Rhode Island-based Deepwater Wind, who began commercial operation of the first U.S. offshore wind farm in 2016, recently authorized deployments of drone technology to capture high resolution data of all five of its offshore wind platforms just off Block Island.
Imagery and data obtained during the flights will be used as a baseline for comparative data following future flights.
Deepwater Wind enlisted ULC Robotics to inspect the five offshore wind turbine foundations. ULC deployed UAS equipped with a high-resolution DSLR camera to capture detailed images of the jacket foundations.
Working with keystone Engineering Inc., the data enabled a fast assessment of the platforms and will be used to make comparative studies in the future.
Block Island Wind Farm is the first commercial offshore wind farm in the United States,located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) from Block Island, Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean. The five-turbine, 30 MW project was developed by Deepwater Wind. Construction began in 2015 and in late summer 2016 five Alstom Haliade 150-6-MW turbines were erected. Operations were launched in December 2016. It is the largest project using wind power in Rhode Island.
The installation produces 125,000 MWh of electricty annually, enough to meet the electricty demands of up to 17,00 households per year.
Source: YouTube