Offshore wind farm developer Ørsted has designed and developed the first uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in the industry for offshore met-ocean measurement campaigns.
The measurement data will help lower uncertainties in the expected annual energy production for new offshore wind farms.
Ørsted, who has patented the USV concept, sees enormous potential in the technology and has initiated a serial production based on a successful prototype.
The prototype, named Hugin USV, is designed for continuous operation in the harshest offshore conditions for a year at a time. It can be controlled both in line-of-sight or from a beyond-line-of-sight remote control centre.
The USV can collect large amounts of data on, among other things, the wind conditions, the state of the seabed, and biological and ecological measurements, all dependent on the sensor instrumentation chosen for a given operation – all essential before the construction of offshore wind farms.
The prototype USV was constructed by the Danish shipbuilder Tuco Marine and the USV control system was delivered by Maritime Robotics.
Ørsted stated that the Hugin USV has been tested in Danish and Norwegian and has been operational during hurricane conditions, where it experienced waves up to nine metres in the North Sea. The vessel has received accreditation from DNV so that it can be used for commercial operations related to wind farm development.
Due to good results of the Hugin USV test, Ørsted started serial production of a new class of USVs which incorporates the learnings from the prototype and broadens the operational capabilities to include deepwater operations for future floating wind farms.
Tuco Marine Group and Maritime Robotics will provide their services for the new class of USVs as well. Ørsted expects to produce five new USVs by the end of 2023.
