Renowned for being the “most sustainable electricity company” on the Dow Jones Index, EDP Renewables (EDPR) has established itself as a global player in the solar energy industry. Across 28 international markets, it manages 270 wind farms, 15 solar parks, and power for 4.6 million houses and has avoided 18.5 mt CO2 emissions in line with their commitments to clean and renewable energy.
Over a four-year annual partnership, BeeX has:
It is not uncommon to hear of commercial diver deployments for inspection jobs. However, the use of commercial diving for inspection jobs limits the robustness of gathered data and risks divers’ well-being.
First, murky waters and strong waves affect divers’ stabilization and navigation, reducing accuracy in data acquisition. Next, poor weather can also raise mission costs from project delays and increase risks in diver deployments. Finally, divers lack tools in providing consistent geo-referenced coordinates over inspected areas—data of which is crucial for future maintenance jobs on identified assets for repair.
EDP was aware of the limitations posed by commercial divers. In search of a better solution that would leave no stone unturned, EDP turned to BeeX’s Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV) A.IKANBILIS. A.IKANBILIS would enable fast, accurate, and quantitative locational reporting of underwater assets in the floating solar farm.
With such information, resulting data could be used to prevent unfavorable but avoidable circumstances that could lead to additional long-term costs over damaged assets.
As A.IKANBILIS had been deployed at the solar farm every January beginning the year 2021, EDP has been able to closely monitor its asset changes over a multi-year scope.
Utilizing the HAUV’s technique of Close Visual Inspections (CVI) and 3D sonar scans, EDP was able to acquire geo-referenced data on the floating farm’s power cable bridge, barge, mooring lines, sea flexes, and anchors through Sambal, the data reporting software of A.IKANBILIS.
Data could then act as decision-drivers of EDP for the procurement, maintenance, and repair of farm assets.
Overall, BeeX’s partnership with EDP Renewables is a joint effort to support decarbonisation through the scaling of renewable energy. As BeeX believes in the urgency to transition to greener energy sources, BeeX seeks to further improve underwater capabilities in a cost-efficient approach, assisting EDP in scaling floating solar farm installations across the globe.
