Cost-benefit Evaluation of Remote Inspection of Offshore Wind Farms by Simulating the Operation and Maintenance Phase

Abstract

This paper presents a cost-benefit evaluation that investigates the potential economic benefits of using remote inspection technology for offshore wind farms. Remote inspection consists of a robot system inside the turbine nacelle that can perform inspections on behalf of an operator located on land. Such a system can reduce the need for expensive and time-consuming access to the turbines. The NOWIcob tool was used to simulate maintenance activities and related logistics during the operational period of an offshore wind farm. Different wind farm cases, with and without remote inspection, were simulated, and the results demonstrate that the use of remote inspection gives robust economic benefits for offshore wind farm projects