The ePark+ project aims to digitise the maintenance and protection of offshore wind farms by using unmanned vehicles (UAV). The major contribution from SAES to this project led by Navantia is on underwater sound propagation and the surveillance of underwater infrastructures. The project has been awarded seven million euros from the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), an organisation belonging to Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation.
SAES is part of the consortium that is developing the ePark+ project, which has been selected in the 2022 Science and Innovation call for the CDTI (Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology), an organisation belonging to Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Apart from SAES, the consortium consists of the following companies: Navantia as the leader of the project; Abance Ingeniería y Servicios, Arisnova, Eolos Floating Lidar Solutions and Perseo Techworks. The Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT), AICIA (technology centre linked to Seville University) and FIDESOL.
This is a collaborative project that will contribute to the technological development of offshore wind. It started in December 2022 and is expected to continue until January 2025.
The ePark+ project has been awarded seven million euros by the CDTI to focus on the research and development of digital technologies for the operation support and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind farms. The project is divided in two phases: obtaining a technological demonstrator of a smart system using unmanned vehicles specifically for this function previously mentioned; and developing a prototype to show its workings in a relevant and controlled environment.
The system consists of an unmanned surface vehicles (USV) that will act as a mother ship from which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) will be operated. This system will also have a remote control centre to centralise all of the information from the unmanned vehicle sensors.
SAES contribution to the ePark+ project concentrates on underwater sound propagation and the surveillance of underwater infrastructures by using sensors that are installed in those unmanned vehicles.
SAES participation in this project shows how dual-use technologies offer new exploitation and market opportunities, using technology developed in the defence sector and then successfully applied to the civilian sector. SAES is a lead expert on unmanned vehicles sensoring to adapt them to different uses by using artificial intelligence.
