Scope Overview

SSE Renewables required a dependable inspection solution to cover its full onshore wind portfolio across the UK and Ireland. Under a 3-year framework agreement, Innovair™ was selected to deliver seasonal blade inspections, carried out each year between April and July. 

The goal: proactive maintenance planning and reduced turbine downtime.

The Challenge

SSE needed a consistent, accurate, and scalable inspection method across a large, varied fleet. Traditional manual drone inspections created issues such as:

• Missed defects due to inconsistent flight paths

• Low image quality and incomplete coverage

• Difficulty tracking damage evolution year-on-year

The Solution

Innovair deployed its autonomous drone inspection system, enabling:

• 100% blade surface coverage from a single stop position

• Repeatable, high-resolution imaging for confident repair decisions

• Rapid inspection speeds of up to 15 turbines per day (~45 blades)

• Operations in winds up to 15 m/s with minimal disruption

All data was delivered through Discovair™, Innovair’s cloud-based inspection intelligence platform. This allowed SSE to track defect trends over multiple years and prioritise repairs with confidence.

The Results

• Full portfolio coverage across multiple turbine types

• Early identification of damage to maintain peak turbine performance

• Actionable insights to support efficient, timely blade repairs

• Long-term cost efficiency through data-driven maintenance planning

Want more information? 

Download the full case study to learn more on how we reduced downtime, improved inspection accuracy, and gained actionable insights.