China’s first autonomous offshore wind power inspection platform was officially put into operation at an offshore wind farm on Saturday in Rudong, East China’s Jiangsu Province, marking a significant breakthrough in the operation and maintenance capabilities of the country’s offshore wind power equipment, CCTV reported.
The platform, developed by China Longyuan Power Group, a subsidiary of China Energy Investment Group, serves as a “pathfinder” and “smart doctor” for offshore wind farms, leveraging unmanned technology to improve operational efficiency and precision.
The new platform, employs a combination of unmanned vessels and robots, allowing for remote-controlled operations and extending the daily inspection range to 100 kilometers, according to the CCTV report.
This marks a significant improvement compared to traditional submarine cable inspection method, which relied on manned vessels to tow passive detectors and required a crew of at least nine people with a daily inspection limit of just 10 kilometers.
During operations, the unmanned vessel navigates to designated areas based on pre-programmed routes, deploying the robot for fault detection. By collecting submarine cable signals, the robot generates a detailed “map” of the cable path, which autonomously guides the unmanned vessel.
This system enables the detector to operate as a “self-powered” intelligent vehicle, closely following the cable route. As a result, fault localization time is reduced by 90 percent, and detection accuracy is improved tenfold, according to CCTV.
GT
