China's Autonomous Offshore Wind Power Inspection Platform Goes Live

The debut of China's first autonomous inspection platform for offshore wind power took place on Saturday in Rudong, located in East China's Jiangsu Province. This milestone represents a remarkable advancement in the management and upkeep of offshore wind power technology in the nation. Crafted by China Longyuan Power Group, under the umbrella of China Energy Investment Group, the platform is designed to function as a "pathfinder" and "smart doctor," integrating unmanned technology to elevate operational precision and efficiency.

The newly introduced platform operates using unmanned vessels in conjunction with robotic technology, enabling remote-control functionalities and expanding the daily inspection capability to an impressive 100 kilometers. This accomplishment greatly contrasts with previous methods that depended on manned vessels towing passive detectors, which required at least nine crew members and were limited to inspections of only 10 kilometers each day.

During inspection missions, the unmanned vessel follows pre-determined routes to reach specific locations and employs a robot for fault detection tasks. The robot is responsible for gathering submarine cable signals, effectively creating a comprehensive map of the cable's route, which subsequently guides the unmanned vessel. This sophisticated setup allows the inspector vehicle to autonomously track the cable path, leading to a remarkable reduction in fault localization time by 90 percent and a tenfold increase in detection accuracy.