In a world first, an autonomous vehicle has been used to inspect an offshore wind farm in Scotland, marking a revolutionary advancement in renewable energy technology.
Beam, a provider of offshore wind services high-tech company, has achieved a significant milestone by deploying the world's first autonomous underwater vehicle powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
This new technology has been successfully used to inspect the cladding structures at the Seagreen offshore wind farm, located in Scotland. The park is the result of a partnership between SSE Renewables, TotalEnergies and PTTEP.
Typically, offshore wind farm inspections are manual and time-consuming, but the solution from Beam promises to revolutionize this reality.
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By using advanced AI, the underwater vehicle can perform complex tasks without the need for human intervention, bringing significant gains in efficiency and savings.
According to Beam, this innovation can reduce inspection times by up to 50%, in addition to improving the quality of the data collected.
How the underwater vehicle works
One of the highlights of this technology is the ability to reconstruct assets in 3D, integrating accurate visual data. This functionality allows for a more detailed view of wind assets, facilitating maintenance and long-term planning to avoid structural problems such as erosion or excessive sea growth.
Brian Allen, CEO of Beam, commented on the impact of this innovation: “We are very proud to have successfully implemented the world’s first autonomous underwater vehicle powered by AI. Automation could revolutionise the way we carry out inspection and maintenance of offshore wind farms, helping to reduce costs and timescales. Looking ahead, the potential of this technology for the industry is huge, and success in these early projects is vital to progressing and realising this vision. This would not be possible without forward-thinking customers like SSE Renewables who are willing to embark on this journey with us.. "
The Seagreen wind farm, in operation since October 2023, is the deepest fixed-bottom offshore wind farm in the world.
Beam’s use of this new technology has provided important lessons for the wind energy industry, especially in the application of autonomous technologies in offshore environments. Accurate data collection is essential to ensure the reliability and operational efficiency of wind farms.
Matthew Henderson, Technical Asset Manager at SSE Renewables, highlighted the importance of this advancement for the future of the wind industry.
He said Beam’s technology not only reduces the need to send teams to remote areas for inspections, but also speeds up the process of maintenance and collecting essential data. “As we move into deeper waters, the ability to collect high-quality inspection data in a low-risk manner is critical to delivering our Net Zero Acceleration Program.”, Henderson explained.
Beam plans to expand the use of this technology across its fleet of vessels and underwater vehicles throughout 2025 and 2026, promising to further transform operations in the offshore wind sector.
With this, the company positions itself as a leader in the use of AI for autonomous underwater inspections, providing a safer and more efficient way to manage wind assets in challenging environments.