Update, July 2026: During a commercial repair campaign with Ørsted at the Horns Rev 2 Offshore Wind Farm in Denmark, SPARROW advanced its offshore performance benchmark to a 27-minute repair on one blade and up to eight blades repaired in one day under suitable operating conditions.
A new offshore repair benchmark at Horns Rev 2
The results were achieved through a collaboration between Ørsted and Clobotics Wind Services during a recent leading-edge repair campaign at Horns Rev 2. Together, the teams demonstrated how robotic technology can make offshore blade maintenance faster, safer, and more predictable under commercial operating conditions.
The campaign established three significant results:
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Fastest offshore robotic LE blade repair: 27 minutes on a single blade
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Highest offshore daily output: up to 8 blades repaired in one working day
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Reported repair cost reduction: 50–75% compared with conventional methods
At up to ten times the speed of conventional methods, SPARROW helped Ørsted complete more repair work within available offshore weather windows while limiting turbine downtime and keeping fieldwork costs under control.
Why offshore blade leading edges need maintenance
The leading edge is the part of the blade that meets the air first as the turbine rotates. Offshore, that surface is repeatedly exposed to rain, salt spray from the sea, and other harsh marine conditions. Over time, these forces can erode the protective surface and reduce aerodynamic performance if the damage is not addressed.
Traditional leading-edge repairs often require technicians to work suspended from ropes for hours. The process is labour-intensive, highly dependent on weather, and can require repeated offshore transfers and complex coordination between vessels, technicians, and turbine operations.
Moving the repair work from ropes to robotics
SPARROW is a remotely operated robotic repair system flown to the blade by a heavy-lift drone. Once attached, the robot performs surface preparation and leading-edge protection application directly on the blade. This keeps technicians away from the blade surface, removes the need for rope-access repair operations, and can reduce the number of offshore crew transfers required during a campaign.
The video below shows the drone-delivered repair system, supporting equipment, and operating team working together through the field setup and blade repair workflow.
During the Horns Rev 2 campaign, this approach compressed a repair task that traditionally takes hours into a 27-minute robotic workflow. Under suitable operating conditions, the team repaired up to eight blades in one day, allowing more work to be completed during the same campaign window.
The benefit goes beyond speed. Shorter repair cycles make daily planning more predictable, reduce the time turbines remain unavailable, and lower the exposure of offshore personnel to demanding work at height. Fewer rope-access operations and offshore crew transfers also simplify the logistics required to deliver a large repair program.
Partnership in offshore innovation
Ørsted highlighted the campaign as an example of how collaboration and innovation can improve offshore wind operations. The project combined Ørsted’s operating experience at Horns Rev 2 with Clobotics Wind Services’ robotic repair technology and field expertise.
For both teams, the outcome was not simply a new speed record. It demonstrated a safer way of working, a more predictable maintenance process, and a commercially viable route to reducing downtime and repair costs. The collaboration shows how wind farm operators and technology providers can work together to turn robotic blade maintenance into an operational reality.
About Clobotics Wind Services
Clobotics Wind Services is a leading provider of advanced blade inspection and maintenance solutions for the global onshore and offshore wind industry, with regional offices across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC.
Our technologies are designed and developed in-house to enable safer operations, predictable quality, and significantly reduced maintenance timelines.
By integrating robotics, AI-driven data processing, and operational expertise, we help customers reduce downtime, extend asset lifetime, and execute maintenance campaigns at scale across global fleets.
