AI driven inspections for blade and lightning protection systems
Client
Project Status
Location
Project Background
As Australia’s renewable energy investment continues to expand, wind turbine availability and reliability have become critical to energy production outcomes. Worley is a global leader and largest ISP in Australia, providing an end-to-end operational services to critical energy infrastructure ranging from traditional thermal plants to large-scale wind farms. Particularly in the wind industry, Worley Power Services is responsible for inspection, technical analysis, repair planning, and lifecycle asset performance across multiple wind farms nationally.
To support this delivery model at scale, Worley partnered with Nearthlab and Sensorem to deploy an advanced, autonomous drone inspection solution. Sensorem was engaged to execute safe, repeatable, and efficient drone operations across multiple sites, enabling Worley to deliver consistent inspection data to support faster engineering decisions and maintenance outcomes.
Solution
The solution combines Worley’s asset integrity expertise with Sensorem’s specialist drone operations and Nearthlab’s proprietary autonomous inspection technology. Using AI‑driven navigation and computer vision, the drone autonomously captures high‑resolution imagery of wind turbine blades at a precise and repeatable distance.
In addition to blade inspections, a Voliro non‑destructive testing (NDT) drone was deployed to inspect turbine Lightning Protection Systems (LPS). LPS integrity is critical to turbine reliability, with failures often resulting in unplanned outages and costly repairs. The Voliro platform enables detailed inspection of LPS components without rope access, improving safety while accelerating inspection timelines.
By combining autonomous capture with highly efficient field operations, Sensorem enabled Worley to inspect more than a dozen turbines per day, with an average inspection time of approximately 15 minutes per turbine. This represented a step change in productivity compared to traditional manual drone or rope‑access methods.
All captured data was delivered to Worley in a structured and consistent format, supporting downstream engineering assessment, defect classification, and repair planning as part of Worley’s end‑to‑end service offering to wind asset owners.
Project Metrics
- Delivery Owner: Worley
- Operational Partner: Sensorem
- Autonomous Inspection Technology: Nearthlab
- Inspection scope: Blade surface inspections and LPS assessments
- Turbines inspected: 12+ per day
- Average inspection time: ~15 minutes per turbine
- Coverage: Wind farms across Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales
- Data outputs: High‑resolution imagery, autonomous inspection datasets, LPS condition data
Value Delivered to Wind Asset Owners
The use of autonomous inspection technology significantly reduces the time between inspection and repair. Faster data capture and higher consistency enable Worley to accelerate engineering assessments, prioritise defects, and mobilise repairs earlier – directly reducing turbine downtime.
By improving inspection efficiency and LPS visibility, the solution supports increased turbine availability and improved energy production outcomes, while maintaining high safety standards and minimising at‑height work.
Summary
Sensorem continues to lead the evolution of remote sensing and drone inspection across the renewable energy sector. Through strategic industry partnerships with major clients like Worley, we’re enabling asset owners to improve safety, cut inspection time, and make smarter data-driven decisions.
About Nearthlab:
Nearthlab is a global leader in physical AI and autonomous drone technology. Headquartered in South Korea with an expansive presence across North America and Europe, Nearthlab is a top-three player in the wind O&M market. Currently Nearthlab inspects over 20,000 turbines across 30 countries, delivering industry-leading scale and precision.
Contact: enquiries@sensorem.com.au
