The need to significantly develop wind and photovoltaic installations pushes towards solutions that rely on automation, artificial intelligence and robotics
The adoption of robotics in renewables can make it possible to fill an important gap: the large-scale development of photovoltaic and wind power, in particular, expected to grow exponentially. The IEA expects global renewable energy capacity to grow by 2,400 GW over the period 2022-2027.
It is an incredible amount, equal to the entire electrical capacity of China today, that will have to be built in a handful of years and that will have to take advantage of new construction methods that make use of robots and automation.
Just looking at the United States, between now and 2030, 600 GW of photovoltaic and wind power plants are expected to come online by 2030 – grid connections permitting – thanks to the effects of the Inflaction Reduction Act. The acceleration to be achieved to achieve these objectives it will be remarkable when you consider that new solar installations in the United States reached “only” 20.2 GW in 2022, among other things down 16% from the previous year, reports Solar Energy Industry Association. The European Union, for its part, intends to increase the binding renewable energy target to at least 42.5% of final electricity consumption by 2030. This will translate into the need for a significant increase in installed systems. All this is driving investors to focus on companies capable of bringing automation, in the form of robotic systems and the use of artificial intelligence techniques to develop the installation of photovoltaic and wind power plants.
Takeaway
The use of robotics in renewables: the example of the startup
The need to develop installed photovoltaic capacity over the next seven years and run to achieve the net zero goals and the fastest energy transition collide with objective difficulties. One concerns the need to find qualified personnel. Around 80 percent of solar jobs in 2030 will be in installation-related roles, Reuters reports, an area where developers are already struggling to find employees. By 2030, the EU will need more than 1 million ‘solar workers’ to meet higher renewable energy targets recently set by the EU to end the region’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, SolarPower Europe said . As part of its REPowerEU initiative, the EU aims to double solar capacity to 320 GW by 2025 and install 600 GW by 2030.
Here, then, is the importance of robotics for renewables. The Californian startup operates in this field Built Robotics, based in San Francisco. It uses robots in construction projects and large-scale photovoltaic installations. Built’s digging robots have already helped install more than 2 GW of PV across the country, according to the company.
The structural foundations of a large photovoltaic park are created using thousands of steel beams, carefully planted in the ground. It is a crucial construction phase in virtually all large solar energy projects. This is where the Built Robotics system comes into play, which has developed an integrated machine for all phases of this process: detection, distribution and driving of piles, inspection. The company says solar foundations can be built three to five times faster with its system than with traditional methods. “Autonomy can help reduce costs by 30%,” says the company, which proposes a robotic platform that can be installed on existing construction equipment that adds autonomous robotic capabilities thanks to a combination of cameras, GPS and artificial intelligence techniques. The various investors who have so far allocated 112 million dollars to the San Francisco startup are ready to bet on the effectiveness of the technological system.
Digital twin and robots for the smart factory dedicated to solar
There is another startup that uses AI and robotics for renewables, especially on photovoltaics. Is called Terabase Energy. It too is based in the United States and has received the “blessing” in terms of funding from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which has invested 44 million dollars in it. The startup is developing an interconnected automation and digital platform to reduce costs and increase the scalability of solar at scale.
This month, it announced the green light of its Woodland, Calif., manufacturing facility, Terafab, where it is building the first GW of assembly lines to build other similar industrial systems to multiply production lines.
The complete Terafab system combines a project site digital twin, advanced supply chain and inventory management systems, an on-site wireless digital command center, an automated field assembly line, and specialized installation rovers in an continuous 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Terabase has raised $52 million so far and the funding round will be used, as it announces in a statement:
“to support the company’s mission to reduce costs and increase the scalability of solar by building a robotics and digital automation platform for the development, construction and operation of large-scale photovoltaic power plants.”
The robotics-assisted workflow will also ensure worker safety by eliminating the manual lifting of heavy panels and steel components in often harsh outdoor weather conditions.
Robotics and sensors to install offshore wind
The use of robotics in renewables also applies to wind power, expected to double the installed capacity, indeed to do more since we are talking about over 500 GW.
In the case of offshore wind energy, the complexity of working in a very critical context such as the sea is added. Trying to install a million-dollar, 60-ton wind turbine blade at its base is challenging under any circumstances: Getting the angle off by even a fraction of a degree can dramatically affect the machine’s ability to generate power. If we then think of the development of offshore wind power in the North Sea, one of the most turbulent, we understand even more the challenge that must be faced.
There are countries, such as the United Kingdom, that bet heavily on offshore wind power. Already in the first quarter of this year, a third of the country’s electricity came from wind farms, research by Imperial College London has shown. But by 2035, the country intends to count on zero-emission electricity. Also in this case the objective requires a substantial development of the installed wind power. It currently takes up to 15 years to complete a major UK offshore project. The real time saver would be the faster installation of the turbines. The erection of the gigantic structures requires highly specialized ships and an on-site intervention that can last up to 20 hours.
To speed up operations, guaranteeing a very high rate of effectiveness, X-Laboratory works, a robotic engineering company based in Rotterdam, specialized in the development of high-tech equipment and robotic systems for remotely controlling giant cranes on ships , thanks to a highly advanced motion compensation system for the marine and offshore energy industries. Its solutions are based on advanced mechatronics and sensors.
The technological system for handling the large components of the wind farm during the various phases of installation at sea is a great technical challenge. To address it X-Laboratory has
combined the skills developed in space engineering with the development of the guidance and sensing system.
One of the world‘s largest installers of offshore wind, Jan De Nul Group, is starting to adopt the technology. Its vessels will use X-Laboratory’s combined motion compensation robotic system for offshore cranes, enabling complex installations in severe weather conditions. The technology could reduce the total time to install a wind farm by more than 25% due to its ability to work in windier conditions. For now, it will only be used to install the foundations for wind turbines, but it represents an important step forward.
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