Aerones has secured the Innovation Fund support provided for highly innovative, market-ready, scalable and ambitious infrastructure projects aimed at CO2 emission reduction.
The company specializes in robot-enabled turbine inspection and maintenance services, and plans to use the Innovation Fund grant of €4,416,000 to produce and deploy world’s first wind turbine blade leading edge repair robot sets. Total budget of the project is €7,360,000.
Dainis Kruze, co-founder & CEO of Aerones: “The repair of wind turbine blades is a critical aspect of maintaining the efficiency and sustainability of wind energy production. With the support of the Innovation Fund, Aerones is committed to deploy state-of-the-art technology to enhance the wind industry. Our project aims to achieve turbine repairs within 18 hours, significantly minimizing downtime and contributing to global climate goals. This innovative approach will lead to a 67% reduction in repair downtime, avoiding 161,349 tons of CO2 emissions over a decade and enabling the production of an additional 918,320 MWh of renewable electricity.”
Leading edge erosion is among the most common turbine blade issues. As wind turbines become larger, blade rotation speed at the tip of the blade can exceed 360 km/h. At these speeds, even rain can cause the erosion of the leading edge, and reduce the turbine’s efficiency. Even a small amount of erosion can result in a significant reduction of annual energy production.
Aerones is the leader in robotic wind turbine operations and maintenance (O&M) services, and the only company providing robotic turbine blade leading edge repairs in more than 27 countries worldwide. Using unique patented robotic technology, crucial tasks are performed 3x – 6x faster, with up to 10x less idle stay days than using conventional methods. Aerones mission is to use its proprietary technology to reduce the complexity and cost of inspections thus facilitating the faster global transition to renewable energy.
The Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest funding programs for the deployment of net-zero and innovative technologies and is a key funding instrument for delivering the EU’s economy-wide commitments. It focuses on energy and industry by aiming to bring solutions to decarbonize European industry and support its transition to climate neutrality while fostering competitiveness. This fund is helping bring breakthrough technologies to the market in energy-intensive industries, renewable energy, and energy storage.
Grant project contract signing is scheduled for June 2024 after project readiness assessments.
