China's first autonomous offshore wind power inspection platform begins operation

China's first autonomous offshore wind power inspection platform was officially put into operation at an offshore wind farm on Saturday in Rudong, East China's Jiangsu Province, marking a significant breakthrough in the operation and maintenance capabilities of the country's offshore wind power equipment, CCTV reported.

The platform, developed by China Longyuan Power Group, a subsidiary of China Energy Investment Group, serves as a "pathfinder" and "smart doctor" for offshore wind farms, leveraging unmanned technology to improve operational efficiency and precision.

The new platform, employs a combination of unmanned vessels and robots, allowing for remote-controlled operations and extending the daily inspection range to 100 kilometers, according to the CCTV report.

This marks a significant improvement compared to traditional submarine cable inspection method, which relied on manned vessels to tow passive detectors and required a crew of at least nine people with a daily inspection limit of just 10 kilometers.

During operations, the unmanned vessel navigates to designated areas based on pre-programmed routes, deploying the robot for fault detection. By collecting submarine cable signals, the robot generates a detailed "map" of the cable path, which autonomously guides the unmanned vessel.

This system enables the detector to operate as a "self-powered" intelligent vehicle, closely following the cable route. As a result, fault localization time is reduced by 90 percent, and detection accuracy is improved tenfold, according to CCTV.