and more efficient than traditional methods.

Planning the Inspection with the Elios 3

Each wind turbine has three blades, and each must be inspected individually. Traditionally, this process requires workers trained in confined space entry. The blade narrows toward the tip, often starting at 2 meters wide and tapering to less than a meter. It's also divided by internal structures called shear webs, making the inspection more complex. Workers must pitch the blade horizontally, crawl up one side, then rotate it to inspect the other side—making the process slow and labor-intensive.

As a result, traditional blade inspections can take between 5 to 9 days per turbine. Drone Solution aimed to prove that the Elios 3 could significantly speed up the process.

The Inspection Process with the Elios 3

The demonstration used a turbine with 67-meter-long blades. Before the inspection, the team had completed their turbine access training. At the site, they took a 20-minute elevator ride to the hub, where access hatches for each blade were located. The blades were pitched upwards at positions matching 10 and 2 o'clock to ensure the drone would safely return if anything went wrong.

The Elios 3 outside of an access hatch on a turbine

The Elios 3 was flown into each blade and along both sides of the shear webs, covering 30 meters of the structure. Using the 4K camera, the pilot captured visual data and photos of potential issues, including suspected lightning damage. The LiDAR scan provided real-time navigation, helping the pilot orient themselves in areas where the drone was out of sight. The entire inspection was completed in 27 minutes across three flights. The process was repeated for each blade.

After inspecting the interior, the team used another drone to inspect the exterior of the turbine.

Snapshot: the Elios 3 flying inside a turbine blade with the shear web on the left

Results of the Drone Inspection

Both Drone Solution and their client were amazed by the results. The Elios 3 revealed internal damage that wasn’t visible from the outside and was hard to reach through traditional means. This immediately highlighted the value of using a drone for blade inspections.

Typically, such an inspection would require two people with specialized training. With the Elios 3, only one person was needed in the hub. Each blade could be inspected in under 30 minutes, compared to over a day for manual inspections or 4 hours per blade with rovers. This made the drone method not only faster but also more cost-effective.

Thanks to the Elios 3, Drone Solution successfully demonstrated that drone-based inspections offer a safer, faster, and more efficient alternative to traditional methods. Following this success, they hope to expand the use of drones for regular inspections across more turbines and wind farms, creating a new and valuable service for their clients.

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