Skyports Drone Services (Skyports), RWE (an offshore wind company), and Skyways (a designer and manufacturer of long-range autonomous unmanned cargo aircraft systems) have conducted Germany’s first long range offshore drone delivery trial to wind turbines at Arkona Windfarm, operated by RWE.
“Taking place as part of a three-week flight demonstration, the drone flights were designed to prove the benefits of integrating long range deliveries into the offshore logistics supply chain,” said the companies in a press release. “With light cargo deliveries to the turbines usually relying on a boat journey which would take at least an hour, the drones provided a sub-30 minute flight which could be booked on demand, demonstrating a more flexible, efficient and sustainable alternative for delivering small, time critical parts.
“Building on previous flight trials conducted last year, which saw RWE and Skyports conducting Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flight deliveries to offshore substations, this next phase saw Skyports and RWE partnering with leading drone manufacturer Skyways, deploying its V2 drone. A dual hybrid aircraft, the V2 has electric motors handling vertical take-off and landing, and a heavy fuel engine powering long range cruise, giving the aircraft a maximum range of up to 770kms.
“Taking off from RWE’s operation and maintenance base in Mukran Port on the German island of Rügen, the drone flew an automated route of over 40kms out to the Arkona Wind farm, with up to 10kg of cargo. Once at the wind farm, it approached a target wind turbine, locked on to the turbine nacelle and performed an automated cargo drop. With the cargo drop complete, the drone then automatically flew the return leg back to Mukran Port and its original takeoff point, supervised by Skyports’ pilots.
“Over the course of the trial, the Skyways aircraft flew over 2,500kms and clocked up over 65 hours of flight time. Taking place as a part of an ongoing series of trials by RWE, the project looked to validate the benefits of drones for offshore logistics. Longer term, RWE has an ambition to include drones within a hybrid supply chain alongside crew transfer vessels, which it sees as having game changing potential once full integration is achieved.
“Within the project, Skyports provided the full end-to-end service for drone operations, handling regulatory approvals, mission planning, piloting the drones and delivering final project assessment and reporting. Skyports brings with it extensive experience in operating long-range drones in harsh environments, having flown parts to offshore oil rigs in Norway, and conducted thousands of shore-to-ship deliveries around the world. “
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