As the world’s largest operator of offshore wind farms, we have a duty to keep pushing boundaries so we can make offshore wind more affordable and sustainable, and reach a world powered by green energy.
For us, that means placing innovation at the core of everything we do. It’s a way of thought shared by our thousands of in-house offshore experts, including one of the largest engineering departments in the industry.
And it’s why we are proud to announce the launch of the Ørsted USV: an uncrewed surface vessel (USV) for offshore metocean measurement campaigns that will help us collect more data than ever before, and with greater speed.
A hybrid of a vessel and a buoy, the Ørsted USV can sail uncrewed while being monitored from an onshore control room. Upon arrival to a measurement site, an integrated anchor system is then deployed, essentially turning the USV into a buoy.
This makes the Ørsted USV perfect for replacing floating LiDAR campaigns, resulting in higher data availability, significantly lower HSE risks and, ultimately, lower costs.
The Ørsted USV is another great example of Ørsted’s innovation methodology, says Head of Innovation Jacob Edmonds:
With research, development and design taking place in house, the Ørsted USV has already undergone extensive testing in Danish and Norwegian waters, proving its ability to operate safely in high sea state conditions for up to one year at a time.
As such, because the USV can perform in harsh environments without posing any HSE risk, we can both significantly increase our operational window for offshore surveys and reduce carbon emissions.
Giving us the opportunity to not only advance our own offshore wind projects, but the industry as a whole – with the Ørsted USV playing a key role in the rapid industrialisation of new technologies such as floating offshore wind.
Our USV concept can operate in high sea state conditions up to a wave height of 9 metres, optimising uptime.
With full ownership and operational control of all the USVs we produce, we can significantly reduce the cost of carrying out offshore measurement campaigns.
