Danish renewable energy company, Ørsted, is using heavy-lift cargo drones to deliver safety equipment to its offshore wind farms around the UK in what is being described as the largest programme of its kind in the industry.
Working with UK-based drone operator Skylift, Ørsted is employing FlyingBasket drones capable of transporting payloads weighing up to 70 kilograms. Each drone lifts cargo from a supply vessel and places it directly at the top of turbine nacelles, more than 100 metres above sea level.
The initiative has already achieved key milestones, with more than 550 successful flights to date across over 400 turbines. This marks the first large-scale delivery project using drones at a distance of up to 75 miles from shore.
Four of Ørsted’s wind farms are benefiting from the deployment: Hornsea 1 and Hornsea 2 in the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast, and Walney 1 and 2 in the Irish Sea off the northwest coast of England. The programme is ensuring that every turbine receives dedicated evacuation kits by drone, removing the need for lengthy crane operations or multiple vessel trips.
Alongside faster turnaround times, the drones also improve safety by reducing the need for workers to undertake complex lifting operations and cutting down the number of vessel journeys, thereby lowering emissions. Ørsted says it sees drone technology as a key enabler for safer, greener, and more cost-effective offshore wind operations.
The company has already used smaller drones for turbine inspections, but this is the first time heavy-lift cargo drones have been deployed at such scale in the offshore wind sector.
Ørsted is now exploring partnerships within the UK supply chain to expand the technology’s role in supporting the country’s growing renewable energy infrastructure.
