Germany-based offshore wind services company Buss Energy has acquired a stake of 24.9% in Aero Enterprise, an Austria-based wind turbines inspection firm.
Buss Energy is engaged in providing port logistics for the construction of offshore wind farms, along with the installation and service of wind turbines and rotor blades both on land and at sea in Germany and Europe.
The company has expanded its portfolio by purchasing two companies, in 2019.
Buss Energy managing director Martin Schulz said: “The inspection by drone was the next logical step for us to complete our portfolio. We can offer our customers a highly professional analysis of their wind turbines.
“The technology creates predictability regarding necessary value retention measures to increase plant productivity. From our point of view, drones are the most efficient and leading technology for the exact documentation and evaluation of an inspection.”
Aero Enterprise inspects wind turbines using drone technology
Aero Enterprise is engaged in providing inspection services for on-shore and offshore wind turbines by leveraging its self-developed flying robots / drone technology, since 2013.
Drones work on the technology of helicopters, and can be used even at high wind speeds. The long flight times of the drones would benefit the offshore use, needing no additional stop landing for even large sizes of the wind turbines.
Aero Enterprise’s in-house developed AERO-Software Package evaluates the high-resolution image data.
Drone inspection flight is fully autonomous and continuously monitored. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is deployed to automate the detection and classification of the damages.
The company said that the advanced technology is suitable for all types of inspections on wind turbines including for determining the need for repairs, for handovers as part of the commissioning of new systems, for warranty inspections and recurring inspections.
Aero Enterprise CEO Robert Hörmann said: “The Buss Energy Group is the perfect strategic partner for us. Buss Energy’s professional sales structures and many years of operational experience in the wind sector will help to further establish our technology on the market.”
