#DroneWeek: Celebrating a new tool and incredible imagery

GE launched #DroneWeek a few days ago, which makes it a great time to take a look at a powerful new tool used by more and more of the wind industry.

Drones have become an increasingly popular way to inspect wind turbine blades and perform other maintenance. They give wind techs up close looks at blades to make sure everything is in proper working order, and drones offer a cheaper, safer option to run these tests.

It’s a great example of how operations and maintenance improvements offer another cost-cutting avenue, with wind’s costs already down 66 percent since 2009. Advances like these will help wind’s costs fall even further in the years ahead, with some experts predicting they could fall another 50 percent by 2030.

As an added bonus, drones also happen give us incredible imagery. Here are a few of our favorite examples of turbine drone footage:

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